Kiyamah

Travelling back to Dubai last week, I put on my headphones to listen to some music I had recently downloaded. The pieces were relaxing, when suddenly one track had an incredible impact on me.  About a minute into the piece, my insides moved and it felt as if something was rising within me. At one stage tears filled my eyes, not accompanied by a feeling of sadness, but rather of awe.

I have been home for a week now and listened to the piece on numerous occasions. And still..... it has the same effect.

Annie Syed in her latest Still Sundays post tells of visiting a museum and being ”mesmerized by this amazing sculpture.” 

I recall too an incident on Twitter when a video of Louis Kahn’s Phillips Exeter Academy Library was being shared amongst us. One response to a tweet I sent out was, “Made me cry. This is what architecture is about.” 

The overwhelming responses to the video indicated that something was happening not only on an individual level, but on a collective level as well. Technology had made it possible for all of us from different parts of the world and in different time zones to not only view a place many of us might never visit, but also to experience simultaneously a feeling of awe.

What is it about some works of art that have the power to move us so?

Attempts to share such an experience often fail, as words can only attempt to hint at the actual experience itself. They are really only a finger pointing at the moon.

But they are a finger, nevertheless, and those who have had the same or a similar experience will know what is being pointed at.

Ken Wilber, in “The Eye of Spirit” writes,

“Let me return to what art is finally all about. When I directly view, say, a great Van Gogh, I am reminded what all superior art has in common: the capacity to simply take your breath away. To literally, actually, make you inwardly gasp, at least for that second or two when the art first hits you, or more accurately, first enters your being: you swoon a little bit, you are slightly stunned, you are open to perceptions that you had not seen before. Sometimes, of course, it is much quieter than that: the work seeps into your pores gently, and yet you are changed somehow, maybe just a little, maybe a lot; but you are changed.”

This extract is part of a piece entitled “Contemplating Art”. It is one my favorite pieces of writing by Ken Wilber and is, in my opinion, a work of art in itself. You can read the whole piece here. It is to be found on the last few pages of the pdf.

My piece of music, Kiyamah, has changed me.

Which works of art have touched you? Let's share them here2here.