Some are saying things, some are just doing stuff because they can. I’m not convinced it’s any less sane than, say, working in finance. It’s definitely less harmful.
The thing about art is that it’s whatever you can get away with. Sometimes that leaves room for powerful critiques of the system, sometimes it’s just random stuff. In order to survive in capitalism, artists have to keep producing art. This means that they’re incentiveized to produce things that are meaningless… Which is what most people in society do most of the time.
So these folks take some drugs and externalize the absurdity rather than fume in an office for decades before snapping and shooting a bunch of people or just offing themselves. Is it crazier to throw the absurdity of society back in it’s face, or pretend that any of this is OK?
Edit: How many people reading this are pretending to work? You could be outside touching grass. You could be inside by a fire. Every minute you spend pretending to work is a waste of your life. Imagine if you threw your computer against the wall, walked out of the office, covered yourself in paint, and started flopping against a canvas like a fish. Would you experience more joy than you are experiencing right now, trapped at work pretending to do something meaningful? Yeah, I’m gonna go back to work but I’m also not gonna judge.
But that still doesn’t make it good art. Sure, we aren’t doing anything productive as well, but at least the only ones that we lie about how productive we are, are our bosses.
Some of it forces you to think about what you’re doing with your life. That alone is a redeeming value. Most of that means nothing to me or is funny out of context, but the context could make everything. Or it could be bad. I’m not sure that it matters, but it’s really difficult to impossible without knowing the context (like, who’s the audience).
If I made a joke about tech, I’m guessing you might get it but most folks wouldn’t. Does that mean the joke isn’t funny or that the other people just aren’t in on it?
Depends on the joke I guess. If it’s something more commonly known, even if it is about tech, it would be funny for most people. Like the CD-ROM as a cup holder thing, that would be funny for most people.
Most people have this notion that tech people are like robots and get nothing outside of tech. That is true for most (I have to admit), but then you run into an odd ball like me. I’ve been to operas, plays, art exibitions, concerts (alternative music mostly). And I do enjoy doing all of that. Well, art exibitions not that much… depends on the art I guess. But yeah, I am very much into classical music, as well as the theater.
My point is, I like to dwell on social problems and constructs and why things are like this or like that and how we could make them better. And I agree, most of the questions regarding these things came through art (lyrics or a dialogue in a play). So it’s not that I’m cluless about life and how things work IRL. I do consider that it’s a shame that we have to do meaningless things in order to make ends meat, but that’s how life in this society is. I’m not delusional that a single individual (or even a million) can change how the world works. Thus, I do respect what the artists are trying to say, but they don’t usually offer solutions, just make us aware of the problem. Yes, I do agree that that is good as well, but I’ve seen this pattern over and over. Point to the problem with no real advice on how to solve it. I’m a problem solver, I don’t like it when a problem has no solution and becomes circumstance. Thus, simply pointing out to me that there is something seriously wrong with this or that is just not enough. Sure, if it’s entertaining, as an art exibit, OK, I can go with that… but that alone is just not enough to move me.
This is why I like movies like Fight Club. They don’t just point to the problem, but take real steps into solving it, no matter how absurd those steps might be (like banks have no backups of records offshore 😂). They still tried and had a step by step plan of doing it. That is what I like, a plan of action. Something that might not be thought of all the way through, but still, it’s a step in the right direction, and maybe we will change the plan when we see things aren’t what we thought.
People usually refer to me as the “gets the job done” guy. I either do it right or don’t do it all. I don’t like half baked solutions or endless meetings with nothing concrete to show for at the end. I would rather just start doing something about it, even if it’s wrong, then adapt the course of action, than just analyze to death and not actually do anything about the problem at hand. Sure, analysis is a very important part of planning, but from what I’ve seen so far in life, people do just that with no real incentive to actually start doing something about the problem. And that bugs me A LOT.
I think it’s less committing suicide, and more at the behest of corruption, unrestricted power, and a persistent lack of empathy.
But words are cheap, I will now perform eighty hours of silence and fasting. You must experience this with me to fulfill my my art. Only by the end of the period will you realize I was not participating, but instead exhibiting the role of the corrupted ruling class.
Also, I’m going to paint my weiner and slap it around on some paper.
We live in a society that’s committing suicide. Who’s “sane” here?
