Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
. I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, . but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word . attachment preferably) I would like to receive it, too. thnx.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
In a message dated 11/3/00 8:35:45 AM Eastern Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: > A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, > > > but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > > > attachment preferably diittoo please and thank you
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
yes please! A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, > > but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > > attachment preferably
RE: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
hi aaron. i'm interested. i'll be glad if you send that word attachment to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] thank you. ceyda > I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, > but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > attachment preferably) > > Aaron
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
I think this well speaks to YOUR sensibility which sounds very generous but does not allow that there are many others, other ways and focusses towards art, or what we are getting at here as meaning "art" or meaning "meaning"! when you speak of practicalities isnt' that what it comes down to, when each artist person is working with their particular possibilities/talents/means/leanings so that if one might wish to enter into the "abstract" --- that is just as fine an avenue as "concrete" and off the street? could even refer to the same end, simply from an other view I don't think it is so easy for everyone, as sometimes you feel it should be --- and to call grappling with dilemmas like this simply a sort of fretting "anxiety" well, just adds another fret to MY anxiety!! trying to "get it" NBB
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
i think this discussion-- it betrays too much anxiety somehow to me is having too little faith in the work maybe i am just getting to be old idiot anymore i think the only questions with art are the practical ones relations among the materials how one works back and forth with them and they with on finding not searching the concrete -- ways the concrete opens the materials in themselves already so vast dense fluid so many so much and deep ongoing "before one" be for one--"already here all the time" rhythms forms letters shapes colors movements energy made visible plenty enough questions and materials to work with (for example recent inspiring and useful, enlightening discussion sharing methods of making transfers-- changing from lighter fluid to acetone and of the materials methods the different kinds of papers to use--so many--and how changed with time-- whole new worlds of possibilities! and sharing of knowledges leaned through practice by different makers, workers-- all this is practical the rest becomes beside the point art can be made with anything at anytime learning from the anything leads to particular things learning from anytime leads to learning discipline learning things and time forms and rhythms i live in continual chaos so what--from things and time arranngements are found among the materials rhythms and forms "it is not the elements which are new, it is the order of their arrangement"--Blaise Pascal is always best to be simple, which means truly thinking with materials, the concrete--and from these finding the complexities, the openings, what it is that one may make with the materials with the forms and rhythms "with" them--together i do think the rest becomes anxiety -- and is disruptive distracting and--discourse there are no theories without practice and with practice--is action, not "after the fact" or "pre-determined" not set limits but limits one is among which provoke,challenge, stimulate-- the things the moments the materials the rhythms the forms light is simultanenously particle and wave materials and work are particulars, discrete, concrete --and wave, flowing in time--and with light, energy -movements working together is "an exchange"-- as Don Cherry the jazz musician great trumpet player composer player of so many instruments reader of so many notations-- wd say: "only a truly disciplined musician may play Free Jazz" practice--and materials the study of sidewalk cracks--leads to new scripts--arrangements--scorings--improvisations--with practice Mayakovsky in HOW ARE VERSES MADE noting how a poet works continuously--and every occaision every street corner every sound every word is material to be constantly worked with with the rhythms the forms-- choice and "chance"-- out of chaos, noise--arises music "the attention and the care" actually in the early 1930s the great painter and ally with Futurist poets Zaum poets ad worked with Mayakovsky on i think was 1912" opera-- Malevich, Kasmir Malevich wrote an essay on sloth in a sense ironic as at the time so much emphasis on WORK and SOCIALIST REALISM --i.e.--the end in Russia of the great experimental arts and poetries-- the 'SLOTH' of abstraction, imagination, etc--Transrational Zaum, the end of Mayakovsky and so many others--literally--or their silence-- that subversive ability of the materials simple as "white square on a white square" to elude materialism while being immensely practical when being practised-- "Creation survives in fragments under the ruins of a world for which we can no longer find expression>" (W. Weidle, qtd Hans Richter, DADA ART AND ANTI-ART 214) the fragments are the materials found "laying about"- from which arrangements of elements are made with forms, rhythms-- ruins for which no longer expressions--made into something other--presenting arrangements of lost expressions in "new found" "orders'--"speaking--showing--telling--singing--dancing--living--to be moved among-- a great workshop is mail art--as has themes, sizes, deadlines-- and is non commercial non juried non returned--
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
Cecil,
I'm not sure there are definitive answers to any of your questions but I'm
sure they will stimulate interesting debate. Debates like these tend to
bring up to the surface our values and assumptions - that's what I like
about them.
