FIRST TUESDAY FORUM
January 14, 2020
12:30 – 1:30 pm
(Note: This is the 2nd Tues. in January)
Speakers: Yunus Tuncel, PhD and Maria Taveras, LCSW
Jung’s ideas echo those of the Nietzsche of the same period in that every human being has an inner spark, a “creative fire” to work on. Jung, like the post-romantic Nietzsche, recognizes the potential artist in everyone and has similar ideas on artistic disposition. One such idea is to bring all oppositional traits and tendencies into some sensible unity, without effacing the uniqueness of those traits. One major conflict that Jung touches upon is the conflict between the longing for happiness and passion for artistic creation (see Modern Man in Search of a Soul); in Nietzsche, this corresponds to the conflict between self-preservation and culture-making. Nietzsche also acknowledges the conflict between creation and destruction, and the conflict between the herd instinct and “overhumanliness.” The artist, whether in Nietzsche or Jung, not only acknowledges these conflicts but also gives a form or a meaning to them in an artistic medium and the work of art created.
We will see how these works are small stops on life’s journey and the self-creation of the artist. Both Nietzsche and Jung see art as a forum for self-transformation and healing. In and through art we can deal with our problems and suffering and turn negative emotions into positive, uplifting ones. As he presents it in “The Healing Function of Art,” Jung sees great potential in art’s capacity to heal.
Yunus Tuncel is a co-founder of the Nietzsche Circle and is the Editor-in-Chief of its electronic journal, The Agonist. He is the author of Towards a Genealogy of Spectacle, Agon in Nietzsche and Emotion in Sports and the editor of Nietzsche and Transhumanism.
Maria Taveras is a Jungian analyst in private practice in New York City. She is also an artist who paints and sculpts archetypal images from her own dreams.
No reservations required, suggested contribution fee of $2.00. All are welcome.
