Tim Burton

 Every fall season, I rewatch all the best Tim Burton movies to get in the spirit for Halloween. Coraline, The Nightmare Before Christmas, and The Corpse Bride are some of my favorite movies ever. Each of these films embody Burton’s creative style: dark yet whimsical. His work as a director, writer, and producer has shaped an entire aesthetic that is loved by so many around the world. 

I think that much of Burton’s creativity was born from personal experiences. He grew up in sunny, Burbank, California which is in direct contrast to the vibe of his movies. He found inspiration from classic horror films and monster art. In The Creative Spark by Augustin Fuentes, he emphasizes the fact that creativity is a deeply human trait, rooted in our ability to reimagine what already exists and turn it into something meaningful. Burton does exactly that by taking familiar archetypes like ghosts and monsters and transforming them into sympathetic, relatable characters. For example, the skeleton Jack Skellington and ghost Emily. 

In addition, Fuentes says that creativity is a collaborative act, not just an individual talent. Burton’s movies demonstrate this perfectly. His ideas come to life through huge teams of animators, writers, and designers who share his vision. The Nightmare Before Christmas and Corpse Bride are not just the products of one man’s imagination, but of a creative community working toward a shared dream. The success of his movies should not only be given to Tim Burton but to all the minds that made these stories come to life. This collaboration shows Fuentes’s point even more, that creativity flourishes when people come together. 

Amedeo Modigliani's Windows to the Soul

 Proclaimed to be a tortured artist, Italian painter Amedeo Modigliani is most famous for his painted portraits subtracting the eyes from the faces. Modigliani considered the eyes to be the "windows of the soul," and he refused to paint eyes without truly knowing the person. 

In Agustín Fuente's The Creative Spark, he discusses relationships between humans and how they have developed over time. His chapter on "Creative Sex" highlights male, female, sexual, gender, and social tendencies. He writes, "a pair-bond is a strong and deep long-term social relationship and may, or may not, involve a sexual relationship" (173.) This deep type of connection that humans create is in someways unlike other species because of the complexities in familiarity, desire, and love. Modigliani's works highlight that true connection that satisfies a generally accepted definition of love through the eyes, or lack thereof, in his paintings. Because of his refusal to paint the eyes of the subject without fully knowing them, or their soul, there is heavy significance in the portraits with eyes being of his love Jeanne.

Following his death at age 35, Modigliani's fiancée Jeanne Hébuterne threw herself from the fifth story of their building, killing herself and their unborn child. She was distraught over his death, and following her suicide Hébuterne's family blamed Modigliani for the death of their daughter. This reminded me of Fuente's view on the unique relationship between mother and child, specifically during pregnancy. He writes "the female and the infant need to be near each other most of the time in the early part of the infant's life" (180.) Although Modigliani and Hébuterne's child did not survive to it's early life, this quote reminded me of how both mother and child passed on together, inseparable even to death. 

Many artists, particularly in the 19th century, portray some sexual aspects in their paintings specifically when depicting women. This emphasis on the viewer's pleasure, indulgence, and objectification is not uncommon. Fuentes writes how "entire subcultures of attraction and politics are built up around them," "them" referencing women's bodies and specifically breasts. However, Modigliani's portrayal of women is stylized, graceful, and respectful. Even when painting nudes, they do not create a suggestive mood but rather a soft, introspective one. They represent beauty and elegance.

Modigliani's paintings represent more than just portraits. He creates a representation of the relationship between the people painted and himself, revealed in how he fills or leaves blank the eyes: the windows to the soul.  Fuentes describes how"Humans evolved the capacity to form tight and lasting bonds between individuals that create psychological and emotional ties that are forged, broken, and remade," (183) and the connections between humans is not lost through Modigliani's paintings. 

Britney Spears: Art in Pop and Music Industry

 Britney Spears has always played an important role in my life since I was little, and growing up, I realized her impact in the entertainment world. More than a pop star, she has been a force that redefined the meaning of an artist and icon. Starting off early in her career with her hit "...Baby One More Time" to a futuristic song as "Toxic" and many more. Spears and her starter main producer, Max Martin, created a sound and image that shaped an entire generation of listeners. The music videos, choreography, and performances weren't just entertainment, but they were standards of identity, authenticity, and reinvention.

What makes Britney's story so special and powerful in creativity is one built not only on talent but on independent strength and resilience. The media and the world watched her personal life become so public in 2007, and her voice was controlled by others for years, an entire controlling team and her own father, Jamie Spears, who put her under a conservatorship after the entire media labeled her as 'unstable'. But in 2021, when she regained her freedom, the truth came out, the writing of a book, and a reminder to the world that creativity cannot be separated from autonomy. In her own words, she has spoken what the life and struggles of a popstar are. Even earlier on in her career, in her song "Lucky" she mentions a young girl named Lucky (herself) singing "She's so lucky, she's a star, but she cries... Thinking if there's nothing missing in my life, then why do these tears come at night?" A song that always captivated my attention, being so young, not understanding what she went through, but wondering myself. Is she herself that girl she's singing about? Does she cry and suffer even though she has everything in life?

