droqen's forum-shaped notebook

There re a lot of little tidbits in here that are useful and good. The first thing the book says is a great quote, but I'll avoid directly quoting every single little inspiring thing.

There is a great deal in this book that mirrors what I already know.

"The object isn't to make art, it's to be in that . . . state which makes art inevitable. -Robert Henri" (before table of contents)

"Use what's helpful. Let go of the rest." (before Everyone Is a Creator)

In Everyone[..], the idea that creation is ordinary and everyday, not (necessarily) performed or observed.

"Think of the universe as an eternal creative unfolding" (Tuning In)
—> it was at this point that I realized: the icons on the cover of the book, a circle with a dot in the middle opposite a circle without a dot in the middle, mirrored exactly Christopher Alexander's first two steps given in his unfolding process in book two of the nature of order.

The empty circle is that state which makes art inevitable; the circle with the dot in it is just that inevitable art.

". . . ideas . . . find a way to express themselves through us" (before The Source of Creativity)

"What we create allows us to share glimpses of . . . the unseen world."

These next few sections are losing me; they're not explicit enough by far. I want to be drawn into Rubin's psychic world but he does not paint a picture, rather leaving it undefined. I prefer a poetic definiteness to this.

". . . allowing us to access something bigger. . ."

Bigger, unseen, but what?

Yes, it's clear to me that Rubin believes in some supernatural source; in Look for Clues, he says "We receive . . . messages all the time," "transmissions," "What's the message? What could be the greater meaning?" "An integral part of the artist's work is deciphering these signals," "allow for the possibility that chance is not all that's at play," "the delicate mechanism of a clock at work," "the universe is nudging you . . . it's on your side and wants to provide everything you need to complete your mission."

I'm glad I listened to my first doubts regarding Rubin. This stuff is diametrically opposed to my perspective on the true material of creativity. I agree with many of his lower level practices (listening, making space, etc), but at a high level his faithful spirituality is a metaphor or belief system that I can't get into.

Self-Doubt speaks to the sensitivity of artists. "If you see tremendous beauty or tremendous pain where other people see little or nothing at all, you're confronted with big feelings all the time. These emotions can be confusing and overwhelming."

We do not have to harness these into works of art. He makes this clear too. This is a chapter about personal struggle and how to deal with it in a way that is positive before it is productive.

"If we'd rather not do it, let's not do it."

See Shevek's "If you don't want to do the work, you should not do it" from The Dispossessed [todo: link and fix quote]

Distraction - can be something automatic to get the too-conscious mind out of the way. A creative strategy, not "procrastination"

(I hate the meandering nature of these pieces of wisdom, these "78 Areas of Thought," so unstructured. I love Christopher Alexander's work that provides great names, wonderful imagery, useful organization. Rubin's wisdoms are so scattered.)

Patience, awareness, listening. "The artist works to experience life slowly, and then to re-experience the same thing anew. To read slowly, and to read and read again." (Patience)

See Pierre Menard [todo link]

"John Lennon once advised that if you start a song, write it through to the end in that sitting. . . . Get through a rough draft. A full, imperfect version is generally more helpful than a seemingly perfect fragment." (Inspiration)

Don't let a seed go undeveloped... or if you do, don't expect it to grow to its full breadth if you can't see it through now. Let yourself plant another seed tomorrow.

Seeds. Collect many seeds, then "we want to begin interacting with the seeds," (Experimentation), allowing them to unfold, step by step. "The heart of experiment is mystery. . . . You may be tempted to intervene and steer its development toward a specific goal or preconceived idea. . . . [instead,] Allow the seed to follow its own path toward the sun."

This is very good.

"For now, allow space for magic to enter."

"Base decisions on the internal feeling of being moved and notice what holds your interest."

I do this without choice lol

ok. I've reached the point wherei want to know more about the next part of the process but I think I'm going to leave the bookstore and finish my study of this book tomorrow or another day.

Page 154

"Try Everything" (157) — I thought this meant something different at a glance but I like the advice. An idea is so different from execution of the idea. So try it and find out. Try everything.

"Each unsuccessful solution gets you closer to one that works. . . . Enjoy the journey of cycling through all permissions to reveal a work's true form."

(Hmm. 'True' ... this still smacks of prophecy, a belief in some predestined future purpose. Will have to reflect on my feelings here.)

QuoteTaking a wrong turn
allows you to see landscapes
you wouldn't otherwise have seen.

Quote from: p175Art is choosing to do something skillfully,
caring about the details,
bringing all of yourself
To make the finest work you can.
It is beyond ego, vanity, self-glorification,
and need for approval.

These two areas of thought are very powerful, very valuable to me: Crafting (163), Momentum (169).

I know what it feels like, everything he describes here, and earlier areas that I resisted for being so mystic are coming into focus, somewhat. Seeds are not made through hard work, but through patience and openness they are discovered and allowed to blossom themselves.

- When a seed is great and demands a solution, we are crafting
- Resist the urge to experiment with this seed more; it does not need wild ideas, it needs exactly the food it needs. (Strange Mood)
- There is some (SOME!) experimentation here, trial and error; we don't know exactly what is needed. But it is more about answering specific problems.
- Taking a break of any length is reasonable. We may move between projects; we may focus on just one.
- At this point the project may require something you aren't capable of. You can ask for help. You can wait and improve. You can discover that a more achievable version exists, and that this version is in fact superior to the imagined impossible version.
- Deadlines are to be set for motivation. Crafting does not last forever, the artist or the world may move on.
- We may become too attached to the first draft; don't show it off, don't immerse yourself in the first draft; only work on it.
- Do work towards a full first draft. Work around blockages. Come back to them later, when you have more of the full picture done; the context they provide will help you get through it.