Personally speaking, I'm more interested in compassion than power. Somehow
that gets lost, even in Buddhism which speaks so much of it. It can turn
into a cool compliance and apathy, especially in the hands of the privileged
who want to be told "it's ok. You don't have to care about anyone else."
Unfortunately though, many political movements, as well meaning as they are,
are so invested in "Power" that they end up just alienating someone else in
the process. I've come to a point where I can't prioritize my concerns and
can't be everywhere at once. turning to my own psychology to test whether or
not I can really eliminate thinking which involves categorization and
evaluation seems adequate. But that involves engaging in the world not
withdrawing from it.
I think what's perhaps getting lost is the "play and fun". Why do we need
the validation of "work" to feel that art is worth making? This is a
question of *attitude* not activity. The fact that these ideas have
stimulated debate at all is because I think we're all struggling with this.
We're being told in our commodity society that we all have to be units of
productivity, in some way, and that art isn't productive. Rather than argue
"yes it is!" for eternity, why not take the strategic position that it's ok
to NOT be useful by those standards. Who's values are those? Try bottling
passion and beauty. Eternity already comes in one.
A.
- Original Message -
From: cecil touchon <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
To: <[EMAIL PROTECTED]>
Sent: Thursday, November 02, 2000 1:57 PM
Subject: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
"Art should problematize popular relationships: work/play,
usefulness/uselessness, public/private, engaged/dis-engaged etc. For
example, art creates tension where it is both commodity ("valuable") and
non-work ("useless" play). Art then, does not escape capitalism,
replacing it with a powerless utopia, but can problematize it with a
continuous re-negotiation of its power. Art has the potential to be a
constant thorn in the side of the status quo and, above all, to have
enormous fun while being there." Quote from A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
Question #1 So did you write this document Aaron?
some comments/questions
Why should it problemize? And to whom would it become a problem?
Where's the tension between commodity and "useless play"?
It can only be a commodity when this useless play is happening within a
comodity driven society. I think the real tension is when EVERYONE is
engages in useless play and there is no way to sell, trade or barder
your objects because nobody has anything except their own useless
objects to trade you and we all eventually starve to death (which is a
possible solution for regaining a balance in the world.)
To be useless (engage in useless activity - I am not sure I would place
art in any form in this catagory) and to aspire toward revolution or
power do not go hand in hand.
To be useless means to have no value/use to others which can be
exploited. The best example I can think of is the old story (Taoist?
Zen?) of the old guy who sits under an old tree who comments that the
best thing is to be like the scraggily old tree that has so many knots
and the wood is so poor that no carpenter ever cut it down due to being
useless, thus it has its own life and lives to an old age due to its
'uselessness' to others. Its uselessness preserved it from harm.
The most potent form of revolution is changing one's self without regard
of others' actions or surrounding conditions. Thus, the pursuit of the
goals espoused by s.l.o.t.h. , it seems to me, are strictly individual
and should not encourage group effort or group support.
What would then constitute the desired change? Toward what would one
aspire if anything that would be worth the bother of changing one's
self? Once one has disengaged one's self from 'work' and livelihood,
what then does one do with one's time? I already know the "whatever one
want's" angle. I mean more specifically, what is worth doing. What is
worth engaging one's self in? What is worth aspiring toward?
I think the model of the sufi dervish is a good example of someone who
has withdrawn from work. Then there's the Buddhist idea of equinimity or
looking on all things with the same indifference, work, play, making
money, not making money, whatever.
