Resonations: A New Lens in Artistic Connection
Inspiration is the wrong word for what one artist's work does to another. Resonation is fairer: shared commitment, not one-to-one influence — and why a Robyn track sits under a photobook.
In art, we often use the term ‘inspiration.’
But we might have lost its true essence.
The words we use to articulate our relationship with art tend to put blinders on our perception. Take the word ‘inspiration,’ the divine influence. It’s so commonly used, so casually thrown around, that we may have lost the essence of it. As the definition suggests, inspiration is “the process of being mentally stimulated to do or feel something, especially to do something creative.”
I’d like to offer another word when we talk about our work: Resonation. When I resonate with another artist’s work, I feel a profound connection, like we speak the same artistic language on the same wavelength. This goes beyond mere inspiration - it’s about finding threads of shared thoughts, shared beliefs, and shared vision.
When we describe others’ work, we tend to look to renowned artists, current or from bygone eras, and label them as sources of inspiration. Or when the artist claims their inspiration from known artists, we feel relief as it is easy to make obvious connections. But in doing so, are we not overlooking the contributions of less heralded artists? Isn’t there a risk of negating the immense, collective influence of known, unknown, and forgotten artists that have shaped our artistic sensibilities over the ages?
Should the winners take all?
Thinking about resonation rather than inspiration seems a fairer tribute to the universe of artistic thought we all draw from. It allows us to acknowledge a grand tapestry of influences without belittling anyone’s contributions and limiting our understanding to linear, one-to-one connections.
I think about my photography series, Come Get Your Honey. In an essay in the book, my dear friend, curator Marianne Ager compared my work to the works of Nan Goldin and Christer Strömholm, whose photos also document important narratives of LGBTQIA+ communities. While the readers can say I could be ‘inspired’ by them (benchmarking my work to theirs), I suggest that my work ‘resonates’ with theirs - not an apparent influence, but a shared commitment and creative drive. In fact, my resonations go beyond photography: Painters, musicians, novelists, psychologists, philosophers, and my queer belly dancer friends.
Let’s consider music, a different art form, to add another dimension to this discourse. My most profound resonations often come from this realm. Music uniquely mirrors and amplifies my current mood, and I can keep listening to the pieces that strike the right chords within me. If you’ve seen my book Come Get Your Honey, you might have noticed a rhythmic undercurrent, a melody underlying the narrative (Hint: try googling ‘Robyn Honey’).
I want to clarify that I’m not suggesting a song that inspired the book in a conventional sense. Rather, its emotional resonance echoed my feelings during the editing process, contributing to the overall tone and mood of the work.
Art isn’t born out of a vacuum - it’s a continuous dialogue spanning generations, cultures, and individuals. We all contribute to this dialogue, borrowing, reinterpreting, also forgetting, or simply creating our own new ideas. So, the next time you find yourself marveling at a piece of art, ask yourself: does it inspire or resonate with you?