I’m remembering the reasons I went to art school, ten long years ago. The main one was that I was unhappy in my office job, and I wanted to do/make/think things that were of interest to me. Quitting the job and starting school was the #1 Best Thing I Did this past decade.
And now I’m back in an office job. How did this happen? I grew frustrated with the art department’s philosophy, the emphasis on solipsism and narrative. My projects were often deemed “too subtle,” which was both frustrating and very funny. The concepts were not subtle, but the presentation required viewer participation. Subtle? Sure. But fun. Memory, time, light, etcetera. And the absurdity of art.
Things happened, I got divorced, left Denver, and returned to Seattle. Finished my degree here, in French (hard to transfer for the final year of study on a BFA).
And: job.
2002, Untitled Screenprint (the Dream of Flight)
Humans are very easy to trap.
Need: housing, health care, food, clothing, basics.
Your time and labor can be exchanged for money.
This can cause fatigue of the body and mind, which makes alternatives seem infeasible.
It’s a simple thing, and subtle. At some point, you realize you’ve been working in an office job for far too long. Images of metamorphoses and bank tellers, Brazil, and Being John Malkovich.
The dream of flight. Der Traum vom Fliegen. Try again.
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I have two things that taught me what art was. One was an art teacher who rubber stamped ” Art is anything you can get away with ” on a piece of artwork I did and the second was David who understands art unhampered by criticism.
It’s so sad that life isn’t anything you can get away with.
I am tired, so not able to fully articulate, but I really enjoy David’s take on art. Art is just the name for a thing humans do. Like the original meaning of the term kung fu: In its original meaning, kung fu can refer to any skill. Gōngfu is a compound of two words, combining 功 (gōng) meaning “achievement” or “merit”, and 夫 (fū) which translates into “man”, so that a literal rendering would be “human achievement”. Its connotation is that of an accomplishment arrived at by great effort.
And I totally copied and pasted that from the interwebs, so if it’s wrong, I blame the…interwebs.
Very poignant.
I think everything that comes out of you is art.
So there.
A spam comment caught by my filter: “Opulently I assent to but I contemplate the post should secure more info then it has.”
Interesting, that is essentially the reason I went to art school. The fact that my absurdities were less subtle (you know me, Cpt. Subtle) made it easier for people to pick up on the fact that they were absurd. Still people seemed to have a hard time with the absurd in general. Though I did get a response on a political piece assailing me for the fact that it wasn’t subtle, I suggest that gay porn with a very obviously grafted head of an anti gay politician is not supposed to be subtle.
My take on jobs: Yes, I have heard “Do what you love.” For me that has always been the shortest path to “Learn to hate what you love.”
I suggest: “Do what you can stand.” It leaves you able to do art, have fun etc. While not being soul killing.
I’m afraid your current position is soul killing.
Xzalbirt, we’re not so different, you and I. I agree about the soul-killing factor. Once the economy gets better (it HAS to, right?!), I’ll be better able to find a new one. There is simply nothing available, and thousands apply to every position. Mayhap I’ll move back to Denco and work in circulation.