Think

I think.

I think in certain ways.

I think in certain ways about certain things.

I think in certain ways about certain things and uncover certain concepts.

I think about these concepts.

Themes that sneak past the artist

In the previous entry, I said all art conveyance themes. This got me thinking about the role of the artist in this presentation. What if [s]he insists her/his work is themeless, or that the consumers are "reading too much" into it? Does my statement still hold true/

Yes.

First scenario: The artist says the work is themeless. All art is a combination (over space or time or thought) of icons (streaks of paint, toned words, written words, notes, scenes...). Some thought process governs the way the artist puts these icons together. the most basic of these is aesthetic sense. If the artist does not ascribe at least beauty or ugliness to his work, and did not intend it to have that attribute, then he is not an artist at all. he is not creating art. He is publishing.

Second scenario: The artist says we are reading more than is there into her/his work. I do not doubt that often we see more of the art than the artist. But that just shows [s]he is not fully aware of all the forces at work in her/his head. Certain themes resonate with others not just because of their atributes, but because they are emanations of deeper, more pervasive ideas. In fact, they are projections of these uberthemes. The artist is haunted by the Uberthemes, and tries to express them. They come out as a combination of themes represented by a combination of icons in the work. The consumer sees the work, deconstructs it, and atimes glimpses the ubertheme, which then disguises itself as another of its projections.

Art is obviously a two-way process. The artist constructs and the consumer deconstructs. The artist makes art and the consumer finds art. I think the best artists are the best consumers. They are those able to find art anywhere. To deconstruct anything. I try to be that way. I overanalyse and overfeel everything (as this blogs ought to prove) because I so desperately want to overproduce. I have all these tools and I love to use them. I love to play with my world and see what I find.

Tensions and Conflicts

Themes. They say that all art is about themes. I agree. Art exists to convey themes. To spark thoughts in our heads. To communicate with us that we are not alone in thinking the way we do, or that there are other ways to think our thoughts.

Humans are (they say) thinking creatures. Our primary survival tool is our brain, not our stamina, strength or venom glands. We THINK our way out of problems. We are engineered to see choices in situations, weigh the outcomes, then act. I bet you the world looks more complicated to us than it does to a deer.

Choice thus dominates our worldview. We see it everywhere, from the mundane (cereal or toast) to the philosophical (good or evil, chance or purpose). And since the choices in our heads battle each other for supremacy, we (often subconsciously) see life, or even existence, as a battle between sets of opposing themes.

Atimes, these themes are in direct conflict (the forces of Order and Chaos MUST thwart each other as they assert themselves). At other times there is merely a tension between them.

Some of the best art I have experienced or created weaves itself around these tensions and conflicts.

Projections

In my entry about Power and Authority, I mentioned "projection". I'm sure there is a more common name for this technique, but I have not come across it in my shamefully poor scholarship.

Projection to me is carrying an idea and playing it out on a different scale (smaller or larger).

First, I have the idea/concept: "Police that abuse their authority" in the last entry's example.

Second, I unravel the definition (in the sense that I ask what it means to me). At that moment, based on the general theme of the album, the most relevant meaning for me was: "respected, powerful people using that power against others unfairly."

Third, I expand/contract the stage on which the idea was presented. Instead of the interactions of people on the street, the stage becomes the interactions of nations on Earth.

I use this technique a lot in my writing. It helps me uncover ideas which could pass for fundamental truths. It helps me see the basic nature of life's drama as it repeats itself over and again with different actors, scopes and results.

until Power becomes Authority

I was listening to Damian Marley’s “Road to Zion”, which deals with the ills in society. It’s on his “Jamrock” album (which btw I think is marvelous).

There’s this line in the chorus: “and police wey abuse dem authority”. Since the album (like most of his work) is rich with political, religious and social commentary, I decided to project the concept beyond the neighbourhood cop and the harassed citizenry, and onto the world stage.

Immediately, the facile example of America using its military might in Iraq without “due process” came to mind. I started to dismiss this “example”, saying to myself “The US didn’t ‘abuse authority’. Nobody gave them authority. They abused power.”

Then the obvious inference returned to my head that “that’s the danger: when people have the power to act without sanction.”

Power allows one to act by virtue of one’s innate ability. Authority allows one to act by virtue of permission from a supervisor, to whom one is supposed to be accountable.

For the Supervisor to be able to perform its role, it must have Power over the Authorised. Authority must be backed, defended and curtailed by Power.

When the over-ruling Power authorizes all acts and Authorities, it has achieved Order. Order is the replacement of all Power (except the supreme Power) by Authority.