Planet of the Arts The Joy of Living Henry Elder, a spry looking man in a bow tie, led a three day workshop called the Joy of Living for the Foundation students during registration week. Elder, former Dean of Architecture at the Univer- sity of British Columbia, and his colleague, Charles Brauner, professor of philosophy at U.B.C., presented an intellectual challenge to the students to investigate the concept of joy and to design a presentation that would contribute to a better understanding of it. Cultural civilizations become weaker, they said, when no new thought-provoking ideas in the arts and sciences are presented to society. It is part of the responsibility of the artist to cultivate an imagination capable of developing new concepts, new ideas of thought, and new perceptions of the world so that they can be shared with the rest of the world. “Without new vocabularies, dryness occurs and stagnation sets © in... the world becomes primitive,” Brauner said. The first day of the workshop was spent exploring the expression “The Joy of Living”, and various concepts were introduced as to the keys to finding creativity within it. One of the most interesting ideas both speakers expressed was the theory that human survival depends on the environment in which we live. By way of understanding the calamities of nature, artists must fully respond with their human senses to achieve a high- a joy- and work from that inspiration. This led to a lecture about the symbols and lan- guage we use for mapping the territory of joy. Following this lively discussion the students were divided into groups of ten and the focus of the afternoon was for the groups to investigate and discover what the essence of joy was. The following day, each group presented their ideas, notions and concepts of what they thought the joy of living was. Each group expressed a frustration in articulating a complete description of joy. This gave Elder and Brauner an opportunity to help the students become aware of the various manifestations of joy, with anecdotes of similar.experiences and facts. One of the groups’ presentation was a performance piece. The members of this group sat in a single row facing the audience and, one by one, smiled at the audience to demonstrate and share, non-verbally, their expres- sion of the silent joy of living. This performance sparked an enthusiastic response to continue in this vein and each group was asked to do a final perform- ance of their own design for the last day of the workshop. The final performances were varied, eccentric Vol. 3 Number 4 and entertaining. Each performance had a unique interpretation of joy, including: a ‘communal Jackson Pollock’; a spiritual run in the dark; a washing machine in a spin cycle; a glowing, bouncing ball as a pinnacle of joy; and a metaphorical struggle in the search of true self beneath the a confusion of boxes. Not to be outdone by the students, Elder and Brauner concluded the workshop with their own performance. The presentation was surreal, inspiring ;-and involved a depiction of the college as Oakalla West. Elder dressed as an innocent and voiceless female, Brauner impersonated an authoritative shrill. A pine cone was used as the inspiration for the simple beauty of well-being. The workshop concluded with the mutual agree- ment that joy was to be found in the familiar, and through the continual rediscovery of simplicity within each individuals life. Kevin Louis Hnoosiug ulgqoH Planet of the Arts The Joy of Living Henry Elder, a spry looking man in a bow to, lad a three day workshop called the Joy of Living for the Foundation students during registration wook. Eider, former Dean of Architecture at the Univer- ‘sty of British Columbia, and his colleague, Charles Brauner, professor of philosophy at U.B.C., prasentod an intellectual challenge to the students to investigate the concopt of joy and to design a presentation that ‘would contribute to a better understanding oft. Cultural civilizations become weaker, they said, ‘when no new thought-provoking ideas in the arts and sciences are presented to society Its part of the responsibilty ofthe artist to culivate an imagination capable of developing new concepts, new ideas of ‘thought, and new perceptions of the world so that they can be shared with the rest ofthe world. "Without ‘new vocabularies, dryness occurs and stagnation sets in... the world becomes primitive,” Brauner said. The first day of the workshop was spent exploring the expression “The Joy of Living’, and various Concepts were introduced as to the keys to finding Creativity within it. One of the most interesting ideas both speakers expressed was the theory that human ‘survival depends on the environment in which we lve. By way of understanding the calamities of nature, artists must fully respond with their human senses to achieve a high- a joy- and work from that inspiration. This led to a lecture about the symbols and lan- ‘guage we use for mapping the territory of joy. Following this ively discussion tho students were divided into groups of ten and the focus of the ‘afternoon was for the groups to investigate and discover what the essence of joy was. The following day, each group presented their ideas, notions and concepts of what they thought tho joy of living was. Each group expressed a frustration in articulating a complete description of joy. This ga Elder and Brauner an opportunity to help the students become aware of the various manifestations of joy, with anecdotes of similar experiances and facts. One. of the groups’ presentation was a performance piece. ‘Tho members of this group satin a single ow facing the audience and, one by one, smiled at the audisnce ‘to demonstrate and share, non-verbally, their expros- sion ofthe silent joy of living. This performance sparked an enthusiastic response to continue inthis vein and each group was asked to do a final perform- ‘ance of their own design forthe last day of the workshop. ‘The final performances were varied, eccentric, Vol. 3 Number 4 ‘and entertaining. Each performance had a unique interpretation of joy, including: a ‘communal Jackson tho dark; a washing machine in spin cycle; a glowing, bouncing ball as ‘apinnacl of joy; and a metaphorical struggle in the ‘search of true self beneath the a confusion of boxes. Not to be outdone by the students, Elder and Brauner ‘concluded the workshop with their own performance. ‘Tho presentation was surreal, inspiring and involved ‘a dopiction of the collage as Cakalla West. Ekdor dressed as an innocent and voiceless female, rauner impersonated an authortative shri. A pine ‘cone was used as the inspiration forthe simple beauty of well-being. ‘The workshop concluded withthe mutual agree ‘mont that joy was to be found in the familar, and ‘through the continual rediscovery of simplicity within ‘ach individuals ite Kevin Louis