Inventing the World
Left: Biblical illustration of God as architect of the world, circa 1220, collection of the Austrian National Library
Right: Clock in the Musée d'Orsay, Paris, France, erected 1900, photo by Paul Solomon
The ancient Jewish injunction tikkun olam tells us we must work to improve, repair, and heal the world. Olam, or the world, is understood to mean the earth, a community, or a single individual. We humans – individually and collectively, have responsibility for shaping the world. Artists, scientists, and countless other creative individuals have particular roles to play in this invention or reinvention of the world.
Immediately below, I present my new book, Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality. The first national edition was published by Cognella, in November 2023. Further down, I discuss how my teaching philosophy plays out in teaching about the arts and culture. The course of study I founded, called The Skilled Observer in Art and Science, brings to light how scientists, researchers, and medical clinicians leverage tools in the sciences and the arts to help repair and heal the planet, our bodies, and our minds.
Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality
Kara Walker’s A Subtlety, or The Marvelous Sugar Baby, Williamsburg, Brooklyn, 2014, photo by Paul Solomon
Drawing of the Sphinx and the Great Pyramid, Description de l'Égypte, 1822
During 2020 – 2023, I wrote a new book called Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality. This interactive e-book tells the sprawling story of how artists have created the world we live in. The story unfolds in 12 chapters of text, illustrated with over 200 photographs and embedded with videos that feature the lives and works of contemporary and historical artists. The book makes connections between what may seem wildly disparate ideas, events, and people. The varied topics and media in Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality makes use of pattern recognition in the study of culture and history. The book is organized both chronologically and thematically.
These two images of sphinxes, found in a chapter titled Spectacle is Power, help illustrate how colossal statues and elaborately staged events enabled states to maintain their hold on society. Artist Kara Walker borrowed from antiquity to create her extraordinary work, A Subtlety, or The Marvelous Sugar Baby, that reigned during the summer of 2014 in Williamsburg, Brooklyn. With her site-specific, sugar-endowed sphinx, she created a spectacle that tells the story of slavery, early American trade and industry, and the subjugation of Black women.
In the same chapter, the reader learns how athletes, including Muhammed Ali and Colin Kaepernick, used their power as iconic figures in sports to seize the attention of nationwide audiences and articulate deeply held positions on social issues, from the war in Vietnam to racism in the NFL. The chapter concludes with a substantial section about Paul Robeson, a one-man spectacle whose towering accomplishments during the 20th century illustrate how, against all odds, a single artist can reinvent the world.
Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality makes visible and celebrates individuals who were never recognized and others, like Robeson, who were erased from history.
A chapter entitled “No, I mean, where are you really from?” discusses vast journeys taken by millions of people that have shaped societies past and present. The chapter highlights the similar histories and journeys that Jewish people and Black Americans have made over the centuries.
Photographs from Alejandro Cartagena’s book, Carpoolers 2011 – 2012
Paul Robeson photographed in 1941, by Yosuf Karsh.
This chapter is introduced with photographs by Alejandro Cartagena from his series Carpoolers 2011 – 2012. Cartagena, born in the Dominican Republic, has lived in Mexico since he was 13. His grandfather was a construction head or “maestro” and sometimes rode in open trucks and took Cartagena with him. The photographer now lives near Monterrey, Mexico, a popular location for “maestros’ to find workers willing to travel in the back of a truck for a day’s work. The men he photographed in open trucks from a highway overpass reveal otherwise hidden explanations for why people move from one place to another.
Inventing the World: How Art Creates Reality is designed for use in humanities and arts courses.
If you are interested in adopting my book, please see this page on the Cognella website.
Interdisciplinary learning enhances curiosity, active listening, and observational skills:
At Western Michigan University, I direct the Direct Encounter with the Arts program. About 600 undergraduate students are introduced to the arts and culture during most years through in-person experiences as engaged audience members in the visual arts, theatre, music, dance, and more. Classes are team-taught and satisfy Essential Studies criteria. Each semester, the curriculum is unique based on art exhibitions, theatrical productions, music and dance concerts, and visiting guest artists.
Many young people are imbued with the fervor of resistance. To succeed in repairing the world, resistance needs to be informed by inspiration. The accomplishments of artists and other creative individuals, past and present, provide the inspiration that enables students to hone their vision as they examine their own lives and stare into the future. The syllabus enjoins students: Don’t just sit there, argue with me! Given the challenging subjects that contemporary artists engage in, a classroom climate that emphasizes respectful ways of articulating and listening to all points of view is paramount.
Students learn how imaginative people become innovative agents who constantly reinvent the world from guest artists, community leaders, and other creative individuals. Regardless of the professional paths, they gravitate toward; I urge my students to do as artists do: Live fully in the present, argue with the past, and challenge the future.
Guest artists share their work, perform, are interviewed on stage, and engage students in discussion. Students have an unerring ability to sense authenticity and learn best from those willing to voice their vulnerabilities. Guests artists are selected for their passion and willingness to speak about their work and lives on personal terms.
Here are some remarkable artists who have been guests in 2019 – 2021.