These themes of control and freedom have a surprising connection to our book, The Code Breaker, by Jennifer Doudna. Her work in gene editing is all about understanding and rewriting a life's blueprint, as DNA defines who we are. In a similar way, The Princess of Pop's journey has been about rewriting her own life code, a narrative that others tried to impose on her but failed. Both women faced emotional and existential questions about control, one case over genes, and the other over a life and career as a celebrity.

Britney's art reshaped pop music, and Doudna revolutionized biology, showing us creation is not always about 'new' but a transformation, and thrives on ownership of our own stories.

Our still-relevant pop girl's legacy is not only in her iconic music hits, but also in an enduring message of self-determination and courage to remain creative even when the world tears you down, fails you, and tries to silence you. As Doudna, Britney shows that breaking the code can be an act of innovation and reemergence. 

Townes Van Zandt: Writing in the dark

The Country and Folk Music legend Townes Van Zandt has earned constant praise from industry moguls like Willie Nelson, Neil Young, and even Bob Dylan for his unique songwriting talent, even after his death in 1997. Despite writing and performing for the better part of three decades, Townes’ lifestyle and personal choices never allowed him to fully gain status as a household name, and his popularity predominantly resided in the core of the folk music industry and other cultish music lovers. 

Although he was born in Texas, Townes' childhood was one of constant moving and unsettling, something that remained a large part of his identity throughout his writing career and adulthood. Townes was known to most as a rambler. Despite his genius with a pen and guitar and his relatively affluent upbringing, he had an undeniable infatuation with what he would describe as ‘hard livin’. This entailed intermittent couchsurfing, deep bouts with depression, a variety of unstable romantic relationships, and unrelenting cycles of addiction(namely alcohol, cocaine, and prescription medications). Despite his apparently hazardous lifestyle choices, Townes seemed to thrive as a creative in a novel way. My favorite, and a folk classic of Townes’ discography, is his 1969 album, self-titled Townes Van Zandt. On songs like Waiting Around to Die and Lungs, Townes struggles with the concept of death and being slowly weakened by the weight of life. This album delves deep into the struggles of Towne’s life, all while maintaining some of the most intricate wordplay and storytelling in folk music history. 

Quicksilver Daydreams - Townes Van Zandt

A documentary on his life highlights a story from Van Zandt’s 3rd grade classroom where the teacher was discussing stars, and told the class that all stars, including the sun, will burn out. As a curious young child, he asked the teacher, “If the sun is gonna burn out, then what are we doing here?”. Unfortunately, the teachers' various answers were insufficient in calming his troubling existential questions. To me, this sort of playful yet truly existential story perfectly encapsulates Townes’ personality and is part of what sets his writing style apart from other creatives in the industry. As an artist and in life, he seemed extremely comfortable confronting the darker questions. His son described him in a documentary as “Happiest when he was most unhappy”. His personality and writing style give his music a somber yet comforting feel and illustrate the beauty in sadness that Townes could see. He also communicates this in his fantastical approach to dark storytelling in songs like Poncho and Lefty, a made-up story about an outlaw named Lefty who betrays his closest companion Poncho. The song details Lefty’s painful life after living with his decision, and it's clear Townes sees some of himself in Lefty, who “Wears his skin like iron” and whose “Breath’s as hard as kerosene”. While very dark in subject matter, this song can evoke some of the most vivid and beautiful imagery for the listener. In the book faith, hope, and carnage artist Nick Cave seems to notice a similar relationship between beauty and sorrow and how they interact in his music in the book Faith, Hope, and Carnage. Both artists take inspiration from and often invoke very dark or haunting narratives and imagery in their songs, but they also see these as some of their most powerful works. Townes’ fandom as a whole seems to recognize that the ugly and painful in life can often produce some of the songs most worth hearing. 

During an interview, Townes emphasized the role of the subconscious in his creative process, sometimes even waking from his sleep with vivid mental images that seemed to long for explanation through song. Close friend and fellow musician Guy Clark details this sort of lucid subconscious approach to writing through a story of when Townes had a terrible case of the flu. In between fever dreams, he would wake up seemingly possessed by the idea for a new narrative, urging him to write down 4-5 verses at a time and pass back out. In psychology, we call this phenomenon insight, where an idea or connection pops into the mind seemingly out of nowhere and demands the attention of the creative. The songwriter commented about this style of idea generation in interviews, describing himself as a medium for subconscious ideas that hardly seemed like his own. This process manifested in songs like “(Quicksilver daydreams of) Maria,” which seem to transport the listener into a fantastical dreamstate while simultaneously feeling like a real story about the creator himself. 

His work, though often defined by sorrow, lives on as some of the best folk music to come from his generation.

Nature as a Teacher: Hirohiko Araki's Attention to Detail

        Hirohiko Araki, best known for his hit manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, is most well known for his illustrations and attention to detail when it comes to the panels on his pages. The work put into his illustrations cannot be understated but the thought process that goes into getting to those final products is often overlooked. Araki can make a simple sketch look effortless, as seen in a recent picture he took with a fan during a rare public appearance, but when it comes to complete manga panels with characters and environments he takes his attention to detail seriously. 

