Friday, January 25, 2008

On Believing with '-ist', Being with '-er'

Hi all-

That's my cat Ralph. Just giving the model credit.

I've been thinking a lot lately about what happens when you put '-er' at the end of a verb and call yourself that. What does calling myself 'writer' or 'photographer' or 'drummer' mean? What does it do to my expectations about the work. Gaping Void, in its ongoing 'How to Be Creative' series, talks about what happens to your work when you 'make it'. I'm talking about the step before that.

What happens to your work when it becomes 'you work' and not just something fun you do. Something that takes up your time. What's the difference between you owning your art and your art owning you back? I feel the expectations rise every time I get really into something and start calling myself a 'something-er'. I'm going to actively avoid that kind of language for a while. Let myself be a 'scientist and artist' and letting anything in between those poles come my way.

-A

Wednesday, January 23, 2008

On Hitting the Button, Not Showing Off, Capturing Moments.

Hi all-

Someone about to take a photo has to answer a fundamental question: is this the moment I want to capture? Because really, even in the age of digital photography and very large memory cards, you only get one chance. Even if it comes out blurry, that was the moment. That's what you got of it, and it is never coming back again. It's a big part of taking the best snapshot, or effectively using the time of a photoshoot. Both are just instants, and even though in some cases you can try again, it's not really the same anymore. I don't need to convince you of this.

It takes judgment. Knowing when to hit that button and commit to something. Maybe not the best photo in the world, but something. I'm learning more and more in music that technique in and to itself is not enough. You can have the best technique in the world, but without the judgement to put it to good use, you are just showing off. You have to trust yourself. Maybe the best photo, or the best drum piece, is kind of handjammed and simple. Minimal and kind of blurry. A little off focus, but really what you needed all along.

-A

Monday, January 14, 2008

On Everyone, Hopping Planes, Art.

Hi all-

We live in a world where everyone can touch everything. Within a day or so, I can hop a plane and be nearly anywhere on Earth. Then, once I'm at the closest airport, a few days of searching might put me in contact with any one out of the 6,000,000,000 people out there. And we all leave a mark. Not just cosmically, but sometimes in very real ways. The lives we affect, the places we change, the bits of ourselves we leave behind. Here we see a little of everyone, all put together in the same place, in Philadelphia. These pieces of art are connected to people, who are connected to each other, so on and so on until everyone has been in or watched a Kevin Bacon film. And here it is for you, and now you are connected to it, and to me. What do we leave behind? Can it all be art? Please?
-A

Wednesday, January 9, 2008

On Wire, Ego, Law.

Hi all-

There's all sorts of stuff shooting around on these wires these days. I'm just an old fogie for even bringing it up. It's moot. It's last year's news. It's law, like gravity. It's over, old Joe, turn in your badge and gun and go home. But it just keeps nagging me. Not that I think we are getting too advanced. Just that we aren't advanced enough. Is there such a thing as a consistent identity on the wire? Not just an IP address, but something human. Something consistent. We see more and more expression everyday. More than anyone has ever been able to before. Sometimes I just don't want to talk about it anymore. Sometimes I'd rather just totally integrate. Make the wire something not so other. Is it that distance that still lets us keep our human egos? Is the lack of human identity, or its redefinition, the thing that keeps corn fed boys at bay? One thing is for certain, we as humans have an unprecedented opportunity to express ourselves. So much so that it's becoming impossible to be heard. But then again maybe it always was. The wire becomes the world.

-A

Tuesday, January 8, 2008

On Concrete is Not a Pun, Only One Inch of Sky, And Oh Yeah, Faith

Hi all-

Sometimes the prospect of faith can be daunting. I know that's a really abstract statement, but what can I say besides that's just the rub of it. We are trying to tackle some idea or conception of something we've never seen. Maybe we don't want to see it anyway, worrying about the disappointment our perceptions would be to some notion of Platonic ideal. Ruining what we represent as an object of faith with a mundane reality. Yet people still flock to buildings like the one pictured here. Maybe it's not as abstract as I first thought. Maybe people are afraid of not seeing, not having this concrete noun to pin as the center of faith. I'm not sure either way, I guess it depends on the individual. The real or the ideal. The building or the sky behind it.

-A