Pearls from Robert Genn
Yesterday, Nancy Hall of Sandy Hook, Manitoba wrote: "As an
artist, mother, farmhand, two-dog owner and a writer, I would
sure welcome some organizational tips! I'm curious how you pack
all you do into your life."
Thanks, Nancy. Early one morning when I was a very small kid, I
was standing on some rocks at the beach below where we lived.
The water was flat calm and grey to the horizon. I remember
thinking what a remarkable thing a day is. I wasn't thinking
about a "special" day, I was thinking about an ordinary day--a
day you could do things in. As I grew older I came to realize
that days are golden units by which our lives are measured. As
a self-anointed self-manager I realized that if I were going to
get anywhere, I needed to bring good habits, joy and a certain
amount of sacrifice to my days. By the time I was in my teens,
I had figured out that habits were holy--I saw in habits the
key to an independent creative life:
Work doggedly, one thing after the other.
Begin work early, finish many things each day.
Work on what comes to hand, what demands attention.
Have rough plans--work them daily.
Rest from the work--look at the water.
Regarding joy, Winston Churchill said, "It is no use doing what
you like; you have got to like what you do." I observed that
all kinds of people worked at jobs that were distasteful to
them. I didn't want to be like that. Besides, I was struck with
a peculiar disorder--I couldn't concentrate on dull jobs. I was
really lousy at everything except those things I wanted to do.
I needed to have work that was some sort of automatic or
semi-automatic joy. I wanted to be most often in "the joy
mode." I figured my work habits would take me there. By my
mid-twenties I had discovered that work is not work when the
work is loved. I had fallen in love with art.
Regarding sacrifice, early on I found that my days were not
long enough. I had to be more efficient in my use of the time
allotted, and I was prepared to make sacrifices. It was okay to
cut back on the time taken socializing, commuting and eating.
One must not, I thought, sacrifice sleep, exercise,
contemplation, love, family or dog activity.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Normal day, let me be aware of the treasure you are. Let
me not pass you by in quest of some rare and perfect tomorrow."
(Mary Jean Irion)
Esoterica: To be fair, a supportive partner and studio
assistants go a long way toward fooling people into thinking
that one is organizationally competent. Helpmates are above
angels. The telephone and the computer, on the other hand,
present special problems. I save some outgoing calls for the
car--and actually look forward to making them on a relatively
safe, hands-free (Bluetooth) system. A studio computer frees
up, speeds up, and actualizes an artist. Around here, Tuesdays
and Fridays are particularly full because there are so many
Inbox friends. As I'm older, and perhaps more mature, this
universal socializing is hard to resist. I'm eating better too.
Tuesday, September 12, 2006
Friday, September 08, 2006
Paris Hilton targeted in CD prank
Sunday, 3 September 2006, 14:04 GMT 15:04 UK
Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy.
Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?
He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog's head.
A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.
She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in."
"It might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album"
HMV spokesman
But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.
Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries.
His spokeswoman said he had tampered with the CDs in branches of HMV and Virgin as well as independent record stores.
He visited cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London, she added.
A spokesman for HMV said the chain had recovered seven CDs from two Brighton shops but was unaware that other locations were affected.
Artistic leeway
No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.
"It's not the type of behaviour you'd want to see happening very often," he said.
"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.
"Often people might have a view on something but feel they can't always express it, but it's down to the likes of Banksy to say often what people think about things.
"And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album."
A spokesman for Virgin Megastores said staff were searching for affected CDs but it was proving hard to find them all.
"I have to take my hat off - it's a very good stunt," he added.
Hundreds of Paris Hilton albums have been tampered with in the latest stunt by "guerrilla artist" Banksy.
Banksy has replaced Hilton's CD with his own remixes and given them titles such as Why am I Famous?, What Have I Done? and What Am I For?
He has also changed pictures of her on the CD sleeve to show the US socialite topless and with a dog's head.
A spokeswoman for Banksy said he had doctored 500 copies of her debut album Paris in 48 record shops across the UK.
She told the BBC News website: "He switched the CDs in store, so he took the old ones out and put his version in."
"It might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album"
HMV spokesman
But he left the original barcode so people could buy the CD without realising it had been interfered with.
Banksy is notorious for his secretive and subversive stunts such as sneaking doctored versions of classic paintings into major art galleries.
His spokeswoman said he had tampered with the CDs in branches of HMV and Virgin as well as independent record stores.
He visited cities including Bristol, Brighton, Birmingham, Newcastle, Glasgow and London, she added.
A spokesman for HMV said the chain had recovered seven CDs from two Brighton shops but was unaware that other locations were affected.
Artistic leeway
No customers had complained or returned a doctored version, he said.
"It's not the type of behaviour you'd want to see happening very often," he said.
"I guess you can give an individual such as Banksy a little bit of leeway for his own particular brand of artistic engagement.
"Often people might have a view on something but feel they can't always express it, but it's down to the likes of Banksy to say often what people think about things.
"And it might be that there will be some people who agree with his views on the Paris Hilton album."
A spokesman for Virgin Megastores said staff were searching for affected CDs but it was proving hard to find them all.
