time to think

[avad]

Many more thoughts about lifestyle....art....sustainability. I try to follow certain tracks forward... doing calculations in my head...chess moves of a sort...and so far all I can see with each of these possible trajectories towards being able to really make a living....is a life with emphasis on 'production'...a sort of object factory. and that rings wrong with me...*sigh*

"Continuing with the same argument, but giving different reasons, the sound artist and writer David Toop says, "The irony is that the more successful an artist becomes, the more administration, the more travel, the more interviews, the more advisory committees, the more students writing a thesis on you, the more just about anything except time to think."

and there's the rub. because ohmy ohmy I need time to think most most of all. Thinking is so undervalued in our culture. I have not yet found a way to even Talk about it...as an activity...that requires time...that is such a necessary large part of my days/life. I feel that if looked at...society would see that time as 'empty' and try to fill it. Sort of: Well, if you're not working (scheduled job outside of house or visible production task in studio(resin pour,painting), then you're available...for this or that. Until there are no spaces left. Yet it is (to me) the spaces, the thinking, the well, from which the meaning of my work comes...and any possibility of change with a bigger picture in mind.

How to slow down and yet support oneself?has become a persistent question in my head these days. Just as everything seems to be speeding up..

Comments

[adrienmundi]

If you figure out how to balance sustainability with time for thought, will you please share? The links between the material, social, aesthetic and theoretical continue to elude me (darn it).

[avad.livejournal.com]

and me. perhaps we'll stumble upon the answer soon...

[solarfields.livejournal.com]

I can't answer the "supporting oneself" side of the equation but artistically you have to be true to yourself, and your inspiration and rhythms. You can't force it and you can't allow it to be about "product".

Just BEING is underrated in our culture and I wish it weren't so. I am trying to weed out my personal impatience but so much of that is cultural impatience. What are we all in such a hurry for? Why not take our shoes off in the tall grass and disappear awhile?

[avad.livejournal.com]

true that. I nearly wrote about that here as well...(just Being)..figured it was a whole other post...
*sigh*

[ninakatz.livejournal.com]

Finding the balance is hard. I know my friend down here who is a fulltime painter had her husband retire recently. She and I confided on the phone and I asked her if she felt strange that he'd be around suddenly and see all her "down time.” She was worried that he’d think she did nothing all day long… all of us out there who do it understand this “down time” as a much needed respite to reload our imaginations and continue the process of quiet idea production. I think we sometimes hold ourselves to “fit in” to the social norm, like you say, always working. But when we are actively producing, we are fully into our work 100% and that time can be mentally exhausting. Who wouldn’t need a recharge?

I even tried to fill in my "downtime" a few months ago with the idea that I had too much of it and would appear lazy, and in doing so I only frustrated myself and realized I was shifting my focus too much to compensate. You have to selfishly hold on tight to your "down time" because that's where you recharge and explore new ideas. Don't let stereotypes of artists, or understood societal requirements drive you to shift your goals. It's not worth it.

As for the object factory part of your comment... Any job inevitably becomes repetitive object creation. At least with art, and your own art at that, you are in control of the production, adaptation, and growth of your factory. If you are in the business of being an artist, you better be producing artwork (what sort and at what pace is entirely up to you). Maybe my years of design work tainted me, but corporate America is far less satisfying. At leas this way I'm driving, I'm in control (most of the time ;)) and I decide which side roads and highways I want to take. I like to believe that if it’s something you are meant to be doing, it won’t feel hum drum, you will keep pushing yourself to explore and expand your creativity. If it starts to feel stale then it’s time to take some of that downtime and put it aside for idea creation.

That’s probably all a little too utopian,… for now that’s where I’m at. It all seems possible with some patience and a whole lot of effort.

[avad.livejournal.com]

thanks for your thoughtful response you.:)
It's funny...it's like what we are pointing to often in our art...saying..pay attention to this..there is beauty and something deeper...are those 'downtimes'...like so many of your paintings....the figures and creatures in these states of solitude...quiet...
and with mine...taking the time to look at the bigger picture...mappings...macrocosms and microcosms...and then the irony of having so little time to do just that as we get more 'successful'.

[vaneramos.livejournal.com]

In working out a new routine this fall, I knew it was bound to fail unless I scheduled adequate time for recreation and meditation. The only way to protect it is to plan it, and also plan enough time for those other more demanding things. My life is so far from being sustainable that I'm not qualifed to give advice to anyone. Time is life. I hoard it like gold.

[avad.livejournal.com]

"Time is life. I hoard it like gold."
:) Love you, Van.