As I said in a previous post, I basicly live like this I think but I
don't especially like being in abject poverty so I do devise ways of
working which allow me to make money.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
Cecil: I agree/relate sooo much with what you are saying here. I use, what could easily seem to others, a complicated process based on chance operations concerning the projects that I'm working on and the time (incl. *amount* of time) in which to do these things. So, I therefore create a *game* situation whereby I, most of the time, don't feel myself bogged down in *work*. The only overlap problem that I have is shutting my mind off when it comes time for sleep - often middle-of-the-night thoughts get me out of bed, but I try not to start working again at that time, but, rather, grab some type of reading material to get me back into sleep-mode. This YToyK year of new technology buys has kept me extra busy in the sorting-out dept. and little computer has had to be ignored in order to get "REAL"(?) work/play done - tho', i guess, infoknowledge thru others' ideas can be "real" too! R = 'It takes a while, but ones your ears adjust to the subtleties and shades of Asano's rich palette, feedback never sounded so sweet'. (Kenneth Goldsmith, Pulse!) __ Do You Yahoo!? >From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/
FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO
"Art should problematize popular relationships: work/play, usefulness/uselessness, public/private, engaged/dis-engaged etc. For example, art creates tension where it is both commodity (valuable) and non-work (useless play). Art then, does not escape capitalism, replacing it with a powerless utopia, but can problematize it with a continuous re-negotiation of its power. Art has the potential to be a constant thorn in the side of the status quo and, above all, to have enormous fun while being there." Quote from A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO Question #1 So did you write this document Aaron? some comments/questions Why should it problemize? And to whom would it become a problem? Where's the tension between commodity and "useless play"? It can only be a commodity when this useless play is happening within a comodity driven society. I think the real tension is when EVERYONE is engages in useless play and there is no way to sell, trade or barder your objects because nobody has anything except their own useless objects to trade you and we all eventually starve to death (which is a possible solution for regaining a balance in the world.) To be useless (engage in useless activity - I am not sure I would place art in any form in this catagory) and to aspire toward revolution or power do not go hand in hand. To be useless means to have no value/use to others which can be exploited. The best example I can think of is the old story (Taoist? Zen?) of the old guy who sits under an old tree who comments that the best thing is to be like the scraggily old tree that has so many knots and the wood is so poor that no carpenter ever cut it down due to being useless, thus it has its own life and lives to an old age due to its 'uselessness' to others. Its uselessness preserved it from harm. The most potent form of revolution is changing one's self without regard of others' actions or surrounding conditions. Thus, the pursuit of the goals espoused by s.l.o.t.h. , it seems to me, are strictly individual and should not encourage group effort or group support. What would then constitute the desired change? Toward what would one aspire if anything that would be worth the bother of changing one's self? Once one has disengaged one's self from 'work' and livelihood, what then does one do with one's time? I already know the "whatever one want's" angle. I mean more specifically, what is worth doing. What is worth engaging one's self in? What is worth aspiring toward? I think the model of the sufi dervish is a good example of someone who has withdrawn from work. Then there's the Buddhist idea of equinimity or looking on all things with the same indifference, work, play, making money, not making money, whatever. As I said in a previous post, I basicly live like this I think but I don't especially like being in abject poverty so I do devise ways of working which allow me to make money. I don't ever try getting money from sources which do not directly exchange one thing for something of mine based on the other's desires. In short, people desire art, some of them desire my art, I do not mind fulfilling that desire by them paying for the art which helps to reenforse the value of their desire for art. I do not seek goverment grants, jobs, etc, but live on "God's good graces" as they say and do not directly engage in any form of work with the direct intention of reward. The reward part is out of my hands as I do not directly participate in the sale of my works other than to make them available to those who do wish to sell them. I personally believe that there are spiritual forces at work that somehow ensure that I (and my family that I support) are provided for so long as I leave myself in a state of dependance and do not attempt to provide for myself by my own hand. The "give us this day our daily bread" concept ( which also includes the rent art supplies, money for clothes etc.). Interesting topic which I would like to hear some PRACTICAL discussion on. That is to say, a discussion of the idea as it is practiced. Cecil
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
yes me too! cecil Sol Nte wrote: > >I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, > but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > attachment preferably)< > > Please do send it directly to me... [EMAIL PROTECTED] > > Thanks. > > >But then the art > itself wasn't considered "work".< > > Well the key to exploring these issues is whether > work = wage slavery or not. > > I believe certain forms of art can become standard forms of wage > slavery...for instance when one starts applying for grants based on work you > think is likely to get a grant rather than work that you have a passion for > doing. > > It's an interesting set of issues you've brought up Aaron. I shall reply > further tomorrow ... > > cheers, > > Sol. -- .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.> Join the Collage Poetry group mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] a list for posting and reading poetry created in a constructive manor like a collage. .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.>