No one. But these people are just whacked if you ask me.
Some are saying things, some are just doing stuff because they can. I’m not convinced it’s any less sane than, say, working in finance. It’s definitely less harmful.
The thing about art is that it’s whatever you can get away with. Sometimes that leaves room for powerful critiques of the system, sometimes it’s just random stuff. In order to survive in capitalism, artists have to keep producing art. This means that they’re incentiveized to produce things that are meaningless… Which is what most people in society do most of the time.
So these folks take some drugs and externalize the absurdity rather than fume in an office for decades before snapping and shooting a bunch of people or just offing themselves. Is it crazier to throw the absurdity of society back in it’s face, or pretend that any of this is OK?
Edit: How many people reading this are pretending to work? You could be outside touching grass. You could be inside by a fire. Every minute you spend pretending to work is a waste of your life. Imagine if you threw your computer against the wall, walked out of the office, covered yourself in paint, and started flopping against a canvas like a fish. Would you experience more joy than you are experiencing right now, trapped at work pretending to do something meaningful? Yeah, I’m gonna go back to work but I’m also not gonna judge.
I agree, you do have a point there.
But that still doesn’t make it good art. Sure, we aren’t doing anything productive as well, but at least the only ones that we lie about how productive we are, are our bosses.
Some of it forces you to think about what you’re doing with your life. That alone is a redeeming value. Most of that means nothing to me or is funny out of context, but the context could make everything. Or it could be bad. I’m not sure that it matters, but it’s really difficult to impossible without knowing the context (like, who’s the audience).
If I made a joke about tech, I’m guessing you might get it but most folks wouldn’t. Does that mean the joke isn’t funny or that the other people just aren’t in on it?
Depends on the joke I guess. If it’s something more commonly known, even if it is about tech, it would be funny for most people. Like the CD-ROM as a cup holder thing, that would be funny for most people.
Most people have this notion that tech people are like robots and get nothing outside of tech. That is true for most (I have to admit), but then you run into an odd ball like me. I’ve been to operas, plays, art exibitions, concerts (alternative music mostly). And I do enjoy doing all of that. Well, art exibitions not that much… depends on the art I guess. But yeah, I am very much into classical music, as well as the theater.
My point is, I like to dwell on social problems and constructs and why things are like this or like that and how we could make them better. And I agree, most of the questions regarding these things came through art (lyrics or a dialogue in a play). So it’s not that I’m cluless about life and how things work IRL. I do consider that it’s a shame that we have to do meaningless things in order to make ends meat, but that’s how life in this society is. I’m not delusional that a single individual (or even a million) can change how the world works. Thus, I do respect what the artists are trying to say, but they don’t usually offer solutions, just make us aware of the problem. Yes, I do agree that that is good as well, but I’ve seen this pattern over and over. Point to the problem with no real advice on how to solve it. I’m a problem solver, I don’t like it when a problem has no solution and becomes circumstance. Thus, simply pointing out to me that there is something seriously wrong with this or that is just not enough. Sure, if it’s entertaining, as an art exibit, OK, I can go with that… but that alone is just not enough to move me.
This is why I like movies like Fight Club. They don’t just point to the problem, but take real steps into solving it, no matter how absurd those steps might be (like banks have no backups of records offshore 😂). They still tried and had a step by step plan of doing it. That is what I like, a plan of action. Something that might not be thought of all the way through, but still, it’s a step in the right direction, and maybe we will change the plan when we see things aren’t what we thought.
People usually refer to me as the “gets the job done” guy. I either do it right or don’t do it all. I don’t like half baked solutions or endless meetings with nothing concrete to show for at the end. I would rather just start doing something about it, even if it’s wrong, then adapt the course of action, than just analyze to death and not actually do anything about the problem at hand. Sure, analysis is a very important part of planning, but from what I’ve seen so far in life, people do just that with no real incentive to actually start doing something about the problem. And that bugs me A LOT.
I think it’s less committing suicide, and more at the behest of corruption, unrestricted power, and a persistent lack of empathy.
But words are cheap, I will now perform eighty hours of silence and fasting. You must experience this with me to fulfill my my art. Only by the end of the period will you realize I was not participating, but instead exhibiting the role of the corrupted ruling class.
Also, I’m going to paint my weiner and slap it around on some paper.