Archive for the ‘Question Month’ tag
Looking like a nono…
Working on the third drawing of the day. Or rather procrastinating on the third drawing of the day. There’s an itch to get on with some of the sorts of things that I’ve been thinking about doing for the past couple of years, but I wonder if that’s simply one of the things I’m using to distract myself, mainly because it requires a bunch of equipment I don’t own at present, so it’s conveniently out of the bounds of possibility. The paper that’s in front of me, the pencils I have with me these are more than enough for me to make something with. Get on with it, sluggard.
Treated myself to downloads of three albums I haven’t listened to in years: Portfolio, Warm Leatherette and Nightclubbing, all by Grace Jones. Portfolio really because it makes me laugh, what with Grace battling her way through horrible arrangements and gamely trying to put over a terrible version of “Tomorrow”. I picked up the other two because they used to be in heavy rotation when I worked at Just Desserts. And of those, Nightclubbing stands out on this listen: great playing and a sly assessment of her limitations and strengths.
And now I’m on to to Strangeways, Here We Come. So I’m deep in 80′s San Francisco thought. Perhaps in solidarity for all of my pals heading over to Dore Alley this afternoon. Although I’ll most likely be beddy-bye before you all get up to any mischief. Just remember I was there the year it started.
Oh and the picture is a very straightforward view of where I’m staying: in the center is the gallery/restaurant and to side is the bottling plant. Just behind it to the right are the apartments where I lay my shaggy head.
Tags: daily photo, drawing, Grace Jones, music, Question Month, san francisco, Sylt
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Unanswered no more…
There were quite a few unanswered questions left over from March. I apologize for the delay, but here are the majority of them answered at last.
Tags: bdsm, making art, pansexuality, Question Month, reading
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Second answer of the day…
“If someone offered to purchase a first class round trip airline ticket for you to anywhere, where would you go?” asks the talented angeltatts.
I know that I said that travel to Senegal was one of the items on my “bucket list”, but when I thought about answering this, the first thing that popped into my head was Tokyo. It’s a close second to Africa on the list of places I deeply want to experience, and some how the prospect of flying there and back First Class is one that just seems too delicious. Everyone I know who has gone has told me that they thought I’d really like it.
Also if someone was paying for my ticket, I’d ave that much more money for all of the shopping I’d be dying to do, and all the ramen I’d be planning on eating.
Tags: Question Month, travel
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Still question month, yo…
From itsolivia “I have finally been thinking about grad school. How does one start feeling confident before applying? Is confidence the key sign to finally get off my butt and applying? Help me, Mr. Blake.”
The way to feel confident about applying is the same way to feel confident about doing anything: lather, rinse, repeat. Don’t just apply to one place – and don’t freak out at the prospect of not getting your first choice the first time out. If you’re dead set on one place, be willing to contemplate re-applying if it doesn’t work out right away. Many of the students I talk to look at waiting a year like it’s the end of the world, when in fact they could put that time to good use marshalling their financial resources and preparing themselves for what is a serious commitment. On the other hand, I would also say be willing to be surprised by a program that you may not have thought about right away: they may have better access to what you really need than the first place that comes to mind.
Confidence isn’t the key sign – and you shouldn’t wait for it in order to apply: it’s like waiting to be “inspired” to work. You get more work done by making work into a regular part of your day – so researching schools, making plans and writing essays should become a regular part of your day, and then when the deadlines come, it’s not a nail biter. Don’t worry about what the place is “looking for” either. Just try to give an accurate picture of who you are and what you’re like. Finally, have fun with it. I think it’s groovy that you’re thinking about it.
It’s still March!
You can still ask!
Tags: art school, art world, Question Month
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From dawne_vs_luna comes this question: “How has life been for you now that you have stopped therapy? Do you find yourself missing it at all?
