Episode 10 of Sharron Kraus’ Preternatural Investigations podcast is called “The Alchemy of Art.” The posted description says:
In which the role suffering plays in creating art is explored and the idea of the tortured artist is contrasted with that of the artist as alchemist. The idea of art as alchemy, as a way of transmuting the ‘base materials’ of sadness, loss, depression and darkness into something golden, is shown to be a more optimistic and inspiring model of creativity, and one that gives us a way of understanding why art is so important to us.
Music by Sharron Kraus, with Neal Heppleston, Guy Whittaker, Nick Jonah Davis, Oliver Parfitt, Jenny Bliss and Harriet Earis
REFERENCES
Alan Garner, The Voice That Thunders: Essays and Lectures
Jeanette Winterson, Art Objects: Essays on Art and Effrontery
Dez Vylenz, dir., The Mindscape of Alan Moore
“Preternatural Investigations is a podcast about things that are strange but not too strange; the marvelous things that lie ‘between the mundane and the miraculous’1.
“As a rationalist who believes there is magic, mystery and meaning to be found in the world around us, my investigations are influenced by William James’ enquiries into religious experience and Mark Fisher’s explorations of the weird and the eerie.
“My subjects will include the magic we experience in certain places, as a result of participating in certain kinds of activity, in response to art, music and literature, and in nature; the relationship between fictional representations of magic and the preternatural magic we can experience in the world, at wonder, imagination and the ability to find new ways of seeing familiar things, the way fictional and other constructed worlds intersect with and are grafted onto the natural world, enabling us to experience the world as a many-layered palimpsest that draws us in, leads us on, and reveals itself to us at the same time as giving us insights into aspects of ourselves.
“Preternatural Investigations ran for 12 weeks, starting Sunday 23rd August, 2020 hosted by musician and writer Sharron Kraus.”
https://preternatural-investigations.org/episode-10/.
