mumbling to myself aloud, in public. at times it is embarrassing, but it is as it is. I know you're expecting art!
It is here, but interwoven / embedded with cyber residue of life.
Monday, May 21, 2007
drool
if i give up consumer whoring, stand atop maslow’s hierarchy wiping the pavlovian drool from my lips what remains
I find my voice only to discover everyone is talking, no one is listening. 40" x 16". Found tire remnants, tire tube pads. 2007.
Do you give it up or merely refocus your attention/concentration? We must all consume, all satisfy the base needs (breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion, homeostasis, home entertainment, etc.). Some never get beyond that. Once you ascend to the top tier, isn't self-actualization enough? That is assuming that you've done your homework and know what it is to be self-actualized, to be moral (as an artist and a person), to accept facts (once again as an artist and a person). Or do you self-actualize through consumer whoring? In a creative, spontaneous way, of course.
So many different ways to whore. So little time to whore in.
consumer whoring isn't consumption in regards to necessity but is in regards to excess.
Been to katy mills mall lately? It's worth it just for the people watching. What I saw there seems to me to be symptomatic of the degree to which we consume. Gluttony on almost every level perhaps?
You would think in this culture our lower level needs are met and we would be self actuallized. when i look around this is not what i see.
American consumption goes beyond the satisfaction of basic/essential needs. Agreed.
But who determines what an individual's self-actualization is/how it is defined? Can an individual self-actualize through conspicuous consumption/consumer whoring/gluttony? Can someone perfect the art of excess and that process be art?
Yes by your standards and values (and mine) the consumption is excessive, obscene, inhumane and possibly criminal. However, I could just as easily apply a set of values (not yours and not absolute) to your art work (read life's work or mine) and it could be interpreted through this other set of values as pointless, irrelevant, self-indulgent, and useless (not utilitarian or pragmatic).
The key to defeating a concept or a practice is to defeat it based upon its own principles. (For example, a rigorous application of prejudice eventually undermines the prejudiced based on their own beliefs.)
The devil couldn't blog today so I'm standing in as his advocate.
5 comments:
Do you give it up or merely refocus your attention/concentration? We must all consume, all satisfy the base needs (breathing, food, water, sex, sleep, excretion, homeostasis, home entertainment, etc.). Some never get beyond that. Once you ascend to the top tier, isn't self-actualization enough? That is assuming that you've done your homework and know what it is to be self-actualized, to be moral (as an artist and a person), to accept facts (once again as an artist and a person). Or do you self-actualize through consumer whoring? In a creative, spontaneous way, of course.
So many different ways to whore. So little time to whore in.
consumer whoring isn't consumption in regards to necessity but is in regards to excess.
Been to katy mills mall lately? It's worth it just for the people watching. What I saw there seems to me to be symptomatic of the degree to which we consume. Gluttony on almost every level perhaps?
You would think in this culture our lower level needs are met and we would be self actuallized. when i look around this is not what i see.
American consumption goes beyond the satisfaction of basic/essential needs. Agreed.
But who determines what an individual's self-actualization is/how it is defined? Can an individual self-actualize through conspicuous consumption/consumer whoring/gluttony? Can someone perfect the art of excess and that process be art?
Yes by your standards and values (and mine) the consumption is excessive, obscene, inhumane and possibly criminal. However, I could just as easily apply a set of values (not yours and not absolute) to your art work (read life's work or mine) and it could be interpreted through this other set of values as pointless, irrelevant, self-indulgent, and useless (not utilitarian or pragmatic).
The key to defeating a concept or a practice is to defeat it based upon its own principles. (For example, a rigorous application of prejudice eventually undermines the prejudiced based on their own beliefs.)
The devil couldn't blog today so I'm standing in as his advocate.
Dean
BTW, stunning piece. A nice mix of industrial materials and sensual assemblage. O'Keefe meets Rauchenberg in a tire recycling plant.
What remains is a good question...Been tossing that around for a bit...more thoughts to come.
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