Ingemar Lindh:
Fright for Creativity

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INGEMAR LINDH, festival conference, Porsgrunn, Norway, June 5th 1997, upon a question to his preceding speech from a member of the audience:- 'You say you want a society were people are creative. How about those that does not dare to be creative?':

"Not daring to be creative, I doubt.

Perhaps socially not daring, yes. Of course it is scary to dig into yourself. To reveal something about yourself. But here immediately comes in the whole concept of normal, not normal, and normality, and on the other side, quality. There can't be such a quality judgement about creativity. But we refer it to that area."

"SO we say - I would do something creative, and then, at the same time, I judge it - is it good or bad? Could I be better or not? We place it in a social context. Whereas when we are really in front of the mystery of creativity, we don't have that. At least for a couple of hours.

When the baby is born it is not immediately: 'Oh! A fireman!' 'No, I think a bank director.' It's just the marvel of the thing itself. And there is no speculation: 'Will it feed me when I get old?' It's not there, there's no speculation.

Nor in front - if you're not selling flowers - in front of an orchid. You don't try to take it home to do the washing up with it. Because you will discover that how efficient it was on you, it will be totally useless here. In front of the marvel of the phenomena itself, we don't have any speculation, and we should not with creativity either."

"THIS goes very far, because there is in creativity a kind of necessity that is probably, or perhaps, organic, natural, and indispensable. And that is representation. What we today call a theatre piece is representation in many languages, Latin languages, in Italian representatione and so forth.

But it shouldn't matter. 'Mama look!' 'Yeah, you're very nice.' But not going beyond that. Because in that act there is creativity, and that we forget about.

There is already this, that you don't judge the baby. When we speak about the fear of being creative, it's very much this, that we immediately judge for ourselves or the others. This should not be. It's not art yet. It's the source of art.

As it's the source for everything else."

"WHAT is fundamental, is that the amount of value is not measurable, we can't measure it. That's for instance why we have so big difficulties with - the first time, if you are not used to it and working with it - meeting handicapped people. Because, you say: 'I have two legs, and you have one. Don't you feel, just a little bit,... Because I can run fast and you can't get around?' Why? He would use another technique I can't tell you.

We can't measure the joy. Probably you can have somebody in coma. And you say: 'Poor guy, he can't kiss a girl any longer.' But we don't know the amount of joy it is when they change the sheets for him. Because he don't show anything. He can't communicate. Perhaps for the first time in his life, he can be free. And just feel pleasure. But this we don't know... And all days into this world would not substitute that moment.

We always have the values of prestige or... prestanta, what we can produce. He can't run, he can't think, he can't... But he's breathing. Probably breathing much healthier than I do, because he's not smoking. Our values are always very flat. We can't say this is more than that.

And the person that is able to do this, perhaps feel the same joy as Patrick when he meets with Jacqueline. We can't measure. As knowing is totally personal, pleasure and reward as a consequence is also that. You can't measure yourself with the others. Only say is the thing there, or not, that's all."

Replies to questions and comments from the audience after the main speech:

• The extensive need for therapy in society, as a symptom of lack of opportunities to be creative.
  
  
• You say you want a society were people are creative. How about those that does not dare to be creative?
  
  
• In a discussion you have said an actor cannot be another person. But can you use a play to gain understanding into another person?
  
  
• How do you work at the Institute for Scenic Art (Institutet för Scenkonst), and what do you aim at with your work?