The computer offers another kind of creativity. You cannot ignore the creativity that computer technology can bring. But you need to be able to move between those two different worlds.
Tadao Ando
I guess I’ll have to write my own post, Stumbleupon is down for a while. They have a cute way to tell you too. When you press the Stumble button a screen comes up that says,
“We’ll be right back. In the meantime why don’t you go outside and play for awhile.”
I’ve had something that I wanted to write about for over a month but wanted to noodle it for awhile.
There is a weekly feature called First Person Artist in the Living section of The Huffington Post, written by Kimberly Brooks that I first read on March 8th. The Post that caught my attention was “Why Artists Shouldn’t Have Blackberries.” It caught my attention because of a comment that Kali made about Blackberries just before that.
The article is a little long to reproduce here but the gist was that when she finally broke down and got a Blackberry like all her friends she found it and other technology interfered with her creative process. Something about checking email all the time. She returned it two days after getting it. She also says a true artist would own an iphone and disable the email function. She also has another interesting post titled “The Creative Process in Eight Stages” That I recommend to not only artists but anyone who attempts anything creative.
I started thinking about what she had to say about technology interfering with the creative process and looked at my own experience in this regard.
I was always creative while growing up. As my mother before me I painted and I wrote fiction all the time. I also much like my sons spent time almost every day drawing in various media.
In 1975 I joined the Air Force because there was no chance of higher education and everything pointed toward no real future in jobs in this area.
In the Air Force I was a Computer Communications Specialist before there was such a thing as a home computer and most systems were unique. I still spent a lot of time drawing and writing at first, but as I got more involved with high tech equipment the less drawing and writing I actually did. It soon became a case of thinking about doing my artistic interests and less and less actual work. Funny, I had always assumed that I was just lazy and a world class procrastinator.
I also got to thinking about the long dry spell I have been having when it comes to writing this blog and realized that my blogger block coincided with a period where I was adding new and more state of the art equipment to my personal computer empire.
So the dilemma that I face is do I abandon my desire to develop the talents that I have let atrophy over the last 30+ years, or do I at least part of the time turn off and unplug all the toys that have become such a major part of my life?
Beats me but maybe Stumbleupon is right and I should take time to play.
From: OHIO, United States
About me: Lazy semi old bum with no ambition and even less motivation to fulfill my dreams or potential.
Random ramblings from my beer soaked melon about politics, religion, sex, stupidities, nature, and any other subject that penetrates the haze. Sometimes crude and not for the faint of heart or people with normal intelligence, or an abundance of common sense.
Monday, April 21, 2008
CREATIVE CONUNDRUM
posted by Nit Wit at 5:38 AM
| Permalink |
| Permalink |
12 Comments:
-
Dateing is such a crap shoot but the only game in town.I have never managed my time well. I mostly tend to go with the flow. Then those bastards expect me to show up and punch a clock.
I don't intend to unplug for long. The withdrawl would probibly kill me. Just a little special time set aside.
I like that liquid site. -
I figured you would. Like the site that is.
I'm actually just joking about the dating - i'm not emotionally stable enough yet to inflict myself on some poor unsuspecting soul. I'm the kind of person that throws herself wholeheartedly into whatever I do. And in a relationship that's not always a good thing - it leaves you vulnerable. I'm trying to learn not to take things so seriously. (wry grin)
I was boo-hooing last night over dumbass emails that i ran across. Sheesh. I really need an off switch. Really. -
Awww the creative process. My son went to collage for art and ended up in computer science. Now on his time off of work sits at home in front of three big screens hooked to his computer. He has a baby on the way and should get off his ass and put together a crib and a room for his first child...heaven help him when I arrive.
-
I used to write in a journal every day with the thought of turning it into a book...now i have blogging and it's my book..i think i should go back and go over my posts that i did about my life the news and the music..and try to make it into a book...but im lazy and now i have a real job and did i mention that im lazy?...i want to see some of your art and what you have written..
i think alot of it depends on 1. how you look at it and 2. more importantly how you choose to manage your time.
i'm hoping that the blackberry will allow me to feed my blog and internet research fixes during lull times of the day (stuck waiting to see someone, in boring meetings, etc.) and therefore free up my evenings again.
I have seen a drop in my studio time AND novel writing time and plan to use the technology to fix it.
There's too much inspiration, too much value in the exchange of ideas to dismiss this world out of hand doncha think? It's up to us to not fall into the trap of letting online become our lives. Something I've thought alot about recently myself...
maybe i need to start dating again...