Back in 1995 Calvin (Cal) Seerveld, my Professor and Thesis supervisor in Philosophical Aesthetics at the Institute for Christian Studies, invited me and Jim Leach to spend the day with him and Inés to break break and learn how to pick out out ripe fruit at the spec / rescued fruit stand at the North York Farmers Market. I believe he was highlighting the relationship between structure, improvisation, and intentional playfulness in the fields of creation, as well as questioning how one can determine if their efforts are truly fruitful and ripe.
Cal asked that I film a song that he composed for his memorial service: OUR LIVES ARE FILLED WITH SORROWS. The melody "ES KOMMT EIN SCHIFF GELADEN" originally belonged to a German Marian song, or love song dedicated to Mary. It later became a carol when set to a text traditionally attributed to the mystic Johannes Tauler (circa 1300–1361). This version was published with Tauler's words in the Roman Catholic Andernacher Gesangbuch of 1608. The harmonization was composed by Emily R. Brink.
Cal profoundly shaped my understanding of imaginativity and humanity. I cherish his words: "Aesthetic life is not something sophisticated – that's a humanistic lie. Aesthetic life is as integral to being human as building sandcastles on the beach and giving your children names." His wisdom and wit will be dearly missed. Jazz it up!
Here is a podcast interview that I conducted with Cal where we discussed art, education, labor movements and cosmoscopic dimensions of life and society.
Credits:
by Scott Macklin