By Cynthia Robertson | SDUN Reporter

Much of the art of conversation has faded with the advent of Facebook, texting and instant messaging. Such means rarely allow for good form of discourse on the important things in life such as art, philosophy, spirituality and science. The Meeting of Minds club aims to be a place for that.

Every Wednesday at 7 p.m., a group shows up at Filter Coffee House in North Park. With lattes and giant cookies in hand, they look to Gary Grine, who founded the group, as he opens the topic of discussion.

At the Oct. 19 meeting, 15 people sat to ruminate on Grine’s pre-arranged topic: Pathologies and the Artist. He opened with the statement that neuroscientists look at creativity as synaptic responses among neurons.

Members of the group suggested that behavior cannot simply be reduced to synapses. Grine agreed. “But wouldn’t mental illness or the use of drugs or alcohol affect those synapses?” he asked.

Plenty of cross talk ensued, particularly about the work of Van Gogh. Grine said he recently watched a “60 Minutes” program on Van Gogh.

“The program explored why Van Gogh [thought] like he did. His father died a crazy man, and he died crazy, too,” he said, handing out a paper on temporal lobe epilepsy, a type of epilepsy from which Van Gogh suffered.

Grine explained the epilepsy caused Van Gogh to experience intense emotions and to see vibrant colors.

“So then why do we find Van Gogh’s art so attractive if it is pathological? What makes good art? The first artist’s print I ever bought was Van Gogh’s ‘Starry Night.’ But a lot of people don’t like his art,” Grine said.

Grine noted that Van Gogh was considered the ‘village idiot’ during his lifetime. That brought a sputter of comments about Van Gogh’s art not being recognized until after his death.

“Well, now look up on the wall behind you…” said a woman named Kim, who asked her last name not be used, to a fellow participant. “What is that? A sculpture, a mixed media?” Kim asked, pointing to a small rectangular piece of board with white objects glued to it. “Is that art?” she asked.

Grine said, “Well, I wouldn’t hang it up on my wall. Nor would I put up ‘The Scream’ by Munch, and that’s considered a classic.”

“Anything that’s passionate or painful can inspire people to create,” Kim said, “I’ve written my own best poetry when I’m depressed. I can’t write at all if I’m happy.”

“I don’t think that means that someone has to be depressed to be able to produce art. But I do think creativity and sensitivity go together,” said participant Joan Kurland, “When artists do feel sad, it’s just that they have a certain depth that maybe other people don’t get to.”

“I think they feel happiness in a different way, too,” Kim said.

Grine moved to the next question, “What about other accidents of nature, such as being struck by lightning? There’s some research about composers getting their genius after getting hit by lightning,” he said.

Kurland said she had personally experienced something similar.

“Okay, I wasn’t hit by lighting, but it was almost like it,” said Kurland. She said that her mother took her to see “The Sound of Music” on Broadway when she was five years old.

“For some reason, in the song ‘A Few of My Favorite Things,’ when they sang that line, ‘then I don’t feel so bad,’ it was like something jolted inside of me. A few weeks later, I can remember lying on the floor listening to classical music and I felt this indescribable ecstasy,” she said.

“From that point on, composing and songwriting came easily to me. I’m a concert pianist now,” Kurland said.

Grine thanked her for that story and everyone for coming. It was time to wrap the conversation up.

“I hope you have enjoyed the creative process here,” he said. “The whole purpose of the group is to not be pedantic, but to ask questions.”
Kim smiled. “That’s why I come here. I admit I don’t know a lot about different things. I get to think about what we’ve talked about,” she said.

For a list of topics scheduled through the end of 2011, and for more information, visit www.civilizedconversation.wordpress.com/meeting-of-minds-club.