This week we’ve been talking about the importance of transparency for artists.

I want to take a few moments today to share with you two examples in art that I think serve as great examples of transparent creativity.  So, here they are:

1.  Cameo cast in new film, Up in the Air:

This past year, director Jason Reitman, the son of well known director, Ivan Reitman, released his 6th film, Up in the Air.  This film is about a man (played by George Clooney) who’s job is hired by companies around the country to come and inform employees of their termination.  A major chunk of the cast in this film is the group of people who are fired throughout the film.  To my surprise, I discovered that the majority of these actors were first time actors who had actually lost a job.

The actors were not acting but instead were telling their stories of their termination.  This is how Jason Reitman described the experience in an interview with CNN:

“They would come in. They’d sit down at the table. We’d interview them, each one for about 10 minutes. ‘How did you lose your job?’ ‘What was it like?’ ‘Who did you tell first?’ How has it impacted your life?”

“After about 10 minutes of that we’d say ‘And now, we’d like to fire you on camera, we’d like you to either respond the way you did the day you lost your job or if you’d prefer the way you wish you had.

And each one would turn into an impromptu scene whether they would either get angry, sad, funny and they would just start asking about things … they went with it in a way that I would never have imagined they would because none of them had acting experience.” (Quoted in CNN.com)

These ‘actors’ were re-living their personal tragedy for a film.  I found this level of transparency to be one of the most impacting elements of this movie.

(Side-note: Whit, one of our bloggers, wrote a great post about Up in the Air in his personal blog, which you can see here)

2. Country Singer/Songwriter, Loretta Lynn:

Loretta Lynn has been in the country music industry for decades, and Lynn’s transparency is easily seen through her songs.

Listen to this song as an example:

As you have heard, her songs serve reflect her life.  Her story is simple and some might say ordinary, but what I find so appealing about Loretta’s songs and performances is her earnest telling of these simple stories.  As an artist, Loretta Lynn is not trying to be anybody else but herself, and this transparency has captured her listeners for many years.

These are two few examples I have found of transparency in art.  Of course there are many more…so, what are some examples you have found?