"Look about you."

Along with a handful of other things, I have been reading Tracy and Hepburn by Garson Kanin. I picked it up a few months ago from the local used book store for a buck or two and started it, had it sitting untouched in the restroom a while, and finally sat through another good chunk of it tonight. I marked this passage in the book and decided to blog about it. It touches on a typical notion you'd expect to find blogged about in an art/design blog, but makes an important and good point at the end (and did so when it was published in 1970, almost 40 years ago) about the notion of "conforming to nonconformity" - something I feel more and more is at the heart of so many "artistic" tendencies in many areas today in 2009 as our generation and the up-and-coming generation seems to believe with such conviction that EVERY off-the-wall notion should be not only entertained and paid attention to, but that we should "TOTALLY" add it to the unending list of "NEW" and "COOL" USELESSSSSS TV shows. We have such a long long way to go to enter the space that was occupied by the likes of true originals like Tracy and Hepburn and SO MANY other GREAT true creatives of the "old days." And to get there it takes more than just being "RANDOM" (This generation's FAVORITE word of praise often followed by other jewels like "SICK" and "DOPE.")

Kanin writes...

"Here is another own-way thing. Jules Dassin submits a play to Kate. It is an English adaptation of a French success, Days in the Trees, by Marguerite Duras. Dassin hopes to interest Kate in a Broadway production. She reads it at once, goes to her desk, sits down, begins to write. "My dear Mr. Dassin: Thank you so much for sending me this fascinating play. I found it most interesting, but unfortunately..."

She stops. Her false tone offends her. She picks up a new sheet of paper and begins again. "Dear Jules Dassin: Try as I will I cannot make head or tail of this confusing manuscript, and therefore..."

She stops again. Once more, "Mr. Dassin: This is surely the most idiotic and depressing piece of claptrap I have ever in all my life..."

No. She has gone too far, she thinks.

Finally, "Dear Mr. Dassin: I am grateful to you for thinking of me in connection with your play. I am returning it to you unread, as, alas, I am not available at this time, and have no idea as to when I might..."

No, again. Why lie?

Later, she tells us of her struggle to find the proper response, and quotes these four beginnings.

"And what did you decide in the end?" asks Ruth.

"Oh, I just put all four of them into an envelope and sent it off to him!"

These days actresses (and actors too!) strip to the buff at the drop of a direction and think nothing of it, but how many of them would be willing to remove their protective facade of their minds or spirits or opinions?

It has been said that we owe the greatest part of our social and scientific progress to the eccentrics. Those who firmly follow the rules of the game, the status quo, the that's-how-things-are-done we've-always-done-it-this-way school of thinking, are not likely to break out and contribute much that is new. It is the original, the nonconformist, the iconoclast, the I-don't-give-a-damn type who audaciously leads us to take a new step, or an old one in a new direction.

The danger is that unconventional people are likely to be ridiculed, and sometimes ostracized. The strong among them persist. The young today understand this principle well as they rally around their trenchantly coined dictum of "doing your own thing." Unfortunately, there is a trap here, too, since it is possible to conform with nonconformity. Look about you...

...We are all related-by ink, if not by blood-to Walter Mitty. We all have dreams of glory; aspirations, plans, schemes, and designs. Why then are so few of them executed and why do only a small number come to fruition? It is because too many lack the nerve it takes to step out of line, and it is this brand of courage in Kate and her eccentric compatriots to which we respond."

On Skate Expression

I was just telling my boy that while I give these pro skaters mad props for their talent and ability with a board, I often wish to see some skaters who go beyond the kick flips and tricks you see in all the magazines and skate vids. Not that what these guys are doing isn't cool. I just think there's a tendency for a lot of them to get caught limiting their creative exploration by setting their sights only on copying cool tricks and not necessarily taking the tricks further or adding layers of creative movements. I'd expound on what I mean in detail, but my boy just showed me this video of Louie Barletta. The kind of creativity and added layers of movements in his skating and tricking are EXACTLY the kind of thing I'm talkin about!

As an artist, I appreciate what a lot of skaters in this exploding & expanding arena are doing for sure and think it's a beautiful sport/art. I also ESPECIALLY love the fact that through this art form, you're getting a group of passionate heads together all joining in and helping to produce, not just the skate tricks, but the filming and editing, then the added layers of audio editing, and further performance aspects to create the inspiring and entertaining montages we get to enjoy. The camaraderie is great too, as well as the perpetuation of creative output that also gets our kids out of the house, away from the growth-stunting and diluting T.V. and off their butts and moving around... IT'S EXCELLENT!

And to those who hate on skateboarding across the board, of course ANYTHING can be (and just about EVERYTHING has been at one time or another) corrupted and turned into a reason or occasion for deviance. But, this isn't a reason to hate on skating any more than it is a reason to hate on garage bands, football, basketball, theater groups, dance teams, or any other group activity our kids can get involved in. It's up to the people in these groups, and especially the parents of the young ones, to make sure that they are bringing principles with them wherever they go. These activities can be saving distractions from much of the dissipation our kids are tempted with at earlier and earlier ages these days. As with all "drugs" (those things which take you to a different mind state), the character of the person is the variable. You can DANCE, SING, SKATE, PLAY, SWIM, PAINT or DRAW yourself into another state of mind. But, WHAT that state of mind that you get to IS is up to you!

I guess I had more to say about this skating thing than I thought when I hit the blog for a quick post today :P But, I think you get my drift. I'm excited to see the sport/art form develop and to see new artists like Barletta take it in more and more creative directions. I encourage them all to keep it sober, keep it pure, and remind them that the best way to do that is to keep it tied to their GREATER goals in the unseen realm. Staying focused in this way will make anything they get into, learn about and explore worthwhile.

Here here for SINCERE CREATIVE OUTPUT intended for ETERNAL GAIN!

- Want

The Multi-Layered Artist

Mixing fantastic musical talent with superb comedy and showmanship, this family of artists has been a wonderful inspiration and example of layering art upon art.

Art of the Originator of Art

Using the forces of nature, the laws of physics, color, sound, and life itself as His materials, the Ultimate Artist produces the best CREATIVE OUTPUT ever taken in. And the purpose behind it all goes way beyond mere sensuous form and physical function. In the unseen arena–that which matters most of all–He has shown His art to be the most efficient and effective phenomenon for effecting change and growth. To learn from His art and output is to be enlightened to the beginning and end of "art" itself.