Thoughts and Questions – usually about art.
When I can’t sleep I often write in one of my Books (see The Books at janicewhiting.com), sometimes I paint and sometimes I worry.
What influences the artist to choose their particular images? Are these choices tangible, spiritual, or even mystical? What makes someone an artist? Why would someone choose to be an artist? Why have humans from the cave painters to the present had the “need” – not simply the desire – to make art. The notion that none of us chooses art but that art chooses us has been one of my beliefs since my art-making attempts in college. Does art chooses its makers, and if so, what does this say to, and about those that have chosen?
Last night my questions focused on randomness, coincidences and chance.
Are there any coincidences? Is a coincidence an opportunity for choice? Do truly random acts really exist in the making of art? What can the work of John Cage and the I Ching tell us about these questions? Both address the element of chance as a constructive force.
And then there is the Hindu belief in destiny. I have continually tried to understand my destiny. Do I even have a destiny? All that I am sure of is that my short, Western, glossary-like definition of this profound idea is probably missing its true deeper meaning.
If a door has been opened for us and we do not walk through it, do we get another chance or do we only get one chance? How do we eventually stop fearing the world on the other side of the door How do we remove the obstacles that impede our progress, or even better, is it possible to succeed to invent a new door? If we can invent new doors, how different will our lives become? If a new door is created will we recognize it this time, and if so, will yet another fear stand in our way? Can we change our unconscious desires into a quest so that destiny plays a much larger role in our lives? Are we over-analyzing rather than doing?
The last thoughts of the night; making art is sometimes like the game of baseball if we don’t pay attention we may miss the beauty of the perfect play that brief moment in time when all the necessary elements come together like a magical dance.
When I can’t sleep I often write in one of my Books (see The Books at janicewhiting.com), sometimes I paint and sometimes I worry.
What influences the artist to choose their particular images? Are these choices tangible, spiritual, or even mystical? What makes someone an artist? Why would someone choose to be an artist? Why have humans from the cave painters to the present had the “need” – not simply the desire – to make art. The notion that none of us chooses art but that art chooses us has been one of my beliefs since my art-making attempts in college. Does art chooses its makers, and if so, what does this say to, and about those that have chosen?
Last night my questions focused on randomness, coincidences and chance.
Are there any coincidences? Is a coincidence an opportunity for choice? Do truly random acts really exist in the making of art? What can the work of John Cage and the I Ching tell us about these questions? Both address the element of chance as a constructive force.
And then there is the Hindu belief in destiny. I have continually tried to understand my destiny. Do I even have a destiny? All that I am sure of is that my short, Western, glossary-like definition of this profound idea is probably missing its true deeper meaning.
If a door has been opened for us and we do not walk through it, do we get another chance or do we only get one chance? How do we eventually stop fearing the world on the other side of the door How do we remove the obstacles that impede our progress, or even better, is it possible to succeed to invent a new door? If we can invent new doors, how different will our lives become? If a new door is created will we recognize it this time, and if so, will yet another fear stand in our way? Can we change our unconscious desires into a quest so that destiny plays a much larger role in our lives? Are we over-analyzing rather than doing?
The last thoughts of the night; making art is sometimes like the game of baseball if we don’t pay attention we may miss the beauty of the perfect play that brief moment in time when all the necessary elements come together like a magical dance.