"I have to take my hat off - it's a very good stunt," he added.
Friday, September 01, 2006
Meauring Tenacity
The English landscape painter John Constable spent a lifetime
studying clouds. Seeing them both vaporous and solid, he found
them to be the most challenging of actors. Yesterday near
Ashern, Manitoba, under the prairie sky, I entered into their
leaden tops, slid down their warming gradations and confirmed
the dimensions of their mysterious volumes. Turning my
attention to their edges, I saw that they were cut with yellow
counter-light, while subtle tones slid progressively down the
colour wheel as they moved toward grays. In addition, their
flattened underbellies were brilliantly warm where they
reflected the golden fields below. Wispy micro-cloudlet
partners added vivacity, energy and design. Still, these clouds
were lit and shaded like any art-school blocks. "When such a
simple thing is so complex," said Constable in a similar
situation, "one needs tenacity."
In degrees of tenacity, some of us are steel-toed hiking boots,
others are an old pair of flip-flops. This understanding just
may determine how far we go. Thankfully, within the creative
universe there are different personality types--the sensitive
and the insensitive, the automatically creative and the
developmentally creative. Right- and left-brain tendencies as
well as other personality quirks provide a wide range of
possibilities and expectations. Constable, the most gentle and
sensitive of men, was also tenacious. I've asked Andrew to put
up a few examples of Constable's clouds at the top of the
current clickback. See URL below.
Sometimes I think this art business is all about channelling
and focusing our tenacious natures. These days, the general
ease of life promotes playtime, laziness, goofing off and a
"let George do it" attitude. But thriving artists often have
what I call "the relentless pursuit of entitlement." I'm not
talking about the entitlement to be supported--grants,
residencies, etc. I'm talking about the entitlement to "get
good."
Getting good takes work, and tenacity shows itself best during
the process of making art. "Genius," said Jane Hopkins, "is the
infinite capacity for taking pains." These pains can be minor
and yet powerful. John Constable was among the first to
tenaciously sit out in nature and try to work out such
seemingly lesser issues as relative darkness and lightness,
plainness and complexity, form and formlessness, weakness and
strength.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." (P.
D. Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, 1694-1773)
Esoterica: Nuances are those subtle and seldom noticed
differences occurring in nature that many artists need to bring
into their work. Nuanced work depends on observation,
understanding and application. Nuance is often the difference
between ordinary art and great art. The tenacious artist takes
the time to get it right. Good enough is not good enough.
Further, tenacity and humility can be friends: "I know very
well what I am about and that my skies have not been neglected,
though they often failed in execution--and often no doubt from
anxiety about them." (John Constable, 1776-1837)
studying clouds. Seeing them both vaporous and solid, he found
them to be the most challenging of actors. Yesterday near
Ashern, Manitoba, under the prairie sky, I entered into their
leaden tops, slid down their warming gradations and confirmed
the dimensions of their mysterious volumes. Turning my
attention to their edges, I saw that they were cut with yellow
counter-light, while subtle tones slid progressively down the
colour wheel as they moved toward grays. In addition, their
flattened underbellies were brilliantly warm where they
reflected the golden fields below. Wispy micro-cloudlet
partners added vivacity, energy and design. Still, these clouds
were lit and shaded like any art-school blocks. "When such a
simple thing is so complex," said Constable in a similar
situation, "one needs tenacity."
In degrees of tenacity, some of us are steel-toed hiking boots,
others are an old pair of flip-flops. This understanding just
may determine how far we go. Thankfully, within the creative
universe there are different personality types--the sensitive
and the insensitive, the automatically creative and the
developmentally creative. Right- and left-brain tendencies as
well as other personality quirks provide a wide range of
possibilities and expectations. Constable, the most gentle and
sensitive of men, was also tenacious. I've asked Andrew to put
up a few examples of Constable's clouds at the top of the
current clickback. See URL below.
Sometimes I think this art business is all about channelling
and focusing our tenacious natures. These days, the general
ease of life promotes playtime, laziness, goofing off and a
"let George do it" attitude. But thriving artists often have
what I call "the relentless pursuit of entitlement." I'm not
talking about the entitlement to be supported--grants,
residencies, etc. I'm talking about the entitlement to "get
good."
Getting good takes work, and tenacity shows itself best during
the process of making art. "Genius," said Jane Hopkins, "is the
infinite capacity for taking pains." These pains can be minor
and yet powerful. John Constable was among the first to
tenaciously sit out in nature and try to work out such
seemingly lesser issues as relative darkness and lightness,
plainness and complexity, form and formlessness, weakness and
strength.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Whatever is worth doing at all, is worth doing well." (P.
D. Stanhope, Earl of Chesterfield, 1694-1773)
Esoterica: Nuances are those subtle and seldom noticed
differences occurring in nature that many artists need to bring
into their work. Nuanced work depends on observation,
understanding and application. Nuance is often the difference
between ordinary art and great art. The tenacious artist takes
the time to get it right. Good enough is not good enough.
Further, tenacity and humility can be friends: "I know very
well what I am about and that my skies have not been neglected,
though they often failed in execution--and often no doubt from
anxiety about them." (John Constable, 1776-1837)
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