Midlife creativity and identity: life into art

Abstract

Where does ‘art’ come from, and what is the ‘meaning’ of creativity? What inspires an artist in the middle phase of life and what value is placed on the pursuit of originality? Where do innovative ideas come from and how do they transmogrify into songs, fine art and stories? These are some of the searching questions that are posed in this ethnographic study, undertaken over three years and involving male and female musicians, artists and literary authors in the UK, some amateur and some professional but all dedicated to the invention of artistic legacy. This book sets out to understand in some depth the influences, spaces and routines of creative people experiencing midlife via evocative exploration of biography, self-identity, inspiration, sociality, beliefs, emotion, career trajectory and life choices and considered via in-situ observations of rehearsal, performance, exhibition, environment and working philosophy that contribute to the meaningful creation of novelty. Building an original theory of the ‘mezzanine’ that draws on the cultural and sociological theories of Raymond Williams, Zygmunt Bauman and Pierre Bourdieu, and further utilising an eclectic resource of late-modern sociology, cultural studies, literary studies and musicology, this study seeks to penetrate and understand the process of creation, the space of inspiration and the individualised value placed on artistic endeavour in uncertain times and at an uncertain time in life. The research illustrates that while life experiences do influence both the chosen and developed techniques of creating art and the art itself, artistic virtuosity is also arguably a conscious resistance to the banal securities of midlife in an age of inherent, perceived insecurity. If anything, the processes and spaces of inventiveness are a sought-after in-between zone of ‘letting go’ and embracing an almost anarchic uncertainty where the promise of possibility and the pursuit of the delight of innovation provide an antidote to the banal ‘everyday’ and the routine expectancies of middle age. Keywords: midlife, creativity, identity, art, music, writing, mezzanine, sociology.