Live Like an Artist – Visual Literacy
— I’ve been thinking about the gipsoteca at the Accademia in Firenze ever since we visited it last fall. A lot of people likely skip this room once they’ve seen the David, the Michelangelo non-finito works. But it’s interesting to think about the techniques of sculptors, the pointing tools, the many steps. And the way Michelangelo did things differently. I mean, I don’t know the half of it — the molds, the casting, the carving, the pointing tools, the measuring.
— I’m still thinking about seeing, as I was about a year ago now. Things are more depressing, perhaps, all round.
— Recently watched S1 of Apple’s Murderbot. It’s billed as a comedy, which yes, but it’s weird sci-fi comedy, weird sci-fi space-hippy campy stuff. Very well done, disturbing, gripping, funny in places but nothing to laugh out loud about per se, totally serious in others. I guess science fiction has been questioning the human/robot thing forever. I miss Data from STTNG, but Murderbot is def watchable. There’s a scene where they describe how they make the “sec-units” with individual faces, and it reminded me of the rows of portrait busts of real 19th century people in the museum in Florence. In a totally disturbing way.
— AI art is happening. I hate it, but it’s happening.
— I don’t want to spend my life playing spot-the-difference.
— Recently Linda Carroll pointed this out on her SubStack: “Last week Substack said that in a survey of over 2,000 Substackers, 45.4% said they’re using AI. Within writing communities, for and against AI has become a topic of contention and I want to talk about the reality of AI writing.” I have to admit, I had kind of 90 percent talked myself out of joining SubStack and this has made me even less eager to move on over there. Mainly it’s because I just don’t want another time-suck to be honest. It’s not as though the internet isn’t working well enough on its own death so why not just stick with what I’ve got until then.
— Jeni Gunn has written an article for MacLean’s titled “Confessions of the Working Poor” which has meant so much to so many writers and artists. An excerpt:
“I hop in the shower. My mind is already racing: I have a few more weeks left on my contract as an emergency-management coordinator for a community organization, and I need to put the final touches on their evacuation plan. Surveillance for a private-investigation client starts at noon. If there’s time, I’ll squeeze in a quick landscaping job. Wait, is Tiffany’s potluck tonight? It is. That $75 invoice for a real estate blog post hasn’t come in. I make a mental note to send an email to the realtor. This means I can’t swing a potluck item right now.”
“I dry my hair with a dollar-store towel made from a scratchy poly-blend, quite possibly the least absorbent material on Earth, then quickly hop on Facebook and change my status from “going” to “not going,” with a note: “Sorry to miss you. Family emergency!” The emergency is that, this month, my gigs aren’t pulling in enough money, and my brain tells me the cheese platter will cause an irreversible financial downward spiral.”
— A lot of writers have done riffs on this article, but all props to JG for doing it first and opening up this subject for us all.
— This morning I read Charlie Angus’s SubStack article, “The Second Tower Principle” in which he says:
“When contemplating what we would do in a moment of existential threat, we like to think that we will act. That we will seize whatever opportunity is available.
Fight or flight.
But there is an even more powerful tendency that takes hold — we go numb.
We tell ourselves that things are not as bad as we think. We hope for the best. When our world is shaken up, there is a tendency to wait for someone to come along who will tell us what needs to be done. And if that person doesn't come, we reassure ourselves that the crisis is temporary and that everything will return to normal.
That denial blinds us to the real danger.”
— I’ve quoted the Oscar Wilde line over time in many places: “When bankers get together for dinner, they discuss Art. When artists get together for dinner, they discuss Money.” Nowadays, artists don’t get together for dinner — who can afford that? I keep trying to bring back the “come over for chips and beer” thing but admittedly we’re becoming increasingly isolated. And this is fine because who even has time for things that aren’t side gig related? I think most artists are trying to combine their social life with ways to make an extra C note. Further to that, I doubt the bankers are actually talking about art anymore. What a pity.
— For years, I’ve heard a lot of talk about digital literacy, and I think we need to start talking more about visual literacy (which intersects these days A LOT with DL). I mean, I’m out of date on my reading, still hanging out back in the 90s with WJT Mitchell (who has meant a lot to my writing).
— As artists, how do we want to spend the time and energy we have left? My energy is not what it was, I’ll be honest. And my time on this earth dwindles, as it does for us all. I’m at that surprising “experiencing ageism” time of life. I’m at that “being overlooked for the grants and awards and even minor recognitions” time of my writing life. It was probably going to happen anyway, but the 2020s hasn’t been kind (or generous) to many creatives, has it? I don’t even know what to advise myself these days so I certainly can’t dole out any advice to any of you. Keep trying? Stay weird, seems evergreen. I sort of want to just stop hustling or imagining what I could do as a side gig next. Is my time better spent writing obscure Canadian non-bestsellers and just staying home more? Probably? I feel like if I haven’t started a Substack by now, I missed the boat on that one, plus I don’t think I can write in Substack voice. I’m too small, too unimportant, too insignifcant (don’t worry, these have always been goals of mine) and too tired of that particular kind of hustle to garner any great subscription income. (I can here direct you to my KoFi page and shout out to my 21 supporters who help keep the lights on at TwB :) ).
— Meanwhile, if you enjoy art and flowers and even blossoming trees, you can always support a writer by buying a painting :)
