life as art

lifeasart

20101122 -­‐ monoelemento

creativity against entropy

life cannot be a mere vegetating and absorbing like a death star, everyone should also be an irradiating source, a cause and a beginning. i’m talking about love, art, design, invention and creativity. think, have an idea, have a opinion, fortify it and fight for it. there should be reactions, emotions and effects. people should be enthusiastic, i want people to be, to define themselves by what they do. i want people to be awake and interested in the world. i want everybody to be unique and this can only be achieved if we emancipate ourselves from the consumption of industrialized goods and start do be our own individual producers.

creativity, a definition

by creativity i mean a active approach to life. its a position towards the world that is characterized by a critical will that is aimed at improving it. being critical towards everything is the first step, finding weak points the second and intervening to resolve them the third. it is about generating something new starting from the incongruence of the existing circumstance. this is the creative process that is so important, it is the active attitude.

creativity can be applied to everything, from ethical to artisanal problems. mostly i speak of three areas of creativity. the first concerns the artistic production in the most classic sense, the second in the individual construction of the small things that surround us, also called bricolage and the third is the ethical creativity, a way of living, that is reflected in all actions.

when i talk of creating, i think generally of items as furniture, cloths and all the objects that surrounds us. but these ideas also apply to artistic creations, which value is much more subtle. it clearly involves beauty as well as knowledge. the value of the items above is of course much more physical whereas that of the product of artistic creation located in the mind. they are both valuable, maybe the artworks are even more important, since the ideas in it are easier transmitted and address not practical but essential aspects of life.

creation against consumption:

consuming is passive, it just requires a minimal effort of time and thinking. the result won’t be individualized but standardized. you will usually pay to get something somebody else has thought. you cannot control the quality and it will never fit perfectly your needs, sometimes it will even create new needs, which is the highest absurdity. by withdrawing yourself of the mechanism of capitalist consumption you have much to gain in knowledge and in materials goods. since you will produce something that better suits your needs and that will bring you much experience. don’t buy things you can make on your own, don’t adapt your needs to the most similar thing for sale, but make it exactly as you need it. always your own. why let someone impose you his ideas if you can think for yourself?

of course it is impossible to do always everything on your own. on the contrary building on the work of your predecessors, or using the tools invented by others is very important, but it should never by laziness that impels us to take from others. the reflection must be always present, orientated in combing, changing and improving the work of others. a good example is the internet with the wide range of open source software. these programs are a good starting point since it makes no sense to start every time from zero. everybody having the necessary skills can find the weak points and try to improve the program. so these software grow with the work and dedication of the whole community.

the act of imaginative creation:

when i create something i’ll first have to exercise my imagination, to find a personalized solution to a problem. if i need a table i can just go to a shop and choose between the few standardized solutions they offer. but if i want to build my own table i need to think about my individual needs and how to combine them effectively. so creating for yourself will force you to think consciously about your personal problem, you will get to know yourself better and the solution suit you much better than the standardized one from a shop, that requires no personal reflection.

the act of physical creation:

once you have the idea in your mind you have to realize it. mostly this will force you to make researches, talk to professionals and make a few preliminary tries. so you will certainly have to invest time in the acquisition of the necessary knowledge. but you will learn where to find the materials, how to use them, what tools to use and how to combine this knowledge. during the process you’ll have new ideas and discover new techniques and how to use these solutions for other problems. you’ll notice that thinking and building it is fun and usually even cheaper. you learn nothing by buying a chair or a piece of art, but you can learn a lot about techniques, materials and also about yourself if you are the creator and not only the consumer.

hazard in creativity:

creativity is not without risks, for one thing you have to be careful about your motivations. the main cause of being productive should never be the need to be admired by others. if you create extraordinary and beautiful things, people will admire it, you can continue creating because you want them to smile and like the object itself but not because you like them admiring you as the creator. an other point is common sense, you should be able to see when it makes sense to do something on your own or when it is just better to accept the work of others because it is cheaper, of better quality, timesaving and maybe even more beautiful.

the quality of creations:

most of the times your creations won’t reach the aesthetic perfection of bought items, because those are made by professionals. you have to chose between, buying something and receiving the quality you have paid for or doing it yourself, being satisfied with your unprofessional results but gain much more in experience and knowledge.

