"Living Your Art"

I like that idea, I shall start wearing swords at all times because my characters do, and resolve my differences the honorable way - duels to the death.

Actually I'm not sure what "live your art" means. Could you explain a bit more?

Pushingfordream said:

A few days ago I stumbled upon a quote about how the best artist are always living there art.

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What does that mean?

The quote in essence explained how the ultimate goal of each artist is to fully immerse him or herself into there work.

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Why should I? What does full immersion mean? Does it mean I have to sit here and write in a mad explosion of creative genius (hahaha like I have those) while my dog is being adorable and asking me to play? Cuz no, I'mma go play with the dog But I don't really understand the meaning of "fully immersing yourself in your work."

I have been thinking about it a lot because my ultimate goal in writing my memoir is to do exactly that. I want to live a life shaped by my art. (or at least when it's published) What are other peoples thoughts?

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I don't know what a life shaped by my writing would mean. I'd love to be able to live on writing + a part time or intermittent job. I'd love to be able to work from anywhere. I'd love to get really good at it. This means I suppose I aim to spend a lot of time on it.

But I'd prefer to be shaped by what I do and who I am and all manner of things. Not just writing. I'm shaped by my responsibility to my dog and my family and my burning mind-melting hatred of boredom and my self-consciousness and my introvertedness and my dweebiness and my short attention span and my fear of mortality and my laziness and my always-congested sinuses and so on and so forth. (I wouldn't LIKE to be shaped by my sinuses and laziness, though...so. My point is that being "shaped" is quite a complex and multifaceted thing.)

So I guess I'm asking for clarification of the topic.

ETA: Just saw this, but I'm afraid I still don't get it. (Also I just have to correct the "there" as it's driving me nuts )

Like how authors travel with their writing and it becomes part of their immediate life on a daily basis.

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Travel with it? Yeah, it's easy. Writing's pretty portable. Or do you mean that if I write a book about Kazakhstan I would actually go to Kazakhstan? I'd only do that if I had the money and time to blow on it, and then it'd be more for the fun of traveling than writing. And really, I'd probably say to hell with it, if I'm going to spend all this money, I'm going to Bhutan instead.

Part of my immediate life? Yeah, I spend some of my time walking the dogs/driving/other less-than-mentally-demanding activities thinking about plot or character. I try to make myself work on it at least a little every day or at least most days. But that's just work, isn't it? Or did you have a more immediate idea than that?

Maybe like how someone making a documentary about their life would be filming.

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I don't understand this statement

I don't really know memoir, but I would assume the interesting life comes before the telling starts. I hate to think of the havoc I would sew if I were trying to live out a killer memoir as I wrote it.

ETA -- maybe I misread your post. Are you saying you want your memoir to lead to an awesome life that you will enjoy living?

I'm tired. Confusion is coming easily today.

Pushingfordream said:

A few days ago I stumbled upon a quote about how the best artist are always living there art. The quote in essence explained how the ultimate goal of each artist is to fully immerse him or herself into there work. I have been thinking about it a lot because my ultimate goal in writing my memoir is to do exactly that. I want to live a life shaped by my art. (or at least when it's published) What are other peoples thoughts?

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No. How do you fully immerse yourself in it? All I can think of is the stereotypical drunk, depressed writer who lives inside his own head and produces work of genius but sucks at all other aspects of life. I would hate to be with someone who thinks their art is the be all end all of their life. Writing is part of my life, not the other way around.

Pushingfordream said:

A few days ago I stumbled upon a quote about how the best artist are always living there art. The quote in essence explained how the ultimate goal of each artist is to fully immerse him or herself into there work. I have been thinking about it a lot because my ultimate goal in writing my memoir is to do exactly that. I want to live a life shaped by my art. (or at least when it's published) What are other peoples thoughts?

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If it works for you, then go for it.

Personally, I get some of my best ideas when I'm away from my "art." If I constantly had to be "immersed" or "living" my art... I might as well jump out the window now.