"Artists allow us to see what we are unable to see, but somehow already know." (177)

Yes

This area of thought is also a good one. "Point of View (177-)" goes in depth on what it means to 'express yourself' through art.

"A point of view is different from having a point."

"When making art, we create a mirror in which someone may see their own hidden reflection" reminds me very much of Christopher Alexander's mirror-of-self test. [SYNAPSE ~ The Mirror of the Self (http://newforum.droqen.com/index.php?topic=576)]

"the way an artist's filter refracts ideas, not . . . the ideas themselves"

"It's of no use to know [or portray] your point of view. . . . The true point is already made in the innocent act of perception and creation."

SYNAPSE ~ Process for intensifying the feeling that is generated. (https://newforum.droqen.com/index.php?msg=2845)

Breaking the Sameness (183)
Exercises for renewing interest in a work- any change in context, a new task, something refreshing. Break down list sometime

Completion (191)

"Once you feel a project is close to completion, it can be helpful to open the work to other perspectives. The primary aim is not to receive notes or opinions. . . . The intention is for you to experience the work anew. . . .
If someone chooses to share feedback, listen to understand the person, not the work. People will tell you more about themselves than about the art when giving feedback. We each see a unique world."

"A rule is a way of structuring awareness." (213)

See applicability to games, of course.

Greatness (215)

"Imagine going to live on a mountaintop by yourself, forever."

"You build a home that no one will ever visit. Still, you invest the time and effort to shape the space in which you'll spend your days."

"We create our art so we may inhabit it ourselves."

This is so deeply important. It relates strongly to my recent thoughts on "aliveness", from book three of the nature of order... a thing is alive when it belongs to those who use it most. If I am to make it then I am to live in it.

I'll stop here for today, at blank page 228.

I've been reading a digital copy so that I can carry it with me on the subway running chores etc rather than only reading it in bookstores! It was fun and cozy while it lasted. So, in a truly unsettling turn, I am becoming more comfortable with -- if not the exact language used by Rubin -- the metaphor of listening for messages from the universe, supposing there is a Source that lies beyond us that moves through us and even has designs for us. It's not that I suppose it's true but it's something that believing in makes the creative process go down more easily, with less conscious rational effort.

Actually it's something I was considering before I even started reading this book. There's a particular quote by Quincy Jones: "Leave space for God to walk through the room." I had not remembered its precise wording nor did I know who had uttered it (nor do I, even now, know much at all about Jones), but I was reflecting on this idea, on "leaving space" for a serendipitous emergent driving thing to occur.

My rational mind wants to come up with an explanation or justification for 'who' it belongs to, 'where' it comes from. It arises from conditions I set in motion, nobody could have predicted how it came from those conditions, reproducing such seems meaningless because the occurrence has already passed, etc. It is "driving" because it "drives" me to create it, because I like it, et cetera.

But how much easier it is to say that the idea reveals itself, the idea has its own energy, the idea is alive with me.

How un-lonely it is to think that way, as well.

I feel a though I've turned a corner. More on that after i grab some quotes. (emphases mine)

Quote.. these works all rely on the same geometry found in nature. // The universe holds a sense of harmony, a beautifully deep interdependent system
..
The individual elements merge and become one.
..
When we are unable to recognize the harmony in the universe around us, it's probably because we're not taking in enough data. [or the wrong type or scale of data:] If we zoom out or zoom in fast enough, the integrated nature of all there is becomes clear.
..
The magic lives in the wonder of what we do not know.

I noticed I've begun to believe in a certain kind of fateful inevitability, and i look for — no, i require — that quality in my life. If it isn't served by logical or rational decision making, and it's not (this raw pure data crunching is utterly insufficient), then the previously corresponding feeling of wanting to find the right path has not diminished.

Some less rationally sensed 'right path' exists in the mind of my desire.

I read the last third of this book digitally and reading the end was very unsatisfying... there was no feeling of gradually approaching the last page, no closing of the back cover, just a frictionless glide back into some other digital menu.

Quote from: droqen on August 15, 2023, 06:29:53 PM(I hate the meandering nature of these pieces of wisdom, these "78 Areas of Thought," so unstructured. I love Christopher Alexander's work that provides great names, wonderful imagery, useful organization. Rubin's wisdoms are so scattered.)

Having fully come around to The Creative Act, let me revisit this doubting of its structure. This book reminds me of Tao te Ching. Scattered but whole. Except, the titles and ideas are somewhat better organized here, or at least more clearly expressed...

This book is a great work. Many areas of thought compiled into a loose cloud—the connections here are unspecified, and each stands strongly alone, but together they form a whole. I like how effortless it is to find again what it is that I am looking for.

This is a dense book.

It is a shame that a story has a beginning that must flow through to an end, and it is a shame that an anthology has less atemporal connective tissue than a story in most cases.

I want a flat field of deeply equal interpretation.

That is the quality possessed by this book.

Self-Doubt

QuoteThere are singers considered among the best in the world who can't bring themselves to listen to their own voice. And these are not rare exceptions. Many artists in different arenas have similar issues. . . . Still, many continue to share their work . . . It's as if they have no other choice. Being an artist is who they are, and they are made whole through self-expression. . . .  We are not obligated to follow this calling . . . We're not being ordered to do this. If we'd rather not do it, let's not do it.

I have my ongoing doubts about games, and game-making, and I wonder if this is of a kind with these other issues. I don't think games as a whole, videogames that is, have a necessarily constructive effect on society, on humanity. I would never ask someone not to make games, but I often think that I should not, that I ought to be doing something else.

But, I am made whole through it.