Comments on: Art, life: Separate or unified? http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html a multi-disciplinary dialog Fri, 09 Jan 2009 21:17:29 +0000 http://wordpress.org/?v=2.6.1 By: Jay Hoffman http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32175 Jay Hoffman Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:48:58 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32175 Sunil: Thank you. You have provided valuable insight. I worked for a Christian from Nagpur and have counted a number of Hindi as friends, neighbors and co-workers. Through all of this I came to see the extent to which life in India is governed by precepts derived from an interwoven texture of religious, societal and economic factors. There exist firm strictures and structures that one can live by or struggle against. Art is often defined in the States as the product of assertions of freedom and willful acts that go against the flow. One might assemble one's own set of rules -to live by, to make art by or both - act upon them and then seek acceptance in the marketplace. This might be a little hard for many newcomers to digest. I am aware of the push and pull associated with putting down new roots and am watching your experiences with great interest. Sunil:

Thank you. You have provided valuable insight.

I worked for a Christian from Nagpur and have counted a number of Hindi as friends, neighbors and co-workers. Through all of this I came to see the extent to which life in India is governed by precepts derived from an interwoven texture of religious, societal and economic factors. There exist firm strictures and structures that one can live by or struggle against.

Art is often defined in the States as the product of assertions of freedom and willful acts that go against the flow. One might assemble one’s own set of rules -to live by, to make art by or both - act upon them and then seek acceptance in the marketplace. This might be a little hard for many newcomers to digest. I am aware of the push and pull associated with putting down new roots and am watching your experiences with great interest.

]]> By: Sunil Gangadharan http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32172 Sunil Gangadharan Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:06:42 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32172 Jay, For me Hinduism is less of a religion than a way of living and conducting life. My parents for better or for worse did not teach me by rote all of the necessary mantras that a devout Hindu was supposed to know and recite in front of the gods. Instead, I think they gave me the essence of what is it is to live a way of life whose major parts included distilling dharma. Though dharma could be interpreted in a variety of ways, a narrow interpretation that I use to describe would be 'a sense of duty'. A sense of duty applied to ones fellows, family, sentient nature and the material world. I think it is this sense of duty that guides me more than some of the strict tenets. ‘Art as life’ is an extension (in my view) of this sense of duty that permeates my life – I guess. I am not so sure on that, I am still trying to figure that one out to tell you the truth… I guess the flexibility inherent in this religion is the fact that individuals can voluntarily choose which one of the precepts or themes that they want to live their life by – be it karma, moksha, yoga, samsara or dharma. Different people arrive at ways of living their lives by following a superset or overlaps of one or more of these individual themes…I did not want to go on and on about religion here, but since you asked… Jay,
For me Hinduism is less of a religion than a way of living and conducting life. My parents for better or for worse did not teach me by rote all of the necessary mantras that a devout Hindu was supposed to know and recite in front of the gods. Instead, I think they gave me the essence of what is it is to live a way of life whose major parts included distilling dharma. Though dharma could be interpreted in a variety of ways, a narrow interpretation that I use to describe would be ‘a sense of duty’. A sense of duty applied to ones fellows, family, sentient nature and the material world. I think it is this sense of duty that guides me more than some of the strict tenets. ‘Art as life’ is an extension (in my view) of this sense of duty that permeates my life – I guess. I am not so sure on that, I am still trying to figure that one out to tell you the truth…
I guess the flexibility inherent in this religion is the fact that individuals can voluntarily choose which one of the precepts or themes that they want to live their life by – be it karma, moksha, yoga, samsara or dharma. Different people arrive at ways of living their lives by following a superset or overlaps of one or more of these individual themes…I did not want to go on and on about religion here, but since you asked…

]]> By: Sunil Gangadharan http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32171 Sunil Gangadharan Fri, 17 Aug 2007 13:04:43 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32171 David, When someone makes art for so many years (like you do), I guess it flows from your system like all of the other natural activites like sleeping, eating, sleeping etc. "When I was a teenager they helped me meet girls." ;-) David,
When someone makes art for so many years (like you do), I guess it flows from your system like all of the other natural activites like sleeping, eating, sleeping etc.

“When I was a teenager they helped me meet girls.”

;-)

]]> By: Sunil Gangadharan http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32170 Sunil Gangadharan Fri, 17 Aug 2007 12:51:02 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32170 Karl, Prescient words from a wise one. Worth taking away. Thanks Karl,

Prescient words from a wise one. Worth taking away.

Thanks

]]> By: Jay Hoffman http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32165 Jay Hoffman Fri, 17 Aug 2007 11:07:05 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32165 Sunil: You have spoken about your Hindu background, and I wonder if, and to what extent, that plays a part in this topic. Sunil:

You have spoken about your Hindu background, and I wonder if, and to what extent, that plays a part in this topic.

]]> By: Jay Hoffman http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32102 Jay Hoffman Thu, 16 Aug 2007 19:49:00 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32102 Tree: I'm being coy about Pekar. He's around. My wife had his daughter in school and thereby came to know his wife professionally. Harvey's down at the library a lot where He's something of a legend among the librarians. This can go on, but I'll stop. I do love this internet thing. for all I know you could be my next-door neighbor. Our identities are so plastic in this realm. Instead of a guy stuck in a suburb somewhere, I can choose to become vested as a virtual character and be the full-time artist-persona that my skills can allow. I can recast the art/life issue completely through an avatar. Tree:

I’m being coy about Pekar. He’s around. My wife had his daughter in school and thereby came to know his wife professionally. Harvey’s down at the library a lot where He’s something of a legend among the librarians. This can go on, but I’ll stop.

I do love this internet thing. for all I know you could be my next-door neighbor. Our identities are so plastic in this realm. Instead of a guy stuck in a suburb somewhere, I can choose to become vested as a virtual character and be the full-time artist-persona that my skills can allow. I can recast the art/life issue completely through an avatar.

]]> By: David http://artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32092 David Thu, 16 Aug 2007 18:23:28 +0000 http://www.artandperception.com/2007/08/art-life-separate-or-unified.html#comment-32092 <i>I still think that ‘non-art world’ people like me like to romanticize a bit.</i> Sorry Sunil, you don't qualify as ‘non-art world’ people. You're a painter. <i>...it does not matter if the romanticized version of an artist is the one that leads you a little further towards a process of self actualization that may take a lifetime.</i> I agree. I certainly had my own romantic notions about being an artist when I was younger. Over time I just came to think of the art as "what I do". Plus, non-art people's art stereotypes can really work to your advantage. When I was a teenager they helped me meet girls. I still think that ‘non-art world’ people like me like to romanticize a bit.

Sorry Sunil, you don’t qualify as ‘non-art world’ people. You’re a painter.

…it does not matter if the romanticized version of an artist is the one that leads you a little further towards a process of self actualization that may take a lifetime.

I agree. I certainly had my own romantic notions about being an artist when I was younger. Over time I just came to think of the art as “what I do”. Plus, non-art people’s art stereotypes can really work to your advantage. When I was a teenager they helped me meet girls.

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