What Is Integral Art?

Part 1: Art, Consciousness, and God

Do you know what Integral Art is? Would you be able to recognize it if you saw it? Does a piece of art need to have some intrinsic spiritual component in order to be considered integral? And since the word "integral" is often synonymous with phrases like "a theory of everything," wouldn't that require each piece of integral art to cover all possible bases—including all quadrants, all levels, all lines, all states, and all types in the artwork itself?

Here Ken shines some light on these important questions, offering a simple coherent definition of Integral Art while explaining how it both includes and sets itself apart from every other artistic movement in history. If you are new to the integral aesthetic experience and are looking for a basic introduction to the major forms and functions of Integral Art, you will not want to miss this talk....

Part 2: Beauty and the "I" of the Beholder

Why is art so important? As Ken discusses in this clip, art represents an intrinsic dimension of human consciousness itself, and developing our aesthetic sensibilities is just as crucial as our moral maturity or expanding our scientific knowledge of the world. As such, artists play a very special role in our lives as interpreters of this present moment, preservers of our shared past, and arbiters of tomorrow's unfolding. Historically it has often been the artists who have pushed our cultural edge forward the most profoundly, simply because they have a certain freedom of experimentation that most people in other vocations simply do not have.  As the leading edge of the world's development is now Integral, we can begin to look to artists whose consciousness is integrally informed to offer us glimpses of a more sane and inclusive future, and help unearth the radical potentials that await us there….

Part 3: The Role of the Artist

The artist is many things to many people. To some he is a shaman, shining a light in the darkness of unmentionable Mystery. To others she is a healer, restoring harmony and balance to our lives while rekindling our flickering joy. And to others still the artist is a time-traveler, reaching beyond the periphery of the present moment and pulling ribbons of the future back into this world. This is what has made the artist so critical to our ongoing cultural growth for tens of thousands of years: the simple fact that we need to see something before we can act on it morally or study it scientifically. And it's the artist's job to help us to see new things—enacting newer. wider, deeper realities that often did not exist until they first materialized in swathes of ink, oil, and song. Art can be a great aesthetic and moral beacon that reminds us of who we are and all we can be, a gateway to new dimensions of beauty and new ways of being—splattering layer upon layer of meaning upon the empty canvas of our lives....

Part 4: Creativity and the Integral Age

In the conclusion of his interview with Elle Nicolai, Ken offers a glimpse into his own creative process and unique talents, his hopes for Integral Institute and Integral Life, and his advice for a new generation of Integral pioneers.....

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Image Credits:
Griffin by Mark T. Smith
Tied Together by Michael Bergt
Malachite Muse by Philip Rubinov-Jacobson
I Get the Whole 'Shell Game by Bryce Widom