Written by Xenson

I though art was that natural phenomenon

That that explores intangibles

Quest, failure, triumph, humiliation, integrity, omnipotence

That that manifests harmless entities

But fearless of ingratiating accidents

That that confesses sin, guilt and innocence

That monumental moment of inspired intuition

That evolves into an invitation to constant contemplation

That that conceals not the notion of transformation

But harnesses the flow of unlimited creative synergies

That that turns horrific situations into poetic masterpieces

And poetic masterpieces into horrific epics

I thought artistic processes intuitiuosly manifest

In every subconsciously observant creator

And are not susceptible to formulaic propositional tendencies

Why do we become displaced creatives

Slaves to pre-conceived self contained izms

Why are we boxed in by a predicament of cultural impositions

And prostitutional touristic ailments

Can´t we adhere to a third eye sensibility

That looks outside of a tried and tired realm

And look at Art as an aesthetic discourse

In a cross disciplinary context?

© xenson

Samson Ssenkaaba aka Xenson graduated in 1999 from the Margaret Trowell School of Industrial and Fine Arts, Makerere University majoring in graphic design and painting. Since then, his works have been shown in numerous exhibitions and fashion shows in Uganda and abroad.

For Issue 034 Jul ’13 of Startjournal.org, Editor Thomas Bjørnskau invited eight Ugandan artists from different art fields to write an essay about the essence of art, all responding to the same kind of question: to sing/write/paint/write plays etc — what is it really about? This is one of the essays. You can read the other essays here.