In plain sight and obscure
Molecules and intentions
Pristine or impure
Beyond the realm
Of impossible
Deep within
Sweet or sour
We are formed
And formless
Integers
Counting down
The hours
Lewie JPD |
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Little bits of lots of things
In plain sight and obscure Molecules and intentions Pristine or impure Beyond the realm Of impossible Deep within Sweet or sour We are formed And formless Integers Counting down The hours
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Was thinking the other day about movies and about how they are all so full of action and violence and generally mindless behaviour. Made up people parading around acting most un-humanlike.
They started out being like this as a brief escape but they have become such a massive and influential part of the culture and have continued along a misguided trajectory for so long that it is accepted as normal. What we could be watching is films that actually explore the unlimited potential of wonderful sentient beings. Films that make us feel awe and wonder and joy in our very being. Films that celebrate love and compassion, kindness, service. That still have drama and drive but do not include graphic images of people hurting and killing each other. Movies that celebrate peace and ingenuity, braveness, exploration, grace and creativity. We need more movies like this, ones that will ELEVATE humanity. Assist in our spiritual evolution. In some ways, despite all the advances, we still live in very dark ages. Things are changing for the better, slowly, slowly but I think it is good to take a good look at the way things are and what can be changed to shift the outlook. Our time here is precious. We are precious. We need to acknowledge this truth and celebrated it appropriately. Clean our bodies, clean our minds, liberate our spirits. Focus on what is good and admirable, what is worthy of our true attention. A shift in the paradigm is coming - let's help it along however and whenever we can. I believe that as an artist it is important to try and find joy wherever and whenever you can. For some reason, most artists tend to be prone to bouts of melancholia. They seem unavoidable. When these come, I ride them out as best I can by doing things I know will bring some degree of relief - walking, swimming in the ocean, reading, watching a movie (or these days; TV series).
But when in just regular existence mode, I really try and enjoy the simple fact of being alive. I look around, I am curious, I especially try and see/find things that are weird and funny, ironic and beautiful. And why not? Every moment is a chance to be shaped - if you can - you may as well take the initiative and zestfully inject a positivity hit into it. This helps balance the sobering, periodic afflictions of depression. It's all one long, wild fucking ride. A crazy dream. A breathtaking story written by a genius of nonsense and grandeur. So, do it, I say. Dance, dance, dance. Some wisdom here, from Ira from NPR's 'This American Life'. What he says about the creative process and the initial gap between your vision and your ability is accurate and resonating.
I remember distinctly when I was in second and third year of art school - painting and drawing non-stop - thinking 'this is fine, I am loving it but these images have very little to do with what is really in my head...' and wondering, 'when will there be a synchronisation between where I am in my headspace and what is coming out in the images I am making. It took a long time. I would say, although, there were times when the two met, they were sporadic. Really, it has only been in the last few years that I can confidently state that the pictures I make are purely me - I don't have to strive for a style, struggle as much, be frustrated because I am not creating what I envision. What I see is what you get. Having said that, I am also a writer - and the struggle continues. Even though, I have spent countless hours honing my skills - much of the time - there is still a gap. I can write short pieces and be completely satisfied - they are pure me. But longer ones - a novel, say, or a screenplay - yet to be cracked. Time and effort is what it will take. The joy of course with doing something like this blog or my comics for example is that I can merge the two - images and writing. Makes it easier for both. They can work together, boost each other, help each other along. Anyway, one of the important things in the Ira's talk is that you should never give up in trying to diminish that gap. Deep down you know what it is you want to share and through devotion to your craft, perspicacity and passion - you will find a way to bring it to fruition. And is it worth it? All the time, sweat and sacrifice? Oh. Yes. So. Worth. It. One good thing about working on a project and then completing it is that you can kind of use it as a stepping stone to get you to the next stage.