That kind of think romanticizes and glamorizes a lot of jobs, and especially writing. 'Being a Writer' becomes this image more important that actually 'writing'. Then you get all those stereotypes of what a writer should be and should do and should love.

The closest comparison to what I think the article meant is those method actors who live their roles all day.

Pushingfordream said:

the best artists

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... will be honest with you. The best artists, writers, musicians, etc, are in a class by themselves IMO. What they do is entirely different from what most all of us do. They're GREAT simply put as are their creations.

So it's really sorta hard to compare oneself to them or the things they do to the things we do: writing this way; writing that way. So though it may be necessary for them to immerse themselves in their art or whatnot, for instance, for us it may well not be.

Can't really take guidance from the greats. Or you can, but with the remembrance that they're a different species than us. What they do might not be applicable. It may even be ruinous.

I admire our Tolkeins and Oateses and Joyces. I even worship them to a degree. But again, I do not take lessons from them. I've got my AW (((peers))) for that who are on my level. Or reasonable number of levels up, instead of umpteen million !

G'luck with your memoir. Just be honest and be yourself. That's all that's really required.

I'm still a little unclear. Do you have a link to the original article/quote?

My current MC is an alcoholic, dedicated to drinking herself to death. I'm a lousy drinker. 1 drink is enough, 2 and I'm zonked. So there's a definite limit to direct experiences. So if you're talking about a literal "living your art," that isn't going to happen.

Part of me is interpreting the quote a little differently. I'm thinking about how once you identify yourself as a writer (artist, musician, etc), there's a part of your brain that is always in that mode. I don't know if it's true for everyone, but it's true for me, and I know others who experience it similarly. Whatever I'm out and about doing, experiencing, feeling, there's that little, umm, I don't know, file? that opens up in my head and puts it away for safekeeping and future story telling.

Not saying I write exactly what happened, but maybe just a strange mannerism of that quirky guy on the train I saw in my peripheral vision, or the feeling in my gut when I stood at my mother's grave, or the peaceful oh yeah of a perfect day on the beach. At another time, often years later, I'll be working on a story, writing a scene, and that little file pops open with that feeling/experience/core of truth I can use--even if the first glance scenario is different.

(Hope this makes sense)

Sat Nam! (literally "Truth Name"--a Sikh greeting)

Excessive arty-ness does not for happy living make. But...

Yes, identifying yourself as an artist is good, if that's the way you view writing.

Me, I've been a fine artist, a singer, a writer. I've got my artwork on the walls of our house and CDs of the music I was trained to sing (plus one tape I made decades ago). You could call that living your art, I suppose...if it weren't that I'm spending most of the day doing laundry and cooking, because my day job is homemaker.

Blessings,

Siri Kirpal

I think I can see a part of what you are saying. The absolute top of any profession are normally the ones who commit themselves to that profession. They give it every waking hour, all of their energy, they eat, sleep and dream about it.

Sure, you could live like that. If you really wanted to be the best of the best of the best SUH!, or whatever it is they say in macho war films.

But ... that's a pretty big ask. What about family, friends, job, commitments? And what happens if you do all of that and it still does not work? This is a risky profession.

Then there's the bit I don't understand. You want to live your dream and your dream is to write a memoir. I have to ask - a memoir of what? If all your life is about writing and all your writing is about your life, why should anyone want to read it? I like to read memoirs of people who have done something interesting.

Reading a memoir of someone who hasn't done anything except write a memoir? Maybe if you are Samuel Pepys, but it's a pretty tough market for anyone else.

Writing is not something I am, it is something I do. And it comes from my imagination. That turf is not particularly hospitable for a feet-on-the-real-ground existence. I can dive in there any time I want, but my real life has to keep that sucker contained if I want to pay the bills, have my family like to be around me, and keep my friends and colleagues on good terms.

And, if you are writing a memoir, haven't you already lived your writing?

God, no. I work in the summer in sales for English Heritage, I love it. The properties, the people, being a custodian of an amazing medieval castle. Even if I was offered a million-pound book deal tomorrow, I wouldn't think for a moment of quitting to write (would by myself a bigger house, and a newer car though .) I work seasonally, and currently unemployed (season begins in Feb) for six weeks and its driving me nutty having nothing to do but write and read.

