Polyamory and Art

Hello, all!  

It’s Gina—I’m also a blog contributor here.  I am in a polyamorous relationship with Martin.   It’s so wonderful to have the chance to connect and discuss poly issues, thoughts, concerns and success stories with you folks!   I know there will be people from all walks of life passing through, and I thank you in advance for reading and commenting and asking questions if you have them.  I’m happy to clarify anything!  

Before I go on with the entries, though, a little housekeeping:

My opinions about polyamory in this and future entries may or may not jibe with what your opinions are.  This being America, I’m okay with that.  I’m not trying to disrespect or denigrate anyone else’s lifestyle or choices or way of thinking, but I am going to express mine here.  This place was created just for this purpose.  If you do happen to get offended, I’m sorry—that is never my intention.  Dissenting opinions are quite welcome in the comments, but let’s just keep an air of civility about the place, shall we?   I promise to do the same.  Thanks, all!

Brilliant!   Now on with the blog!  

*******************************************************************

What, you may ask, is the connection between polyamory and art?   (And when I say art/artists, I mean all of the arts, collectively.)

Let’s say, multiple loves. 

Some artists will fall in love with many ideas for many projects, at the same time.  Even when working on a single project, other ideas may come along that are just irresistible.   So they might initiate the first stages of those new ideas as well, striking while the iron is hot, so that they don’t fade from existence and die incomplete.  There are times when they will continue to work on many pieces at one time, switching between them and slowly working each of them while they take shape, keeping the enthusiasm alive for each one, until their completion.   Not every artist does this—some plug away at one piece at a time until it is done, putting all of their attention and energy into it.  But there are definitely those who multi-task, me being one of them.   

This begs the question: does poly resonate with some artists because they are already “multi-oriented” in their psychological landscapes?    

Artists also tend to be more embracing of the non-traditional.  They see things in a different light than more linear-thinking folk do.  Moreover, they LIKE and IDENTIFY WITH being different.  They will be the ones you find outside the box, coloring outside the lines, breaking the cookie cutter, punching the dough with their own thumbprints and calling it ‘self-portrait’.  And in our culture, poly is still outside the norm.  (When I was in an interracial relationship, the artist in me secretly giggled to myself for flouting convention... and now that I’m in a poly relationship...I still do sometimes.  (Shrugs)  Artist.)  

With this willing living “outside of society”, coupled with the concept of simultaneous attachment to multiple artworks, which are very personal, and very much beloved, it seems that poly would be something that might feel very natural to some artists.   The idea that one can love more than one, and experience very different things with each one, at the same time rather than in succession, could be a natural leaning for people who already think in multiples, having a number of irons in the fire at the same time. The fact that it’s not mainstream?   Why, all the better.   

Maybe it’s the way the artist brain is wired--to garner the maximum amount of soul-intoxicating experiences--in order to feel pleasure, in order to grow psychologically/emotionally/spiritually, in order to glean inspiration to create--in a lifetime.   Being open to new things and pursuing adventures is very nearly part of The Artist’s Credo.   Like polyamory, it’s being open to choosing what kind of discoveries in life one wants to have for one’s own enrichment as a human being (ideally with the ethical stipulation of “an’ it harm none”).  Is it a coincidence that artists/hippies in the ‘60s embraced “free love” and formed family communes of people in multiple relationships with one another?   Probably not.  It kind of all goes together.  Wanting to have explorations with more than one person breaks boundaries, and artists are quite comfortable with breaking boundaries.   

Now I KNOW that not all poly folk are artists and not all artists are poly.  I also know that artists aren’t the only mental multi-taskers or the only ones choosing alternate lifestyles out there.  I get that.  I’m very much generalizing, due to lack of hard demographics.  But the overlapping circles...well, that’s interesting to ponder.   And pondering--it’s what I do, folks.