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
> hi aaron, > please send me a copy, will i be able to read it on my mac? > the subject of work is an interesting one for the artist; so often i feel that > people think i'm playing, which is true, however they don't say it in a nice > way but infer that their endeavors are much more worth while since they get > paid to do it. also what i do is not always play...sometimes it is too > difficult to be called that even by me, but i like it best when it really > feels like play and should probably stop and watch the birds when it isn't. > bye, carol > > Aaron Kimberly wrote: > > > > > > > I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, > > but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > > attachment preferably) > > > > Aaron -- carol starr taos, new mexico, usa [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
Terrence writes; Finite and Infinite games. This is a book that i have read. It gave me some meaning and insight into my creative processes and evidential objects. It could be just the book to understand what work and art activity can mean and what things gives meaning to a creative life. You are what you do or what you do can give direction or perhaps meaning to your art. Is your life your own when you work? Does it detract from your life when you work to create a social environment, give your family prestige or meaning to your existence or just some money to sustain you? Do you work/ do art things/ recreate because you love it? What is necessary what is not? Are each acts of devotion? To what degree? Personally my current business gave me a foot hold into my own studio. Art could not provide me with it so fast. The exchange of my art activities for such utility is/ was not in place. That is to say it my art work is not valuable. It and the time spent at doing it just has not been put into the principle of exchange. It does not fall into many peoples ways of living and sustaining themselves and perhaps enters their lives on a different level of envaluement. What value is time if it is for mere exchange for money and prestige? What value is an art that aspires to the same utility. When your work is art, is work then play? Perhaps Flux is not for mere exchange. Flux just is evidence of creative activities. Fluxlist is play. I create because I can when I can. I create when i make the time available to do so.If you pulled out a sketch book at work or took a photo of a desk, just as much time as idle chat about the ball game, would it not define you would it not defy the moment it took to do it. Is it play? Would it defy the time someone is buying from you? That productive moment would stand the test of time as it is evidence by the sketch you would later hold. It defies time as it exists despite the constrains of time and how you value and use it in exchange. This is due to or even despite the fact you brought it forth in the first place. I does not matter when or how it occurs. If you do it, it is done. You took the moment. Whatever happens after is beside the point of the act. The art act enters in a new phase if it is combined with other acts of exchange or collaboration, playfulness or cultural acts. It is what is evident that perception beholds. Without it what do you have? Your time is your own. You form things from it. It is limited so you try to use it wisely. Play is as wise as working. Artnatural Owen Smith wrote: > [EMAIL PROTECTED],.Internet writes: > > >I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite > >long, > >but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word > >attachment preferably) > > Aaron - can you send me a copy of the entire doc at [EMAIL PROTECTED], > thanks. . . . > > On the subject of Fluxus and play this is a very important point both > for Fluxus as a historical entity and for those who seek to either > perpetuate it or expand/extend it. One of my favorite books on this > subject, that is on play, is the text by Peter Carse titled Finite and > Infinite Games - it is available in a 4.00 paperback edition and a > very quick read that is full of lots of thought provoking and > insightful ideas - and I highly recommend it to all. > > Owen
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
>I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word attachment preferably)< Please do send it directly to me... [EMAIL PROTECTED] Thanks. >But then the art itself wasn't considered "work".< Well the key to exploring these issues is whether work = wage slavery or not. I believe certain forms of art can become standard forms of wage slavery...for instance when one starts applying for grants based on work you think is likely to get a grant rather than work that you have a passion for doing. It's an interesting set of issues you've brought up Aaron. I shall reply further tomorrow ... cheers, Sol.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
[EMAIL PROTECTED],.Internet writes: >I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite >long, >but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word >attachment preferably) Aaron - can you send me a copy of the entire doc at [EMAIL PROTECTED], thanks. . . . On the subject of Fluxus and play this is a very important point both for Fluxus as a historical entity and for those who seek to either perpetuate it or expand/extend it. One of my favorite books on this subject, that is on play, is the text by Peter Carse titled Finite and Infinite Games - it is available in a 4.00 paperback edition and a very quick read that is full of lots of thought provoking and insightful ideas - and I highly recommend it to all. Owen
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