Money isn't a problem. I miss the people and my castle.

I think it's romantic nonsense. I think the word "art" is nonsense about 98% of the time. It's no more than a way to justify crapping your life away.

It can't be absolutely horrible because it's art, and all "art" s worthwhile.

The only proper way to live your "art" is by living a good, worthwhile life that has nothing to do with art. You get up, you g outside, you travel, you meet people, you do real things lie a job, like climbing a mountain, like skydiving, like eating at a new restaurant, like getting involved in politics an you local community.

Then, when you have lived a real life, you write about it, or you paint it, etc.

Writing is no damned different than crocheting, building birdhouses, or sewing. It's just something we do because we enjoy it. When it gets to be more than this "Art" has nothing to do with it. Now you're talking about the writer, not the writing, and ho he justifies what he's doing. Most often about how he isn't failing because the only failure is quitting, and it is, after all, art.

I think I may be more aligned with James on this one. Putting real experiences into our writing strikes me as more substantive than going out to collect experiences because we want to have things to add.

Isn't that what makes something art, the ability of the piece to express something for others, connect with others?

Never having created something I would call "art", I can't really live it. I like writing, but most of my ideas hit when I'm doing other things--petting the house-rabbit, say, or that most exciting of all duties: folding the laundry. *has to have a bit of a lie-down after saying, "folding the laundry"*

I will admit to carrying a small notebook with me so that if an idea does happen to strike, I can write it down before it escapes. Mike and I went to a particularly wonderful coffeehouse once. It was a remodeled house and all hidden nooks and bookshelves and things done by local artists. That made it into my notebook as a possible setting for a book idea I had. It's not so much "living (my) art" as it is, "living and having something vaguely arty pop up and slap you on the head."

Pushingfordream said:

What are other peoples thoughts?

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That most artists are whackos. Feel free to live your art, I won't hold it against you. But I need a paycheck, don't hold that against me.

Jeff

WeaselFire said:

That most artists are whackos.

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... really? I know several artists who paint and sculpt and while they are totally committed to their craft and in a way do sort of live their art, despite having families and outside interests and professions and whatnot, they are not "whackos."

You "write for money and don't want people to hold that against you." Fine. Nothing wrong with that at all. I'm more or less in it for that too. I certainly don't have anything to offer artistically. Even so I appreciate and respect those with different aims and ways of going about things. They're just as valid and worthwhile and certainly do not reflect upon the artists and writers negatively.

Pushingfordream said:

A few days ago I stumbled upon a quote about how the best artist are always living there art. The quote in essence explained how the ultimate goal of each artist is to fully immerse him or herself into there work. I have been thinking about it a lot because my ultimate goal in writing my memoir is to do exactly that. I want to live a life shaped by my art. (or at least when it's published) What are other peoples thoughts?

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First, you have to define your "art". Is it writing? Painting? Cycling? Gardening? What has been a constant in your life? What is the thing you must do? Second, fully immersing yourself must mean to practice the discipline necessary to achieve your goal, no matter how small or mundane it may seem to someone else. Your life belongs to you. Third, living the life shaped by your art means that whatever principles you subscribe to, whatever commitment you make to your 'art', you must make that same commitment / investment to any other person or thing you make part of your life, including yourself.

You don't have to travel the continents, jump out of planes, set world records, hunt the white buffalo, you just have to give the best of yourself to whatever you do and who ever you let into your world. You define it. Don't let anyone take it away.

Pushingfordream said:

very funny!

Like how authors travel with there writing and it becomes part of there immediate life on a daily basis.

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To a degree that happens to me. When I wrote my medieval novel I began to feel as if I lived in the 14th century. I'd constantly compare what I was doing in the here-and-now to what I was 'doing' in the novel. I was so familiar with the day-to-day life of the period that it felt like it was my own life. I haven't reached that point with my current WIP but I expect it will happen eventually and I'll enter the world of ancient Babylon as if it were the present.