On Knowing and Not Knowing
"Wherever we go, we are friends" -Sloth and Manatee
“When you start working, everybody is in your studio - the past, your friends, enemies, the art world, and above all, your own ideas - all are there. But as you continue painting, they start leaving, one by one, and you are left completely alone. Then, if you are lucky, even you leave.”
-John Cage
Sloth and Manatee
Knowing stuff is a dis-ease. We are so sure we know things, and now we live in a world full of machines that constantly trick us into giving our opinions, forming our opinions, endlessly, about every random thing, and then forming opinions about other people’s opinions, and around and around.
A friend recently shared this essay from 2011 (also linked below) describing this dynamic, if you can call it that, explaining that the Internet is a customer service medium, for us to have opinions. And that’s it. Around and around it goes.
Because of this, we are in danger of curling up into a cul-de-sac in our minds. I catch myself constantly forming opinions about things and then going, “do I need to even be thinking about this? Was this a topic that was important to me when I woke up this morning?” I hate it.
Things are known, because computers are binary. They have to have a response or an answer. It is how they are built. They do not Know Anything.
Our minds, though, thrive in a state of not-knowing. We learn when we crack open a little space through which we can see - nothing? A void? Chaos? We don’t know. We go and find out. We take away something. We moosh it in with whatever else we’ve seen and heard and walked upon.
A wonderful way to crack open that little space is to make a mess with art supplies. Splat something, moosh it around, see what you find. It takes you out of that knowing attitude. Shirazeh Houshiary talks about this in the video linked below. What’s going to happen when I drip watercolors all over this piece of paper? I don’t know.
Brainwaves
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BunnyFrogCatSnake
Woke up, drew this
Things Of The Week
This animation entitled Papers features music made by Kronos Quartet and Steve Reich. It’s a collage-type technique, and a lot is accomplished by holding one element still while others move around it.
A friend shared this essay from 2011 which introduces the concept of WWIC, or Why Wasn’t I Consulted? On the Internet and social stuff in particular as a service for letting us just endlessly have opinions
Artist Shirazeh Houshiary talks about art in such a glorious and curious and open way
Okay! That's enough nonsense for now.
May you have no idea, may you have no opinion, won't you be my neighbor? - Betsy
HELLO AND THANKS FOR READING!!
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