Choas theory and Life's direction
Neal Stanifer
>
> Lately, I've been in sort of a rut.
>
> I've been unmotivated, anti-social and generally moody.
> As much as I tried to deny it, the source was my unemployment.
> I've never been unemployed for more than 4 weeks since I was 14 years old.
> Work in a way defines me, not so much in what I do, but in how I approach
> tasks and how I structure my life. I need to explore, to investigate, to
> accomplish, to be relied upon. Work of any sort seems to give me this.
I'm the same way. I have to be working to be happy. I'm hoping this
will change as I approach retirement age, but that's a long way off.
>
> Ie can an artist be called an artist if (s)he does not produce art?
> How long can one go bwithout producing anything before the title loses
> meaning?
>
Well, "artist" is a nasty little polysemic. Do you mean someone who
earns a living via the production of art? Or someone whose work is seen
as artistic (which could easily apply to a person outside the fine
arts)? Or someone who has, at one time, produced art? Et cetera.
The way I normally use the term, an artist is someone who brings a
degree of ingenuity and innovation to a task, usually (but not
necessarily) a task associated with the fine arts. So I suppose I would
say that an artist, so long as his or her efforts continue to be guided
by a sense of artistry or artisanship, is an artist regardless of the
volume of output.
I think the title loses meaning when the artistry departs. But the only
person who knows when that happens is probably the artist, and sometimes
even the artist doesn't feel it go.
Slippery enough for you?
Congratulations, btw, on feeling good again.
Neal
ScaryLadyS
>Ie can an artist be called an artist if (s)he does not produce art?
>How long can one go bwithout producing anything before the title loses
>meaning?
With all those "special lunches" you've been concocting lately, I think you
still qualify as an Evil Chemist (tm). :)
~SLS~
"I am a d.j., I am what I play"...?
maggot
The, Evil, Chemist, jver...@suba01.suba.com> wrote:
>
> Lately, I've been in sort of a rut.
>
> I've been unmotivated, anti-social and generally moody.
> As much as I tried to deny it, the source was my unemployment.
> I've never been unemployed for more than 4 weeks since I was 14 years old.
> Work in a way defines me, not so much in what I do, but in how I approach
> tasks and how I structure my life. I need to explore, to investigate, to
> accomplish, to be relied upon. Work of any sort seems to give me this.
>
> Ie can an artist be called an artist if (s)he does not produce art?
> How long can one go bwithout producing anything before the title loses
> meaning?
It's dangerous to pick improper metaphors when you are trying to
re-evaluate your life.
A Chemist is a thing, probably on a plaque or in a frame, on your wall.
You don't ever have to stop being a chemist unless you find an entirely
new line of work. i.e. you are an out of work chemist, or a rutting
chemist, but a chemist nonetheless. That is until you become, say a
masseur. Then you "used to" be a chemist (providing you don't do
chemistry any more).
An artist on the other hand is any lame~ass who thinks they can draw a
straight line, point a camcorder, use photoshop, and memorize a few
lines. Sure, they have pieces of paper that say "Artist" on them for
people who also had the luxury to go to college, but it's so abstract a
label as to approach the status of metaphor. People who *are* artists
call themselves Painters, Cinematographers, sculptors, modelers,
designers, etc. They all have a specific skill that, like chemistry,
cannot be taken away, but may be superseded in the present by a
dismissal of that one skillset and replacement with another 'job.'
This rule, of course, does not apply to musicians and actors who, as we
all know, get to be multi-classed characters in this great game we call
"THE QUEST FOR PROFIT AT ALL COSTS."
Then again there is the whole "I'm an <variable> at heart" philosophy,
but that's pretty vapid and unquantifiable, and thanks to a little
loophole in the cultural mind control framework allows us to do things
like "have a gothic frame of mind" which can't be denied or taken away.
