Wednesday, July 1, 2009

A List, Thoughts on Purpose, and another List.

Things I Desire.

1) Knowledge.
2) Mobility.
3) The bee population to come back.
4) Not to be afraid of the future due to war, climate, or disease.
5) Safety.
6) Honesty and Clarity.
7) Loved ones.
8) Adequate expressions of Gratitude.
9) Good Health.
10) People to share a good life with.
11) One additional person to share a good life with.
12) To travel with purpose.
13) Purpose.

A little piece about purpose: when I was working on my cube installation, I felt like I had found good creative flow and artistic purpose. I felt that I was expressing a universal care for craftsmanship. I felt that I was expressing the humanity of straight lines, the ability to see living potential in in-animate objects, and the power of movement as experienced by the sensation of mass. I saw more and more creative doors opening. I found important artists whose ideas were significant to me and relevant to my work.

So where is that purpose? Did it disappear for any of the following reasons:
A) I realized that the world is so cluttered with STUFF that to make more objects only purposed as visual enrichment was stupidly luxurious?
B) I let limitations of studio, time, focus, and energy prevent me from continuing on?
C) I realized that, after having skimmed the surface of performance art and having been exposed to other powerful work, that I am not on track as that kind of public visionary?
D) I decided that the role of being an artist alone, a title granted me only by a persistent desire to create and an eventual acceptance of the label by others not able to listen to the longer answer, was not enough?

So now I am painting and helping kids with their homework.
I am already 23; I am only 23.

The following questions are what I think of when trying to think of a purpose:
What work needs to be done?
How can I help?
What are my skills and strengths that others can use?
What do I need to learn?
Where can I learn it?
What do I need to do before I even get to LEARN what it is I need to learn?

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