Context: Sheffield
Writing Challenge 2023
Posted by Chris Sissons on Apr 5, 2023
Writing Challenge ยป Chris Sissons
From where do streams of creativity bubble up? Within or without? Is it from the artist’s inner life? Or is inspiration external to the artist?
I see the flow as from outside to inside and then out again. Inspiration always begins out there, somewhere. Our context is everything. The world demands that we interact with it. My creative life would be so different if I lived not in Sheffield but in Manchester, New York or Delhi.
The world whispers, “here I am, what do you say to that?” It’s an invitation to respond in some way. Some people fall in love, others go to war, run away and sometimes birth something new.
We are formed by encounters with whatever’s out there. It forms us and we get our own back by creating something new. Sometimes formation is a deliberate attempt to create a type of person through schooling or parental aspiration. We have to rebel at some stage. After all, we can’t be someone else’s vision of what’s good forever.
Sometimes early schooling conflicts with the reality of a life lived. So we choose a side or cry “a plague on both your houses”? It doesn’t make much difference until we glimpse something unexpected.
Creativity is rebellion against what’s already there. It’s a refusal to accept what is has to be. It’s not denial of what is true or real or beautiful; it’s a refusal to accept that what is, is all it can be.
Our context is the place where we live, its geography, history, natural history, architecture –everything that forms us. It’s also the people around us. Everyone who expresses a view about our work. Perhaps especially fellow creatives, who occupy the same space and see it so differently.
And context interacts with the person who turns up with a vision grounded in a place, a time, a body, a worldview – all so flimsy and yet strong enough to see and create new ideas.
Yeah, you can choose to sleep through your life, ignore the world around you. But it will happen before long, something will creep up behind you, tap you on your shoulder and yell: Boo!
So, I plan to explore context, this eccentric city with its history of troublemakers, weapons production, knives and forks, rivers and hills. As I describe my place, my question is what does this place say about me?
I’ll roam the streets, my eyes peeled, ears alert, seeking inspiration and report back on what I find. One rule, whatever I find I’ll find a space for myself in the picture. Not because I have an ego as big as a city but because I am a part of it.
This year's writing challenge, fueled by prompts, is about the City of Sheffield. Be surprised by what's included and even more surprised by what's left out. This is Post 0 and there are 21 to come about Sheffield. Share your thoughts and your love for the City in the comments. The next post is Shifting Sands.
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