Posted by Bob - the Alien on August 23, 2002 at 13:59:37:
In Reply to: Re: don't miss a thing..... posted by jonvon on August 23, 2002 at 13:09:32:
I think the key to pulling together in a state of semi-organization is your reason for doing it.
Based on who I know and what I have read, most people here want to do creative things for their own self improvement and happiness. There is some desire involved to get positive feedback from others, but that seems secondary to the actual act of creating.
Because of that, my recommendation would be to go about creative efforts the same way students do -- semi-formal critiques.
I think that everyone should go off and do their thing, but come together weekly for organized critiques. The critiques should provide both positive and negative feedback. When something works, say why it works, but also say how it could be even better. When it doesn't work, say so. Give reasons why. Pull something positive from even the failed efforts and work on that aspect.
Above all, always give reasons for your feelings towards creative works. Mindless statments of "oh, that is beautiful" don't really help anyone grow as an artist. Quite the contrary, it makes people stagnate because they feel they just created a masterpiece.
Every piece of creative work has problems. Find them, address them, and fix them. Then try again next week.
I honestly wish that I could be part of such an effort. But that is not to be. I do hope everyone sle comes together on something
As far as creating a 'scene' goes, I don't think this group is even thinking along those lines, based on what I have heard from people. (Which is admittedly limited.) Bill, I think that you specifically focus more along those lines than at least I do, but I can't put my finger on why that difference exists in our thinking patterns. I don't think you hold any higher value towards such labels or even, dare I say, paradigms. :) But I do think you notice things on that level first, and then break them down as you integrate things with yourself. Even our artwork shows this...you are consciously derivative of Haring, for example. Whereas I don't even know who I am derivitave of until someone else points it out to me. From an art criticism perspective, you are better than me in that arena, as you can better make a conscious choice to move your works closer or farther from your influences.
Hmm....I'm totally just ranting stream of consciousness here now, but this difference has made me wonder. How do we all focus on the world around us? Which of us groups things together, then break them down, and which of us go the other way? What impact does that have on both our creative works and on our outlook in general? Are there any things that we should be careful of from any approach to viewing the world? Does one way of viewing things blind us to some aspects of life?
In some ways, I feel like a child who doesn't quite understand the world because I really don't notice trends within pop culture until someone points them out to me. But its not my priority either. But the people who are so in tune with such things can certainly use it to a greater advantage in their thoughts, actions, and works.
So has this rant gone on long enough that it has totally drifted into obscurity? Or does anyone else have any ideas, thoughts, rants, or outright rejections of my thoughts?
Or has everyone quit reading long ago and I am just writing this to take up more network space? :)
With Love,
Bob