Thursday, November 5, 2009

The Struggle


After struggling for hours to produce a single little hand on the sculpture I’ve been working on and looking at the 50 or so other little hands I would need to do to complete it my frustration grew to the point where I said "Fuck This" and put all the pieces in a box and put the box in a drawer. I often feel that my ambitions exceed my abilities. My fine motor skills are inadequate to produce what I feel is an acceptable result. My postings to this blog seem to follow a similar trajectory. I feel that my posts should say something that is meaningful to me and hopefully meaningful to the readers. I then sit and stare at my computer screen trying to come up with the words to match these criteria. This quickly degrades into a loop of thinking about thinking. Fortunately, since the rest of my life is so good, I can put these concerns in a little folder in the back of my mind and get on with my life. I think I'll try to make a chair.

6 comments:

  1. Mike, a few words,abilities can be defined as many things, motor skills? yes that can be a part of the equation but when I look at the photo of you working I don't see a fault in articulating their tiny hands I see an opportunity to do something with the things you have already created. Yes it would be nice to complete a project from point A to point B, as in lets make a car that runs on air and have that work out..boy that would be great! Sadly it won't work out, but as an artist you makes things while trying to make something else. Accept that and move on...what can you do with 25 little men? If you had a thousand of them you could make a cell door for the prison you are creating for your mind...or not.

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  2. More than half the time I write something on the internet, I have no idea what I'm saying or if it even makes sense. Then I click "submit" and hope that someone gets it. Actually, that's pretty much how I work offline in the real world, too. It's a good life :D
    Make a chair.

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  3. A chair? *&$#$ that! the world has a billion chairs.. dude you need a chariot. the world is sorely lacking in those...and man what a ride.

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  4. andy warhol and murakami hire people to do things they can't humanly do.

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  5. This comment has been removed by the author.

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  6. Whoops, I accidentally deleted my comment and now that mistake will forever be posted.

    Anyways..

    After reading your post, I couldn’t help but laugh because I completely relate to your frustrations and needs to be a perfectionist. However, I have found that the only person who cares about whether or not you meet these high expectations and the only person who can label you as a failure is yourself. In a way, I think our minds can be our worst enemies. It’s hard to let go because you have something in mind that you want to achieve and you are struggling to meet what you envisioned. You like having challenges and I admire your passion to meet and surpass your goals. Just be careful. Sometimes you have to take a step back and appreciate the little flaws because what seems imperfect in our minds may actually have more personality, individuality, and beauty than what we originally envisioned. I guess that’s what makes all of us and all artwork unique –the imperfections that no one can replicate since they were done without much thought.

    Life is pretty simple: You do some stuff. Most fails. Some works. You do more of what works. If it works big, others quickly copy it. Then you do something else. The trick is doing something else. –Leonardo da Vinci

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