Sunday, February 11, 2007

COLLECTIVE CRITICAL ANALYSIS

The collective provides an external motivator for following through on my interests, research, and form making. Furthermore it forces me to take the idea, the one that usually sits just out of reach, and stand up, snatch it, and force it into the box of language. The group enables me push and pull on it until I am able to knock off the rough edges and create something coherent. They also reveal to me when I have pushed the idea to far into the realm of nonsense (bullshit), or when I need to eject the idea totally because it is simply wrong. Often they suggest an entirely new tangent that I had not considered. I especially enjoy a group that mixes together what appears to be opposites, left and right, straight and gay, Christian and agnostic, Shiner Bock drinkers and Diet Coke drinkers, and east and west. A diverse group quickly reveals the fallacies I hold, but it also exposes the currents of commonality.

1 comment:

Dean said...

Can an idea be wrong? I think of ideas in terms of maturity and strength. Weak ideas are young ideas. They have not been tested; they have not been broken down (like a muscle), repaired/reconstituted and made stronger. Over time they are tested and it is this resistance, this constant questioning that builds them up, that makes them viable.