        Araki created a unique format for his manga, separating his manga into parts, creating a series of loosely tied together stories that come together to create one large universe. Each of these parts take place in different parts of the Earth, some take place in Japan, his home country, some take place in parts of America. No matter what part of the work the part takes place in, he will take time to go to those places and study them to get inspiration and make sure he is accurately adapting that setting. This philosophy of using nature as a teacher can be seen in Rick Rubin's The Creative Act in his chapter on using Nature as a teacher, highlighting the inspiration that can come from the beauty of things such as the ocean, mountains, and the deserts. 

Yung Lean: Perseverance Through Grief and Addiction

Jonotan Hastad, also known as Yung Lean, is a Swedish producer and rapper. He is thought to be one of the most prominent figures in cloud rap, with artists like Travis Scott, Lil Uzi Vert, and Post Malone taking inspiration from his beats and production style. Yung Lean’s career took off when he released his song, Ginseng Strip 2002. This was followed by his debut mixtape and first album, all three reaching great success.  

While touring at the peak of his career, however, Hastad was faced with many negative influences and began to struggle with heavy drug use. He was addicted to smoking, bars, cocaine, and more throughout his one year of touring. Hasted was admitted to a mental hospital after drug induced psychosis. Barron Machat, Yung Lean’s close friend/ manager, was on the way to the hospital but was tragically caught in a fatal car accident that caused him to lose his life. 

This struggle with drugs and death of his close friend informs many of Yung Lean's lyrics and albums. 

His music often reflects feelings of mourning, numbness, and attempts at self-recovery. His song “Agony,” for instance, says, “I let my demons take hold and choke on me / Can’t fill these holes that I’m digging”. He expressed being aware of his self-destructive tendencies and shows how he still has a desire to find peace despite the chaos. The song’s lyrics reveal a deep desire for personal healing and perseverance. Through songs like this, Yung Lean uses his pain to create art. Music is a space where he can confront his loss and addiction while still working towards inner healing.

In Faith, Hope, and Carnage, Nick Cave talks about how he was “envious of those who had a spiritual dimension to their lives… A longing for belief that addressed a fundamental emptiness inside”. Similar to Yung Lean’s attempt at self-recovery through music, Cave finds the ability to persevere through hardships by seeking spirituality. Cave shows us the importance of finding a medium through which someone can help themselves recover from setbacks. Cave’s spirituality intertwines with his creativity 

Cave and Yung Lean both fight similar battles with drug usage and heavily grieving loved ones. Additionally, they both are able to find an outlet that allows them to process their pain and turn it into something meaningful. Nick Cave and Yung Lean show us creative expression and having a stabilizing outlet can serve as a form of rebuilding and redemption, fostering perseverance.

Facing Trauma Through Music: Kesha

    Kesha Rose Sebert, or as everyone in 2010 remembers her, Ke$ha, is an American singer and songwriter. She is most noted for her hit singles “Tik Tok”, “Blow”, "Your Love Is My Drug” and many more. She had a rough upbringing with her and her brother being raised by their single mother, who was trying to pursue a music career. Kesha’s mother encouraged her to pursue singing when she was young and helped her start her music career. In 2005, at the age of 18, Kesha was signed to producer Dr. Luke’s record label. Her big breakthrough after years of singing background vocals and writing songs for other artists was in 2009, after appearing on rapper Flo Rida’s single “Right Round”. Even though she was uncredited, her talents showed through and helped her gain fame. Her debut single “Tik Tok” topped charts for 9 weeks, then she released her hit debut album Animal and her first extended play Cannibal in 2010. Kesha’s party girl aesthetic quickly made her a polarizing figure.

In 2014, Kesha admitted herself to rehab for bulimia nervosa, which she had been struggling with since the start of her music career. In that same year, she sued producer Dr. Luke for sexual assault and battery, sexual harassment, gender violence, emotional abuse, and violation of California business practices, which had occurred over 10 years working together. On February 10, 2016, Supreme Court Justice Shirley Kornreich ruled against Kesha’s request for a preliminary injunction to be released from Dr. Luke’s record company. This started the #FreeKesah movement on social media, which garnered support from many other artists such as Lady Gaga and Taylor Swift, who donated to legal fees. On April 6 of that same year, the same judge dismissed the case and said that even if the allegations were true, the five–year statute of limitations had run out on the two most specific rape allegations. The lawsuit went on until a settlement was reached in 2023, but between that time, Kesha continued to make music under Dr. Luke, and also made songs and did performances in defiance of him.

Kesha is a spiritual person who believes in a higher power and has created music through it. In the song “Praying,” Kesha uses her spirituality to express how she has found a sense of peace by forgiving those who have caused her pain. While the song is about her own trauma, it is not about revenge; it is a message of hope for both the survivor and the abuser. Nick Cave has also processed his trauma through religion and music. He does identify with Christianity, but the way he describes his process of writing being influenced by religion sounds more like a transcendental experience. Both of their processes with religion and music seem like a force is helping drive their process. Nick Cave’s new album, Skeleton Tree, has a lot of religious influence. When he was writing it, he describes it as if he were in a flow state. Both of these creatives have faced hardships, but use spirituality to drive their music towards healing.

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