Yumi, Intent, and Art's Meaning as Arbitrary

I just finished Yumi & the Nightmare Painter by Sanderson, and I sobbed. Ive never had a reaction that strong to a book before. I’ve read A LOT of books and the most that usually happens is I tear up or get goose bumps. This was from the bottom of my gut heaving. The body responding to a truth that the mind hadn’t caught up to yet. This is my attempt to understand that reaction and why I was so moved.

This whole thing is about embodied experience and how art’s meaning is arbitrary and determined by us. The irony of trying to analyze that well enough to write about it is not lost on me. So I will try to tread an odd line. I will avoid over analyzing while presenting what resonated with me and leave the rest to be found.

Sanderson uses two themes that resonate for me. The first is a cluster of truths. Art is by definition non-functional, its meaning is determined by us, and the point of it is what it does to the creator and the audience. The second is the value that he places on INTENT in art. The act of paying attention, of investing our time spent being deeply us, into the art is fundamental to its meaning. I realize that these are a world view and have been debated forever. I present them as truths and continue.

I experience both of these via dance. Maybe thats because dance is a very process centric art form. Unless you’re recording, there is no artifact. There is nothing to hand to someone or put on a wall or pedestal to be appreciated. There is only the moment. Only the act of creation between the creator and the viewers if any. Being moved by the process, being changed by it, is the point.