Thoughts on Art/Creativity

John Adams, the 2nd President of the United States, once said

"I must study politics and war that my sons may have liberty to study mathematics and philosophy. My sons ought to study mathematics and philosophy, geography, natural history, naval architecture, navigation, commerce and agriculture in order to give their children a right to study... See more

my question is why you think productivity and artistic practise should be viewed as anything other than the conflicting, oxymoronic ideals they are. the purpose of writing or creating isn’t to tout a finished product; the value of what we do isn’t in having a sellable thing to make us a profit. it is to fuel our curiosity and reflect who we are in... See more

If so, here is what I remind myself when I’m depressed about bestselling dreck or algorithmic slop or declining literacy of the country or any of that noise: that crap has jack shit to do with you or your art.

It has nothing to do with you! Nothing. It is completely irrelevant to what you are trying to do. It doesn’t matter. Don’t waste your time... See more

The process of making art is the process of becoming a person with agency, with independent thought, a producer of meaning rather than a consumer of meanings that may be at odds with your soul, your destiny, your humanity, so there’s another kind of success in becoming conscious that matters and that is up to you and nobody else and within your... See more

Creativity is a part of existence - it is innate. You make as much as you think. To fathom you aren’t someone capable of creation or that it isn’t something that you should care about is a battle with your subconscious. It isn’t performative or just something you do, but is a way of perceiving, feeling and being in which outcomes are just a... See more

INTERVIEWER

Do you share your work in progress with anyone? Have you had good relationships with editors?

NELSON

I do have a couple of friends, including Ben Lerner, whom I might send some things to. The fundamental question that Ben and I often have for each other is “Is this alive?” or “Where is it alive?” We made an exchange of The Argonauts and

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“Why was New York City ballet so great?” she asks. Well, there was George Balanchine and Jerome Robbins. Sure. But, that audience .

“There was such a high level of connoisseurship, of everything. That made the culture better. A very discerning audience...is as important to the culture as artists. It’s exactly as important.”

If everyone’s a DJ but no... See more