It delineates a period of time. There is the before the project, during the project and after the project. After the project usually involves some kind of wind down period, followed by some contemplation or unrelated activity or both, and then the hatching of the idea for the next project. Sometimes the next one is already lined up. There is also the post-project blue period - not always experienced but often. It's a kind of feeling of loss and being lost. What to do now with all this time and energy. Sure, I just went through some rather testing times on that last project - but it all turned out pretty well - and at least I was busy. Now... limbo. Not the dance, either. After doing many, many projects of various kinds, one can anticipate this blue period and minimise it's effects. Acceptance, joyful distractions, talking it through with friends and family (but not too much!) can all help. So, I just had the opening night of my exhibition last night. It went really well - great turn out, vibe, feedback, sales. And today I slept in - even more than usual - and unlike the last week or so, when I have had several pressing things to attend to in preparation - I didn't have anything I had to do. I experienced that limbo feeling - the void. It was OK, though, because I am used to it. But I noticed it. Driving early this evening - ping! - I got it! The germ on an idea for an exciting new project. A never-before-attempted-potentially-more-fun-than-ever kind of project. (We like those!) And so, my mind has somewhere to go now, something to focus on. A new fantasy to bring to fruition. A new dream to create. What is it Before anything else - there is looking. Looking at things, appreciating the shapes and colours, the way the light falls, negative spaces. After lots of looking - almost studying - ie. looking deeply and properly - comes thinking about what you are seeing. Why you like what you are seeing or what you like about it. From out of your excitement of looking comes your passion for creating. You want to mimic the beauty of the world - share the delight of what you capture through your eyes and store in your brain. You want to re-create, re-interpret the visions, the grand mirage, the miniscule, the divine details. You have been treated by the universe - shown amazing things, colours, compositions and you want to say thank you, you want to make a temple, a statue, an icon. You want to give back, get it out, put it down. You want to touch the infinite, grab at the saucy source, immerse yourself in passionate revelry. You want to make art. You have to. You have to.
Timeless, ethereal - we currently exist in 2013 but we also exist in many other times concurrently. In memory, in fantasy, in imagination, and etherealy -in past lives.
These 'modern' times seem to polarise - on one hand the reality is more demanding - an incredible amount of time and energy is needed just to make enough to stay ahead of the constant economic demands of daily living costs - food, shelter, transport, etc. On the other hand, escape is much more readily available and sophisticated. The net, of course, plus games, TV, and all the other media. What this does is constrict us as sentient beings. We don't have the time to follow our natural inclination to daydream. Of course - we still do it - but in a curtailed manner. The constant demands of reality and/or the calling of slick entertainment - 'prepackaged, corporate daydreaming' - are not allowing us to explore our psyches, our delicate subconscious levels as fully as we should/could. This results in a stunted growth in awareness/spirituality. Of course, it's not too bad - we are industrious beings. Despite these structural constraints we still manage to eke out enough fulfilling moments - through exercise time, interpersonal interactions, pre-sleep time, etc. But, I believe, we would be better served to have more time for consideration, contemplation and random extrapolation. You need to do a whole lot of daydreaming to come up with the really good ideas. To hit on important truths and essential, refined belief systems you've got to put in the time - and it can't be in front of a TV or the computer. Quiet time, mediation, doing something in the arts - these serenity pursuits are valuable and rewarding and should be acknowledged as the precious privilege that they are. Be the hero of your own consciousness, mount that wild horse and gallop into the unknown regions of your mind and spirit! Funny. I was creating an event for my new show opening next week on facebook - when somehow I stumbled onto this one in the Events pages. I was shocked and astounded. I had completely forgotten I even had this show. But I did, I really did. It was when I first came back to Sydney after living in LA and started painting again. Have had a show a year since then. Good old Kafka!
We all need a little acknowledgement, encouragement, praise once in a while.
We're just complex organisms thrust into existence longing for salvation, validation, satisfaction, release. Nobody really knows what the fuck they are doing or why. Not really. How could they? It's a cacaphonic clusterfuq out there. And yet. And yet somehow it all manages to work, to come together - most of the time. Impressive, really. Astounding. From birth to baby to kid to teen to young adult to grown up to middle aged to mature to old to dead.... No wonder we start out screaming! In some ways, we never stop. There's freedom in wackiness. Art, theatre, writing, dance, music - all forms of release. We get to portray the selves within oursleves, the selves from beyond our selves - we reveal and release the spirits that possess magic and mayhem into reality so that they can have identities and become intergrated into our realities and be discovered, enjoyed and acquired by everyone.