creation as a seed:

there can be created an infinite number of objects, ideas and pieces of art. but the fact that they have been produced trough a creative act doesn’t mean that they are also ethically good. there are no objective values, of course, but i think that it is possible to formulate a few guidelines. for example there is a difference if you build a gun or a life west. but there is also a big difference if you make a drawing that makes sense only for you or if it is a piece of art that speaks and inspires a wide range of people. there is also an important difference between sterile creations or those that are made to be continued and impel other in doing something. those are the democratic creations, those who are not a finite object or system but one that is open to development by anybody. the open source software in the internet or the projects of friedman in architecture are an example for it.

inspiration trough creation:

apart from our inner gain of experience trough creation, the product can also be an important inspiration for others. every change in our life or in that of others must start form an act of creation that is powerful enough to touch those who come in contact with it. it can be a drawing, a piece of art, a book or even an idea. according to the message it contains it can sparkle everything from admiration to rage. it is legitimated to create only for ourselves, but it will be a one-­‐dimensional production. not much compared to the gain that can be obtained by making it public. the reactions will vary from admiration to rejection, but either way we gain something.

the best creative processes and productions are those that not only enrich ourselves and the world around us but also initiate new thoughts and processes in others. the last verses of rilke’s poem “der archaische torso des apollo” exress this quite good:

und bräche nicht aus allen seinen Rändern aus wie ein Stern: denn da ist keine Stelle, die dich nicht sieht. Du mußt dein Leben ändern.

creativity as the sense of life:

i personally see creativity as a way to justify my existence and the love, wealth and time that my parents and my society invested in me. carpe diem, what to do with the given time? and how to justify it? creation is my personal answer. but even more important: it is a way to justify myself in front of myself and my ethical values. when i have done something, created something and am satisfied with it, i feel realized and that i have used well my time. these things are a testament of me, my capacities and my values, maybe for some years to come. i think i can say that for now the sense of my life is exactly this: to create.

i was reading fernando pessoa’s small book "il banchiere anarchico"1 when i stumbled upon this remarkable sentences:2

"Ter uma acção sobre a humanidade, contribuir com todo o poder do meu esforço para a civilização vêm-­‐se-­‐me tornando os graves e pesados fins da minha vida. E, assim, fazer arte parece-­‐me cada vez mais importante coisa, mais terrível missão..."3

"Não faço visitas, nem ando em sociedade alguma [...] Fazel-­‐o seria sacrificat minha unidade interior, entregar-­‐me a conversas inuteis, frutar tempo señao aos meus raciocinios e aos meus projectos, pelo menos aos meus sonhos, que sempre são mais belo que a conversa alheina. Devo-­‐me a humanidade futura."4

creation as a philosophical act:

there is something beautiful into being the god of a piece of paper or of a piece of land. being free to shape and change it according to your wishes. doing it in a creative way, producing something is what makes us feel realized. for hegel and marx*, work had exactly this meaning, self-­‐realization. only trough the active shaping of our world we can feel human, and the mere consumption is the exact contrary. creating is recreating ourselves. creating is existing. the creative way of living is a standing against inaction,

1 il banchiere anarchico, Fernando Pessoa, Firenze-­‐Antella, Passiglio Editori, 2001.

2 i don't make visits and don't have a life in society, doing so would mean sacrificing my personal integrity, dedicate

myself to useless conversations and steal time to my thoughts and projects, which are always more beautiful than the chattering of others. exercising an action for humanity, contributing with my forces for civilization are becoming for me the grave and heavy purposes of my life. and so, making art seems to me every time the most important thing, the most terrible mission.

3 Correspondecia 1905-­‐1922, ed. Manuela Parreira da Silva, Lisboa, Ássirio & Alvim, 1999, pp. 140-­‐1. Or: http://multipessoa.net/labirinto/vida-­‐e-­‐obra/17 (25.04.2010) 4 Pessoa por conhecer, Lisboa, Editorial Estampa, 1990; vol. ii, p. 74

conservationism, hedonism, consumerism, disillusion and couldn’t-­‐care-­‐less attitude. it’s all about criticizing the status quo and trying to change it, at least for yourself and your immediate surroundings.

creativity and art:

i consider this art. it’s being creative, thinking on your own, posing yourself questions and solving them. it’s a way of living, of seeing the world. it’s an active, productive and creative way of living. it may not be as refined as the art in the museums, but it’s infinitely more important for yourself and the world.