Diversity and the Machine

I've been thinking recently regarding how diversity and abundance arise spontaneously in the universe and the existence of an opposing force which exists for the sake of control and manageability. I'm thinking of the apparent duality that is seen in the world between these two forces.

On one side there is quality (Think Amish quilts) and the other quantity (Think McDonalds).

On one side there is concrete reality here and present. You can touch it, feel it, be in it and be it. There is nothing outside it. It's as real as it gets.

On the other side are to-do-lists, the countless "hurry ups", "Can't stop now, I got this deadline you see.", "What were you thinking?.", etc etc.

When we get so caught up in the franticness of maximizing whatever it is we're maximizing, where are the moments that we actually bask in the abundance that is already there. How often can we look at another person and instead of seeing a human resource, project, wife, or student, we see an angel?

Well, I'm going to go back to trying my darndest to be internally silent and present. Here is a youtube post by bbbleaver I just ran across which seemed to resonate with these thoughts.

Make Art not War

Artwork by Shepard Fairey

I recently found this manifesto by Mary Anne Davis here.

The current differentiation between art, architecture, craft, and design is false, it is a false schism promoted by the art world. This unnatural taxonomy has crippled the artists and turned those who participate or attempt to participate into victims of fashion. Walter Gropius said in his manifesto of the Bauhaus, “There is no essential difference between the artist and the craftsperson. The artist is an exalted craftsperson.” (sic)

The conscious cooperation and collaboration of artists and craftspeople must be reintroduced to rise above the current constriction and strangulation extant in the art world.

This artistic differentiation and intolerance, based on prejudice and fear of commerce, must stop. We must take matters back into our own hands and return to the idealism of our youth. Art schools filled us with impossible dreams and gave us no concrete way of supporting ourselves except through teaching, working at odd or related jobs
or that most coveted and jealously desired possibility, hitting it big.

It is time to take back the power inherent in our decision to become artists and to work at a grass roots level to create objects for use and contemplation that uplift the spirit. Participate in craft fairs. Make Xerox art. Sell art cheaply. Explore unexpected venues. Embrace commerce. The most important artists throughout history were
adroit business people.

When Albert Einstein discovered the theory of relativity, he wanted to explain it so that a school child could understand it. Let our work become that clear. Our ideas can be challenged and clarified by a direct experience with the public.

Make useful, beautiful, interesting, and or challenging objects. Use your talent and intelligence to educate an inquisitive public. Make a living doing what you love to do. Be irreverent. Get up. Get going.

There is a revolution going on in science, math, economics, sociology and psychology that is recognizing the parallel experiences of all the disciplines. Conciliance. Synthesis. Invite the public. Make art. Not war.