substance and form

I first came across the work of Michel Foucault in a class about legal history. His subject was power, and I was really impressed by the truth of what he wrote. It was deep and profound. I can't remember the content. I just remember how compelling it was. 

clue

My overall impression of my art is that it doesn't look very good, but still, as I create it there's usually a feeling that I've captured something that I like. Occasionally, but rarely, I don't feel that, and I just put the image out there because, for better or worse, I've made it. 

I've noticed that there's a big discrepancy between what I think about the works and how they are received. Often when I think something's really good, I won't get much response, and vice versa - I won't think it's that good but people like it. 

a strange claim

In an ad for a business automation platform, the young guy in the ad says:

I literally owe everything I have to *******. If you take out *****, all of my dreams and my whole life disappears. 

The problem is that I don't even think it's possible to do anything close to that with this platform. What you can do with it is to automate tasks, more efficiently use data across different apps, and incorporate AI into processes. The only way I think it could encompass your whole life and all your goals is if it was your own business, and even then, you'd probably have other concerns and goals....like relationships and family, for example, or hobbies. Or, even if you were fully consumed with your career and your whole life was about that, a tool that is used to improve efficiency is not going to become the source of all your ambitions. You have to bring that yourself and you use tools to help you achieve them. 

from here

I was surprised to learn that, when it was a new development, impressionism was considered to be radical and transgressive. People wondered if it was even art, because it was so different from what was called art at that time. 

At first, I was surprised because, to my mind, impressionism is the epitome of fine art, but when I thought about it, it made sense. That's how art develops. 

exigency

When I'm feeling tired, there are two ways to wake myself up. I can either have a coffee or read Simone Weil. 

dark times

Years ago, I read Leon Uris's Mila 18, about one of the darkest periods in human history - a book about war, terror, depravity and triumph. There's a scene early in the book when one of the main characters pulls this book of poetry off his shelf and reads from it, seeking a kind of consolation. I remember that more clearly than anything else in the book, although, when I look for it, I can't find it. That's OK. The idea of it is probably better than the text. 

something made

To represent something in a book or a film, accurately, you have to distort it and craft it. Anything absolutely authentic would be unbelievable.