My Slumbering Heart - Rilo Kiley
McAllister was right. Is right. There indeed exists a wall between my mind and my mouth. Or, in this case, my mind and my fingertips. My heart and my fingertips. My soul.
"The sword and the brush are fundamentally connected. Both seek to make the heart and the hand one."
I think maybe all forms of art could be summed up thus. Music, painting, sculpture, theatre, poetry, calligraphy, prose, shotokan...they all seek to make the divisions between soul and body disappear. To bring unity to the dualistic nature of human existence. We are creatures of both flesh and spirit, and much discord results from disharmony between the two. My understanding of art tells me the artist's goal is to dissolve the inhibitions preventing the flow of inspiration and interpretation from its spring in the heart to the delta of the fingertips. We seek to express ourselves clearly (at least I do), but often are restrained. By what, I'm not entirely sure, even in my own case.
I have some idea, though. I think, most of all, I'm afraid of being less than excellent. I want to produce soild, quality work as an artist, whether it be through music, poetry, prose, or theatre. I want, not necessarily to be the best of the best, but certainly a cut above the average. This isn't out of ego so much as standards. Given my nature, I probably would loathe the sort of attention fame would garner. Rather, I want to make works of lasting value that can reach and inspire my contemporaries and those artists yet to come.
Simply put, I want to excel at what I care about.
Discipline. Discipline is the key. As a beautiful, intelligent, and talented artist once told me, discipline is the difference between mediocrity and excellence. It's just difficult to focus with all the mundane demands on my time. Reading ancient East Indian texts for exams or pushing a four-wheeled chassis over a controlled collection of plant life hardly assist in the perfecting of my arts. Then, of course, the all-powerful dollar comes into play, demanding hours of labor for mere survival.
.......
In a completely unrelated synapse firing, I discovered I'm just a big softie today. Follow the new "Kitties" link on the right for irrefutable evidence.
"The sword and the brush are fundamentally connected. Both seek to make the heart and the hand one."
I think maybe all forms of art could be summed up thus. Music, painting, sculpture, theatre, poetry, calligraphy, prose, shotokan...they all seek to make the divisions between soul and body disappear. To bring unity to the dualistic nature of human existence. We are creatures of both flesh and spirit, and much discord results from disharmony between the two. My understanding of art tells me the artist's goal is to dissolve the inhibitions preventing the flow of inspiration and interpretation from its spring in the heart to the delta of the fingertips. We seek to express ourselves clearly (at least I do), but often are restrained. By what, I'm not entirely sure, even in my own case.
I have some idea, though. I think, most of all, I'm afraid of being less than excellent. I want to produce soild, quality work as an artist, whether it be through music, poetry, prose, or theatre. I want, not necessarily to be the best of the best, but certainly a cut above the average. This isn't out of ego so much as standards. Given my nature, I probably would loathe the sort of attention fame would garner. Rather, I want to make works of lasting value that can reach and inspire my contemporaries and those artists yet to come.
Simply put, I want to excel at what I care about.
Discipline. Discipline is the key. As a beautiful, intelligent, and talented artist once told me, discipline is the difference between mediocrity and excellence. It's just difficult to focus with all the mundane demands on my time. Reading ancient East Indian texts for exams or pushing a four-wheeled chassis over a controlled collection of plant life hardly assist in the perfecting of my arts. Then, of course, the all-powerful dollar comes into play, demanding hours of labor for mere survival.
.......
In a completely unrelated synapse firing, I discovered I'm just a big softie today. Follow the new "Kitties" link on the right for irrefutable evidence.
3 Comments:
I suppose some people could be as desciplined as is humanly possible, and still suck. Some people are just born with pure talent for something, and being deciplined just adds to thier skill... to some people art comes so naturally, while others are work thier buttocks off and come up with something not as good.
Fortunately for you, my friend, you have the talent. Quite an adavantage.
and yes, damn those kitties... too... cute....
The "next blog" button is so the best button ever...
...Anyway, you didn't list photography as an art form. What is your view on photography (doesn't have to be digital photography, just photography in general...just thought I'd specify...yeeeah..) as an art form?.
That list was by no means meant to be all-inclusive. I think photography and film are perfectly viable art forms. Actually, the Ryan person who posted the comment above yours is building quite an impressive photography portfolio.
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