Phantom Time

Give regard to arts unbound by time and place.

These are universal visions and sounds. When these are altogether absent from contemporary culture, there is only trouble, dissolution, and waste.  But one sees, one continues forward.

Curious, If True II

"So lacking in moral reason are they, that art is mere decoration and nature offers nothing more than occasions for self-indulgence."

Certainly no one would desire to agree with such an assessment.  Observation, nonetheless, lends difficulty to the act of devising argument to the contrary.

Dispatch from Afar

Where there is subtlety, transfix the attention.

What remains of the idea of the sublime depends upon such awareness, lifted by imagination.

Aesthetic Perspective

Art is not life, but life engaged with art sustains strength and resilience of attitude.

Art, and most certainly, to my mind, the art of sound, elevates awareness. It ultimately intensifies perception, reinforces critical reason, and reveals the reality behind the appearances of things that offers insights into the human condition.

Art spurs creative consciousness, and suggests the ways and means by which one may move beyond the shallow and mundane spectacle that falsely represents what life has to offer. This brings about a state of being capable of grasping what is, one that makes it possible to bring about what can be.

Survivals

It has become necessary to think beyond present-day experience in every cultural context.

At issue is the suppression of free expression and individual effort, and the dawning idea that the multicultural climate is being used as a tool to eliminate the existence of any common culture in order to consolidate ideological control of social and economic systems. It is against any and all such abominable developments that one has a duty to rebel, first as a free human being, and beyond this responsibility as any sort of visionary artist.

Transformation

Consciousness, perception, thought, action.

Give form to thought, shape to significance, sense to sound.

Exercise I

Visualize sound.

Reverse the process, by combining sounds suggestive of the visual.

Note: abstract, static visuals suggest sonic possibilities that may differ from direct perception of environmental atmospheres. This reflects the sensibilities of any artist, to one degree or another.

Follow Instructions

The basis of art as propaganda lies in direction toward conformity to type.

Predictability in the context of a museum is no less tedious, produced for and producing unthinking acceptance and bellicose ignorance in the service of inflexible repression-- in all its stale glory.

Perceived Atmospheres

Let silence speak.

Discover that there is no real silence, but only the silencing of expression.

Black & White

Generally speaking, it is not difficult to take perspectives that allow enduring clarity and wide latitude of thought.

The so-called "black and white" viewpoint, denounced by its detractors as "narrow-minded" and "absolutist" is neither intellectually nugatory nor intolerant, rightly understood.  Fundamentally, an attitude that takes absolute ideals into account must acknowledge the dynamic nature of reality in order to be viable, and open to the increase of wisdom, that is to say, to expanding critical analysis and judgement.

Reality is no "sealed system", and its nature is a continuum of change.  One can speak and think with a great deal of certainty, while comprehending fully the fact that it is always possible to know more, and modify assessments accordingly.  Conversely, it is also necessary to understand that the dynamic in reasoning between poles, those "grey areas" between the black and white, is constantly shifting as well, making it clear that their ultimate disposition is in one direction or the other, reality being an ongoing affair not conforming to a static set of expectations.  One cannot simply expect reason, or the lack of it, to negate the truth of cause and effect.  Neither should one be subject to impermanent and biased whims simply to conform to social, political, academic, or artistic norms, regardless of the settings and circumstances in which they occur.

Simply put, it is a mistake, as Cicero stated, "to attempt to force others to believe as we do", and "to believe that success is made by crushing others".  It is possible, indeed, be right, regardless of any and all arguments to the contrary, no matter how cleverly or "passionately" they are proposed against objective evidence and experience.

Find the Future

To retrieve cultural vigor and autonomy it will be necessary to reject certain bad ideas.

Bad ideas are many, and they dominate cultural discourse.  Most revolve around failed visions of a Utopian nature that do not exist and cannot be willed into existence.

Speak against these and social, academic, and political forces unite with condemnation generally reserved for blasphemers and ex-communicants in ancient times.  These demand silence, and will tolerate nothing less than absolute conformity.

But there is no "we".  There is only freedom, and those opposed to it.

Balance, Rise, Decline

Find the mysteries of reality. Perceive within them.

What is viewed as an unknowable future inevitably becomes ancient history.

Opposing Forces

Recognize the dominant forces in play throughout cultural settings.

These are forces of control, and particularly in terms of discourse, intellectual judgement, and the arts.  All such spurious "authorities" are media driven, and are owed no loyalty or subjection as mere appearances of reality, shallow and unjustifiable.

As such there is no rebellion beyond individual choice, as a matter of personal integrity.

Made once, it is the choice of liberation, and it is permanent.

Fall in Line

Observe the predictable and the "new".  Apparently, they are synonymous.

This is the continuing legacy of groupthink.  All must conform to type, express no more or less than approved attitudes, and commit to reflexively perpetuating rigid, narrow points of view.

So what is new is old again, no less benighted than it once was, a morass of subjective ignorance.

Ephemera

Varieties of artistic experience dominate the cultural landscape from time to time.

Novels, films, music and fashion create interesting effects through their interactions. These are for the most part transitory, though for some they are difficult to abandon when they run their courses.

It is difficult to envision and create those things of lasting value. More difficult is to recognize the desire for them.  But such desire exists.

Hidden, Waiting

Inclusive language is ubiquitous, and insidiously manipulative.

While the implications for art and culture are obvious, they have not always been so, with the result that conformity of thought is now more rigidly enforced than in previous, less dangerous times.

The danger lies in loss of vision, followed by loss of freedom.

The Lake, The Sky, Disappear

When there is only darkness, or noise, perception declines.

But endless argument is pointless as well, and there are always those who will call day, night, and night, day.  So forward, from there, to evil ends, or beyond these to unknown tomorrow.

Nova Sound

The indiscriminate ear reflects the intellectual nature as well.

A simple bias toward things "random" is a key indicator of the mental laxity that will not put forth the effort to determine cause and effect or its impact on ideas and events.  Such minds cannot be troubled with "meaning", and are easily set in perpetual, escalating conflict with all who have the wherewithal necessary to acknowledge simple, objective perspectives.

Thus was established the environment of din and clamor that has plagued the past half-century and eviscerated its cultural arts.

Posed Little Time

Ideas are shaped and colored to purposes.

Some purposes are intentionally clear; others are crafted to be intentionally obscure.  What is necessary is to be cognizant of the ideas, rather than of their appearances only.

Mindful

The general Western perspective on living recognizes a central idea of continuing progress.

This is natural, given historical experience and the impetus to invent and to refine and improve existing technologies.  Even so, human progress, that is to say, the ways and means by which the human condition and state of being may be elevated, cannot be neglected without consequences.

And, again, it is often the artist who is first to recognize this fact, and to act upon it.