[rumori] For Sale: Art.

The Evolution Control Committee [rumori] For Sale: Art.
Sun, 13 Dec 1998 22:43:45 -0500 (00913607025, 3.0.32.19981213224326.00688b58atinfinet.com)

09:29 AM 12/10/98 -0800, Bob wrote:

>
>Wondering how many practitioners whose day job involves the same craft
>as their art feel less inspired to make the work because their hands are
>in the same machine all day long. I know I would make more desktop
>audio pieces if I didn't stare at a computer all day long at work...but
>it just makes me want to play around with live electronics more.

I'm a programmer by day, and it seems like I'm using the computer much
more these days for doing sound collaging. It doesn't really bug me or make
me want to do less just because it's all done on computer; I think of the
computer as being a very very flexible tool, and using it for sound editing
doesn't "feel" the same as when I use it to write a program or work with a database.
But if my job were doing sound work for a TV station or something like
that, I might feel differently. I don't know; I've always managed to avoid
having a job which "feels" like the music I like to do otherwise. However, I have made sure to only work 30 hours a week for the last few years. It's
probably going to suck when I retire though. :-)

Steev:

>Related to this and even worse, certain jobs which are not art related
>still partially satisfy the creative urge. Which make me less inclined to
>want to do actual art. Anyone else experience this?
>For instance, programming can be a very creative act sometimes. It
>tickles some of the same neurons, it can be clever, inspired, etc etc.
>But it's not really art. But your brain gets tricked and thinks "I've
>been creative today. No need to work on the music tonight."

I would say that it is a sort of art, really -- I definitely agree with
what you're saying about it tickling some of the same things. Programming
is open enough that you can have a "style" to your programming; you're building a small thinking entity that you instill with your own
intelligence; I suspect it's similar to being a parent, one of the most
basic creative expressions. For me I don't really think it dampens my will
to create music, but like I say I make sure not to get those 60+ hour a
week consulting jobs.

Dan:

>Society has evolved from hunter-gatherer groups, to large agrarian
>communities (production of food is primary function of society), to
>industrial society (production of material goods) to our post-industrial
>society (management of data, and providing services.) What comes next,
>asks my SOC profesor. My guess is that art will be society's major
>function. Maybe the more vernacular term "entertainment" would suit my
>prediction better.

There's good reason to think this... that ascension actually mirrors
Maslow's Hierarchy of Needs pretty closely, and the next one would be
immaterial, abstract needs... not just data needs, but warmer emotional ones.

Steev again:

>"mediage" (how many people like that word? wobbly, did you make that up? i
>don't know if i like that word. it's interesting but as a name for what i
>do i don't know if i like it)

I really don't like it. It makes me think of sewage. :-) I'm still
pushing for "Plagiarhythm", but there's probably something better than that ("Plagiarhythm" sounds more like the newest techno dialect or something). Why not just "collage" or "found sound"? Or are those too used up for your liking? :-)


>Anyone seen the new Arizona Jeans tv ads? ...

Unfortunately. But mass media discovering irony is nothing new; aren't
the Simpsons nearing the ten year mark? But yeah, those are fairly repulsive.


>here's a good example: anyone heard of Unamerican Activities? they sell
>stickers and tshirts with slogans like "Fuck Work" and "Bomb the Mall".

Funny you should mention that; I was just talking to someone else about
the irony in that. I'm not sure how I feel about that. I mean, I don't
think he's exacting trying to hide that he's making money from it -- that
seems fairly obvious. I guess for me, I can plainly see that he's selling
"the revolution" and I don't think that if I buy his stickers (which I have, actually) that it's making me any more
revolutionary/radical/subversive than I already might be. But then again I
can imagine some 17-year-olds who probably feel differently.
Y'know, I don't get the feeling that Unamerican is really trying to say
"you'll be cool for buying our stuff". At least not as much as Arizona Jeans or a bunch of other youth-aimed companies do that. I can't really
describe what makes me think that, though.

--
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