Life has been for the most part, very good. I stopped therapy after going for ten years, and my therapist and I wound down together, so it wasn’t an abrupt act at all. One of the parts of deciding to stop was me noting those places where I had been using therapy as a way of not taking action in my life, or where I had been using the weekly attention of my therapist as a substitute for various types of attention that I needed. So one of the things that I decided to do was to put the time and money I had devoted to therapy to use on various projects I wanted to move forward. I joined a gym. I started using my session time as a time to cook for myself. I tried to become more regular in my working habits. Making those changes had a huge effect on my daily life and indeed on my feelings of happiness and well being.
Do I miss it? I certainly miss seeing my therapist. He is an amazing guy with fantastic insights. Just this week I also realized that when I stopped seeing him I was left for the first time in eighteen years without a regular de facto witness: someone who week in and week out saw me saw what I was up to and had a reaction. It made me realize that I need to make sure that I work at that more: that I need to make sure that if I want to have contact with friends that I need to initiate that contact, and if I want to have a conversation about my work, I need to initiate that conversation.
I think the process of doing therapy was useful for me, and an important part of my path. I don’t think that it’s necessary for every one. The big difference I notice now is that I can identify my old behavioral patterns and emotional reactions and see them for what they are: reflexes built up over my years of development to help me survive. I can then chose whether or not they are applicable to what ever situation I find myself in now, and if not try to find a new response. That feels pretty darn good.
Tags: emotions, Question Month, therapy
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Nuther answer…
From paddbear:“Someone looks at your art. They don’t have any background in art at all–they are what you might call “unsophisticated”. They use phrases like “It is nice. ” or “I like the way it makes me feel.” It is mostly a gut reaction–they may not be able to articulate it any better. They’re sincere, but the comments are kind of unfocussed. What’s your reaction? Does their reaction mean anything to you?”
I’m more than pleased that they are willing to look at it and think about it. When people who don’t think of themselves as art insiders look at my work I usually suggest that they ask the question “What does this remind me of?” Usually if they take the time to follow the chains of associations, they find that they’ve “gotten it”. And what they have to say is always intriguing. The reaction of everyone who looks at what I do means something to me. I only find myself frustrated by people who refuse to look at all, or feel that they can’t express any opinion because supposedly they aren’t informed enough. The truth is that there is going to be a lot of art that they don’t like just like there’s a lot of pop music they won’t like. It’s fine to have an opinion.
Feel free to ask me anything for the remiander fo the month. If you want to ask in private head over to this entry.
Tags: making art, Question Month
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Return to answering…
Force of nature that_grr inquires “how would you feel waking up snuggled up to me?”
I’d feel damn lucky! Who wouldn’t? And then I’d feel around until we both felt lucky again. And then I’d take you out to Zuni for brunch. And then we’d go clothes shopping in Berkeley.
What ever we did I’d feel a darn sight better than I did waking this morning, even though I was snuggled up with Lehigh. And maybe I’d feel a little relieved, because we’ve flirted so heavily that I’m a little worried about living up to it when the actual event occurs, so it’s easier it think about snuggling up the moring after. Less pressure.
It’s still Question Month and while I’m trying to catch up you can still feel free to ask me anything.
Tags: Question Month, sex
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“Would you be willing to reveal a bit of your ‘thing’ for coveralls…? Origin, specifics – any of that would do…” asks gryphons_hole
I’ve worn overalls extensively at various points in my life. During college in the late seventies, I had a collection of dyed cotton ones from the New York store Reminiscence which I wore to death. Then I moved out to the west coast and the overall thing cooled off. In the early 90′s I began to get intereseted in wearing work clothes, especially used gear, so I began buying overalls again.
I think the appeal is two-fold: To me overalls are southern, utilitarian, anti-style. Of course this this the classic thing of bourgeois gay guys fetishizing working class codes. There part of my constellation of work, mud, w/s, dirty, raunchy fethishes. They’re also a clothing I associate with the early part of the 20th century, another period where I think the clothing is hot in general (lately I’ve been really looking at guys in sock garters.)
