Edgar Morin on Art, Shamanism, and the Creative Trance

Key facts

• Edgar Morin is a French philosopher and sociologist known for complexity theory.
• The interview was published in Beaux Arts Magazine n°438 in December 2020.
• Morin argues that creativity is a state of trance rooted in shamanism.
• He cites Lascaux cave paintings as an example of shaman-artists achieving precision in darkness.
• Morin had a quasi-mystical experience with Degas's 'Little Dancer of Fourteen Years' at age 13–14.
• He was impressed by the abstract works of Hans Hartung and Pierre Soulages.
• Morin considers Surrealism the most important movement of the 20th century.
• He critiques globalization for techno-economic dominance and cultural fragmentation.
• Morin calls cinema a 'total art' and highlights global cinema's diversity.
• He notes the failure of cultural democratization in France due to class inequality.
• Morin laments the commodification of art where market value overshadows aesthetic value.
• He identifies adolescence and old age as peak creative periods free from conventions.
• Morin defines art as human-made objects that evoke aesthetic emotions.
• He believes beauty is no longer archetypal but emanates from the work.