On Darkness

All those could definitely be factors. And then from a Mormon POV, some people equate darkness w/the influence of Satan/the absence of the Holy Ghost.

Another Mormon POV is that exploration of darkness, esp. in art, can be valuable as a way of proving that the reverse (light) exists–a via negativa (although much more work has been done on Catholic art).

Again, that’s fine. Sometimes interesting. Sometimes not. Sometimes it’s just adolescent. Me–I’m haunted by this Joseph Smith quote:

“Thy mind, O man! If thou wilt lead a soul unto salvation, must stretch as high as the utmost heavens, and search into and contemplate the darkest abyss, and the broad expanse of eternity, thou must commune with God.”

So I have a different theory on darkness. On the need for art itself. I think that all of us, but perhaps esp. artists, have a spirit (meaning specifically our pre-existent spirit–the essence that is us) that is freaking out inside us.

It’s doing so b/c it’s experiencing physicality & pain/pleasure & time & space & boundaries (birth/death) that it hasn’t before. Inside an interface (body/brain/mind) that is overwhelming & finely attuned.

That combines with an innate (pre-existent) knowledge of what heaven is like–and what heaven will be, which means we’re remembering/prophesying utopias that we’re not currently living in. And ones that aren’t imaginary but that are/will be.
We also know loss (losing the 1/3 of the hosts, losing friends/family here). On earth, we experience a kind of hell & a kind of heaven, mixed up together in a dynamic state. We want to understand all of that state (including the darkest abyss).

In other words, part of why we’re attracted to darkness is because we want to understand/can’t cope with time & death.

(and infinity).

But also b/c we want to understand the experiences & materials of mortality. We are driven to know. To create. To seek to redeem. To transmute entropy into order.

Some of us are particularly sensitive to aspects of how our spirit interfaces w/mortality. It’s why I distrust film/theater. It’s why when I first listened to Joy Division & the Cure, I discovered a mode that was suddenly familiar. Not new–remembered.

It’s why all of us–but particularly some of us–need weird art, dark art, abyss art.

Now, as with all things, some darkness is more interesting & helpful than other darkness. Some dark art is better than other dark art. And everyone’s mileage varies on what helps & what we can/should handle (I don’t watch horror films–see above).

But mortality is messed up. And we feel that all the way through our beings. Don’t fear that. May it also not swallow you up. May it even be an engine of creativity for you. Amen.