This is very important to remember as evidenced by Michelangelo who in
spite of all his unwilling commissions to do things like painting the
ceiling of the Sistine Chapel always signed his name "Michelangelo
Sculptoro:" Michelangelo the Sculptor. JPSartre put it best when he
said (paraphrasing): the choice that the mind makes is the only factor
in determining what you are and are not.
maggot
The evil Chemist
> With all those "special lunches" you've been concocting lately, I think you
> still qualify as an Evil Chemist (tm). :)
Some day I will open a restaurant called "MAN FOOD" where people from all
around will come for my lovely menu items such as:
Carbohydrate Suprise
One in a Lifetime Stew [1]
Special Lunch
Too much protein to Shake a Stick at
I know what you Ate Last Summer <and stole the recipe>
Thickening Agent in a pot.
I cook, you eat.
The $1.46
jv
[1] Once in a Lifetime, b/c I just put a whole bunch of crap in a pot and
can't remember what it all was.
CozmikSoup
call themselves Painters, Cinematographers, sculptors, modelers,
designers, etc >>
I think feelings and new ideas are what makes an artist. A lot of people learn
their skills from someone else. They are not yet artists.
Siobhan
<jver...@suba01.suba.com> wrote:
>Some day I will open a restaurant called "MAN FOOD" where people from all
>around will come for my lovely menu items such as:
>
>Carbohydrate Suprise
>One in a Lifetime Stew [1]
>Special Lunch
>Too much protein to Shake a Stick at
>I know what you Ate Last Summer <and stole the recipe>
>Thickening Agent in a pot.
>I cook, you eat.
>The $1.46
Wanna be the caterer for C8? ;->
Siobhan
....Normal is what cuts off your sixth finger and your tail...
{http://www.virulent.org} sio...@virulent.org
Indifference is a militant thing... When it goes away
it leaves smoking ruins, where lie citizens bayonetted
through the throat. It is not a children's pastime
like mere highway robbery. ~Stephen Crane
Stellar
jver...@suba01.suba.com> wrote:
>Then one day a small random email from Jean Croix was found in my inbox,
>which simply forced me think about my siuation.
>One small seeminly inconsequental email dug me out of this hole and in a
>matter of hours,my resume was completed and in 72 hours sent to dozens of
>places.
>
>This act in itself generated excitement in my life again.
>
>It's so odd how such small human interaction can send out ripples of ideas
>that resonate with greater and greater impact.
I've thought this too, as my mood is so easily influenced like that.
It's the little things that matter most to me. Sometimes, I'm just
looking for -one- little thing to live for (I call it my "obsession of
the day"). :) I've gotten up on the wrong side of the bed before,
only to check my email and see a note there from someone. It made the
difference in me going to work being depressed all day, and going to
work in a good mood, being happy. True story. Things like that are
very common with me.
Additionally, it's the smallest of phrases, sometimes one word, that
can make or break my mood. Twice recently on here, I've gotten pissed
off instantly -- once from a 6-word sentence, and the other from just
one word. Simplicity can do more to me than three paragraphs.
>I suppose this is a bit self indulgent, but I need to express some things
>inside.
Naw, you're good. It's what I use a.g. for. :)
>Maybe I'm making too much of it, but I feel good again.
*s* Congratulations.
I experienced something kinda similar recently myself. I seem to
have a very dependent personality. But for the first time in my life,
I realized I was content, and reasonably happy, without influence from
another person. It was the first time I had ever surprised myself,
and it's something I don't understand, but it feels very
independent...and nice.
Here's to hoping we remain feeling good. :)
~Stellar, the animated gof
"I'll tell you once more
before I get off the floor...
Don't bring me down."
maggot
CozmikSoup wrote:
>
> << People who *are* artists
> call themselves Painters, Cinematographers, sculptors, modelers,
> designers, etc >>
>
> I think feelings and new ideas are what makes an artist.
No, that's what makes them human. Why bother having a label for
something if it applies to everyone?
>A lot of people learn
> their skills from someone else. They are not yet artists.
What does one have to do with the other, or anything I said? You need
to quantify things a bit if you want othave this discussion with other
people.
maggot