{"id":809,"date":"2015-07-13T19:11:19","date_gmt":"2015-07-13T23:11:19","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/?p=809"},"modified":"2015-07-13T19:11:19","modified_gmt":"2015-07-13T23:11:19","slug":"creation-and-destruction","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/2015\/07\/creation-and-destruction.html","title":{"rendered":"creation and destruction"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/shadow-on-the-sun.jpg\"><img loading=\"lazy\" decoding=\"async\" class=\"  wp-image-810 alignleft\" src=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/shadow-on-the-sun-300x200.jpg\" alt=\"shadow on the sun\" width=\"336\" height=\"224\" srcset=\"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/shadow-on-the-sun-300x200.jpg 300w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/shadow-on-the-sun-1024x682.jpg 1024w, https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-content\/uploads\/2015\/07\/shadow-on-the-sun.jpg 1280w\" sizes=\"auto, (max-width: 336px) 100vw, 336px\" \/><\/a>All of us create and destroy on a daily basis, for the most part unwittingly.<\/p>\n<p>It\u2019s not possible for us to get through a day without having a thought pop into our heads, which on a very basic level is a moment of creation. Similarly, it\u2019s not possible to get through a day without performing an act that puts an end to something, if only on a molecular level.<\/p>\n<p>At the other end of the spectrum lie the conscious, grand acts of creation and destruction, the ones that overwhelm us with their magnitude.<\/p>\n<p>When I think of the number of people who devote their lives to destroying things, or to pursuits that they know are destructive, I feel like some balance is due, some extra effort in the direction of creation. I understand that destruction is called for in many instances \u2013 nothing can or should last forever \u2013 but I still feel like our destructive impulses get out of hand pretty quickly, and it behooves us to approach the act of creation in a conscious way, as a response as well as an impulse.<\/p>\n<p>When I see a roomful of young composers, which happens with fair frequency as I travel around to festivals and arts schools, I feel encouraged. Confronted by dozens of curious faces, all trying to understand how to create more effectively, more meaningfully, with greater awareness, I feel a measure of hope for this puzzling and wayward species.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>All of us create and destroy on a daily basis, for the most part unwittingly. It\u2019s not possible for us to get through a day without having a thought pop into our heads, which on a very basic level is a moment of creation. Similarly, it\u2019s not possible to get through a day without performing [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-809","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry","8":"has-post-thumbnail"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=809"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":812,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/809\/revisions\/812"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=809"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=809"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/curves\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=809"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}