The second thing is the feeling of wearing them: they’re easy to get into and out of. They have convenient gaps at the side that allow for groping, either by myself or others. They show off my belly well. And when broken in they are soft and absorbent; so comomfortable.
Tags: clothes, fetish, overalls, Question Month, sex
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At long last answers…
I have been so lax about answering questions – I’m very sorry to all those that asked, but now I’m going to buckle down and get to work on responding to all of them.
brat_sheba wants to know “What are the top 3 “To Do’s” on your bucket list?”
I don’t really have a bucket list, in terms of thinking about things I want to do before I die, that when confrronted with immanent death I would drop everything else to do. The stuff I want to do I pretty much want to do no matter what. And I feel lucky in that I have few unrealized ambitions. Whether that’s due to actually achieving things or simply setting the bar low I can’t say. But I do have some goals that I’m working towards currently so here’s three I can think of now:
1.Being debt free. For most of my adult life I have accumulated and suffered under debt. There’s a myriad of reasons for it, but I’m now working actively to pay back all of my outstanding debts. It’s a painful process, but the joyful feeling every time I pay one off is so remarkable, that I can’t wait to experience the sense of not owing anyone anything.
2. Travel to Africa. Most specifically Senegal. No one in my family has any records of what part of Africa they were from originally, but I do have a powerful wish to see the Western part, and Senegal seems like the most hospitable these days. Also ever person I’ve ever met from there is astonishingly beautiful.
3. There are two books I’d like write: a novel, and a book on creativity and method for artists. Books are magical for me and I’ve started novels any number of times, but have always run aground at some point. I’ve tried using the NaNoMo method, but haven’t quite been able to get into the rythm enough to see a book through to completion. The “artists practice” book would basicly be a compilation of my teaching methods and lectures, so maybe the way to go about doing that would be to tape some of my classes and start working from transcriptions.
This was a great question, Sheba. Thanks for asking it.
I swear I will answer them all! So if you want to ask, go here and leave one in private.
Tags: debt, Question Month, travel, writing
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A return to answering…
siokaos asks; “for an artist with no entrepreneurial spirit, how does one penetrate and deploy their material, when normal channels such as “art school” seems more of a career steps posing as a legitimate educational experience?”
A weighty question, if I parse it correctly. As I read it you are asking “How do I get people to know about what I do in a way that is different from the normal way?” Is that it? And then there’s the comment about “art school” which I’ll get to secondarily.
I think every artist has to separate the pleasures and perils of making things from the the life that those things have after they are made. And then they have to ask the question “What do I want to have happen to these things that I’ve made?” In answering that question, you begin ton to think about what kind of a career you want. There is no one prescribed path. The sharing of cultural ideas happens in a lot of different forums. For me is the willingness to engage in that moment fully that give it it’s importance, not the locale where it takes place. These days when I want to be inspired visually, I go to antique stores or look at the layered streets of New York, much more than I go to museums. So, when you say penetrate and deploy, you have to ask what kind of people you want to have that exchange with and then look at where they go to get their cultural fix. What are the forums you respect? What are the locations and communities you value? Deciding that can then give you ideas about how to become active in those forums.
Art schools prepare people to function in one limited kind of cultural community, just as music conservatories do. In that sense, “career step” and “legitimate educational experience” are one and the same: people are being trained for a profession and trained in the rituals and expectations of that profession as much as they are being trained in artistic technique. So if that is the community you want to reach, you are going to have a hard time if you don’t at least acquaint yourself with the norms of the locals. But there are plenty of other art communities that do not rest upon those norms and in fact reject them.
So to sum up: How you alert people to what you do depends on who you are talking about, and what your desire is for the interaction after you’ve alerted them.
March remains question month. I’ll do my best to answer any thing you might ask, and you can ask it here
Tags: art school, art world, making art, notes on practice, Question Month