Superheroes, legends of stage and screen, cartoon characters - all conjured up at one stage from an artist's crazy inspiration. And dance - what is it if not a glorious exorcism? Music bubbles in and from our subconscious. Literature offers complete new worlds to inhabit. Just think about how much of our lives are involved with these fantastic other worlds. We love to escape. We love to play and make believe. It unites us, liberates us. It is the delicious, tasty, nourishing sauce that covers the main meal of life. What is important, and to be encouraged, is our individual creations. Self discovery is boosted through expression in these forms. Don't just be an art consumer - make your own. Write your own truth. Dance and sing to the unique tunes that play inside your head. Let it out, let it all out. The more zany, joyous, cacaphonic self expression there is on the planet the better. Make art not war. Forget greed, do the jig. Write your truth. Let your fantasy flourish. When the unreal becomes real it's really unreal! I would like to share something here to do with my post creating methodology.
What I usually do is select one of the three or four images that I have created on the day and put it in place. I look at it for a few minutes, then begin writing. I don't labour over it or attempt to control things too much. I just let things flow. Much in the same way I create the images. Making stuff up. For the fun of it. I did this image at Starbucks on the corner of Park and Elizabeth. I very rarely go to a Bucks but I was getting my jaw scanned in the building opposite on the 6th floor to see if I am eligible for a dental implant. As I was a little early - even though it did take 25 mins of driving round and round to find a parking spot! - I went in to the cafe chain. Venti vanilla latte. Fuck it, I'm here, why not. The scan took less than a minute. Sorting out the bill took about 20 minutes. Ironic. The institution charges a service fee of $200 on top of the costs. I thought about this transaction. In the 21 minutes I was there, four or five scans occured. That's big dough. No creativity involved. No sharing of soul. No digging deep. No self expression. No searching for meaning. Just a technician, a machine, a receptionist, some files... and 20 grand a day coming in. Life would be so different if I was not an artist and I owned medical/dental imaging centre. I don't think I'd be writing a blog, for starters. So you wouldn't be reading this. Would you miss it? -- knowing that I was having sex on my boat? Anyway - not going to happen - not in this lifetime. We're stuck with each other. And, more to the point, ourselves. Do you like the picture of the guy climbing the eye thing in the red desert????? OMG. More in a week than I have made in my lifetime from my art! Breathe. ...something weird and wonderful!
Well, at least we hope so. Don't we? I was thinking today - after making up some new comics (you can see them on this site - juz click the 'mind's I comics' page) - about how we see and notice things that we want to see and notice to validate, support, strengthen our existing (partly learnt - partly self constructed) world views. We want to believe that our concept of reality is indeed based in reality and that it is legitimate, justified, respectable... We seek out the familiar because it makes us comfortable. We do the same or similar things over and over because we can enjoy the subtle changes whilst not having to worry about the main structure - whatever it may be. We want to feel secure but at the same time we are always searching for something new - but not too new - we don't want to be shaken up or throw too far. This is normal practice - natural. The thing is, though, while it keeps us comfortable, it also constrains us. Breaking habits is very hard, changing our ways takes will and discipline. The pay off is great, though. That being said there really is no rush. Each at his/her own pace in her/his own time. And we all co-exist with our infinitely varying concepts of everything little thing. We find common ground. It's amazing really. The whole thing. I marvel at it. It is marvelous. It's what we do everyday.
Craft our tales, unveil our destinies. Little by little we become what we always were. Ourselves. It takes a lifetime to live one. The paradigm shifts with each new revelation. What we think of as important today is forgotten tomorrow. Resolution is temporary. The next things awaits our attention already. Infinity is called infinity for a reason. A trillions somethings don't even come close to one nothing. One day at a time when one day takes a second. And a third, fourth, and so on. And on it goes. One helluva story. That much is true. Aspirations can help elevate us out of the ordinary and into the realm of limitless possibilities. I speak from experience when I say that a lot of dreams do not come true but this doesn't mean you shouldn't keep aspiring to new ones. Even some of the old favourites are worthy of a fifth, tenth or thousandth try. Why not. Head in the clouds - the air is fine up here. And the view is better.
Direct connection:
Eyes to brain to hands to eyes to brain... (rpt) Concentration: 100% Engagement: 100% Effects: Euphoria, elation, reality-based hallucinations Mind expansion Acute perception Mood: mellow, serene, zinging, intense Lift off! ART GETS ME HIGH |
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