hiya, unfortunately being an artist is not as easy as adopting the appellation, in a pirsigian context or any other. there are very very few individuals worthy of this label. an artist is someone who is alone, who does only what they want to do and is self-sufficient in this. it is someone who is producing original work whose aesthetic value alone is enough to justify its production. "We can forgive a man for making a useful thing as long as he does not admire it. The only excuse for making a useless thing [ie art] is that one admires it intensely." wilde
some people i regard as artists: bjork tim rogers warren ellis and co. kieslowski kundera pirsig henry miller anais nin david bowie maradona brett whitely i see 'art' and 'artist' as the situationists and miller do. that is the goal is the suppression and realisation of art. in other words art as a consumer-driven commodity, a spectacle, is inauthentic - leads to kitsch. the artist is the bridge between the world of kitsch (kitsch is art subordinated to social values) and the world of authenticity - individual freedom/responsibility. ultimately art itself loses its meaning, when it becomes realised, when this mode of being is lived naturally by all. i think this is what pirsig and arlo are prefiguring in their words. the ultimate fusion of science, art and religion, which again is the negation of all 3. until this time we have guides among us, living and dead, who have earned the title of artist. by appreciating them, learning from them, and gaining the confidence to be ourselves from them, we can help accelerate the transition to a world that will again recognise the unity of truth, beauty and the good. --- On Fri, 26/6/09, Arlo Bensinger <[email protected]> wrote: > From: Arlo Bensinger <[email protected]> > Subject: Re: [MD] Why the quality of the modern world is no good. > To: [email protected] > Received: Friday, 26 June, 2009, 2:41 AM > [Marsha quotes Pirsig] > "Programs of a political nature are important end products > of social quality that can be effective only if the > underlying structure of social values is right." (ZMM) > > [Arlo] > I think its more than just "programs of a political nature" > that are impacted by social values. In ZMM, Pirsig > juxtaposes this thought with "programs of an economic > nature" (in this case, modes of production, labor). > > "To speak of certain government and establishment > institutions as "the system" is to speak correctly, since > these organizations are founded upon the same structural > conceptual relationships as a motorcycle. They are sustained > by structural relationships even when they have lost all > other meaning and purpose. People arrive at a factory and > perform a totally meaningless task from eight to five > without question because the structure demands that it be > that way. There's no villain, no "mean guy" who wants them > to live meaningless lives, it's just that the structure, the > system demands it and no one is willing to take on the > formidable task of changing the structure just because it is > meaningless. > > But to tear down a factory or to revolt against a > government or to avoid repair of a motorcycle because it is > a system is to attack effects rather than causes; and as > long as the attack is upon effects only, no change is > possible. The true system, the real system, is our present > construction of systematic thought itself, rationality > itself, and if a factory is torn down but the rationality > which produced it is left standing, then that rationality > will simply produce another factory. If a revolution > destroys a systematic government, but the systematic > patterns of thought that produced that government are left > intact, then those patterns will repeat themselves in the > succeeding government." (ZMM) > > He further describes the effect of this, a general lack of > "identity" in labor as follows. "The creator of it feels no > particular sense of identity with it. The owner of it feels > no particular sense of identity with it. The user of it > feels no particular sense of identity with it. Hence, by > Phædrus' definition, it has no Quality." (ZMM) > > He also talks about the other end of labor, namely > "consumption" and how this, too, is effected by the general > SOM pervading ALL forms of this culture. "Along the streets > that lead away from the apartment he can never see anything > through the concrete and brick and neon but he knows that > buried within it are grotesque, twisted souls forever trying > the manners that will convince themselves they possess > Quality, learning strange poses of style and glamour vended > by dream magazines and other mass media, and paid for by the > vendors of substance. He thinks of them at night alone with > their advertised glamorous shoes and stockings and > underclothes off, staring through the sooty windows at the > grotesque shells revealed beyond them, when the poses weaken > and the truth creeps in, the only truth that exists here, > crying to heaven, God, there is nothing here but dead neon > and cement and brick." (ZMM) > > Finally, I have to say one thing. I am always a little > taken aback when people here use the descriptor "artist" as > if it should/does refer to some particular domain of human > activity. Isn't the entire point of Pirsig's Metaphysics > that "Art" is unjustly divorced from its rightful role in > ALL human activity? Isn't the goal here to stop thinking of > "art" as some special form of human activity and see that > ALL forms of human activity are artful? Don't we just > further this unjust distinction every time we refer to "art" > this way? > > For example, you asked "Do you think it is the role of the > artist to make culture uncomfortable?". How is the role of > the "artist" different from the role of the "teacher" or > "craftsman" or "gardener" or "baseball player"? Isn't the > very problem here that teachers, craftsman, gardeners and > baseball players FORGOT that they, too, are artists? That > "art" is the appearance of Quality revealed in ALL human > activity? ("Art is high-quality endeavor. That is all that > really needs to be said." (ZMM)) > > In this light, there is no "role of the artist". There is > an intention to our activity, and whether or not the product > of our activity is Quality (Art) depends on the manner we > approach said activity. If your goal is to convey as > message, perhaps the outcome is "art" or perhaps it is not. > If your goals is a rotisserie, perhaps the outcome is "art" > or it is not. If your goal is to challenge social norms, > perhaps the outcome is "art" or perhaps it is not. You are > not an "artist" who challenges cultural norms, you challenge > cultural norms and strive to do so revealing Quality, and if > you do then your challenge is "art". > > > > > > > Moq_Discuss mailing list > Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. > http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org > Archives: > http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ > http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/ > Access Yahoo!7 Mail on your mobile. Anytime. Anywhere. Show me how: http://au.mobile.yahoo.com/mail Moq_Discuss mailing list Listinfo, Unsubscribing etc. http://lists.moqtalk.org/listinfo.cgi/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org Archives: http://lists.moqtalk.org/pipermail/moq_discuss-moqtalk.org/ http://moq.org.uk/pipermail/moq_discuss_archive/
