Sunday, April 16, 2017

All work and no play.

"Write by hand. But … begin each day by typing up what you did the day before. That allows you to settle, while admitting a little computer-generated distraction on the way. You don’t have to feel you are punishing yourself. You’re not an ascetic or a saint. You’re a guy doing a job. Across the table from you, your girlfriend is working on a translation. There’s a cheerful tippity-tap. You’re not suffering."

Reading this by Tim Parks today in the Guardian. He talks about writing as a performance, but, most interestingly he suggests that the artists can try different roles or characters. I mean, see his activity in different ways. A saint or suffering ascetic, a guy just doing his job, whatever works. "Works" here meaning whatever allows you to take the handbrake off and produce something.
This is interesting because it makes me think I can look at my 'role'. Who am I being? the suffering, romantic artist; the chilled-out, whistling amateur painter; the invisible outsider artist? It matters because it effects how the work turns out, but more importantly how pleasurable the experience of painting is.

While thinking about this I'm also keeping in mind Adam Phillips comment about the difference between a critical faculty and a faculty of appreciation.

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