For me the ideal is to do what one would do as one's leisure in such a way that is becomes one's work or at least appears to. That's what I do and have been doing for ten years now with great success. I use the idea of work - schedule, dedicated space, business technique etc. - to fund myself and too give the appearance of working since so many need to know that what you do resembles work. If you appear to be working, almost everyone respects that what you are doing with your day in the privacy of your dedicated space (studio) is work even though they have no idea - because they are working so hard - if what you are doing is working or not. My wife has come to suspect that I may not be working because she has noticed a disproportionate amount of time dedicated to the computer where, she is sure, there is no product being made and thus no money being earned but I assure her that in fact I am working. I tell her it is self promotion or research or whatever comes to mind that sounds work like. In my studio I only have a computer line and never give out the number so no one can call me. I just let calls collect on my answering machine in my apartment and occasionally review them and call galleries etc. when I am ready to have a break from my leisure. I do 'take care of business' promptly when needed which helps to keep myself funded and maintain the appearance of working and gives a little impetus now and again. I have, at times gotten confused and thought I was working and usually my art suffers deeply for that delusion so I have placed a statement in my studio to help remind me if what my program is. MAKE WHATEVER ART THAT YOU WANT, AS MUCH AS YOU WANT IN ANY MANOR OR STYLE THAT YOU WANT. FOLLOW YOUR OWN IMPULSES, BE TRANQUIL, DO WHATEVER. This helps me not be too self critical or self involved or worried about what others make of what I am doing. I figure to just make lots and lots of art - like I like to do - and then fashion shows out of whatever I have when the shows come up. I have been following this plan for a couple of years now, inspired by Picasso, to great effect except that I jack around on the computer too much. It is too much like work so I am considering cutting back on the computer a bit though I love it. There is a need, especially in leisure for balance and self control since you have few controls imposed on you from an outside source. Otherwize your life - when you live it however you wish from morning to night as I do - can become a prison of your own lack of self direction. cecil Sol Nte wrote: > Hi Aaron, > > Interesting text. Is art always play? Would it be possible to see the whole > text (uncut)? > > Actually I'd forgotten about Bob Black and his call for the ludic revolution > in "The Abolition of Work"...it's the best thing he ever wrote I think. > > Many have theorised against work. Bertrand Russell wrote a great deal > against work, or more specifically against wage slavery..arguably not all > work is of this form. Also Paul Lafargue's classic "The Right to be Lazy" > extols the virtues of chilling out for a living...of course in those days > scrounging from your friends was more socially acceptable but. > > Interestingly Fluxus extols hard work as a means to an end. Maciunas > considered work important to fund the art projects carried out in one's > "leisure time". > > cheers, > > Sol. -- .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.> Join the Collage Poetry group mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] a list for posting and reading poetry created in a constructive manor like a collage. .<.<.<.<.<.<.0.>.>.>.>.>.>
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
> Interestingly Fluxus extols hard work as a means to an end. Maciunas > considered work important to fund the art projects carried out in one's > "leisure time". > > cheers, > Sol. Very true Sol. (and thanks for the additional resources) But then the art itself wasn't considered "work". Besides, how much did Maciunas really represent what every Fluxus artist felt and practiced? It's an interesting problem. Can art be only play if we need to make a living? Do we live on the backs of those who do "work"? As a buddhist, I've asked this about buddhist practice as well. When monks and nuns rely on lay people to survive, do they ensure that not all people access an enlightened path? But A._S.L.O.T.H. is trying to resist in some way the whole work/play dualism. It isn't proposing inactivity. I probably shouldn't post the entire A._S.L.O.T.H. text. It's quite long, but I can send it directly to whoever is interested. (As a MS Word attachment preferably) Aaron
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
Sol wrote, in part: Maciunas considered work important to fund the art projects carried out in one's "leisure time". I read recently Frank Zappa's advice on being a composer; the last instruction was along the lines of "Get a part-time job so you can afford to do this more often." I lucked out -- the barter arrangement for my studio rent entails me being *physically* in my studio for a few hours at the same time every morning, and answering the phone for 2 small and not very busy businesses when it rings. So when I'm not answering phones, I'm able to do whatever I like. My mother visited me recently, and we were both in the studio one morning -- I was making her a pin for her trip home, using matboard, glue, glitter, a chinese fortune cookie fortune and bright colored acrylics. She was not feeling well, and was curled up in a chair drinking tea. As I went back and forth between the work table and fetching supplies, she made a disgusted noise and said, "I thought you *worked* up here!" Melissa Melissa McCarthy Hours: whimsical or by appointment >>>Adult, maybe; grown-up, never!<<< [EMAIL PROTECTED] _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
Hi Aaron, Interesting text. Is art always play? Would it be possible to see the whole text (uncut)? Actually I'd forgotten about Bob Black and his call for the ludic revolution in "The Abolition of Work"...it's the best thing he ever wrote I think. Many have theorised against work. Bertrand Russell wrote a great deal against work, or more specifically against wage slavery..arguably not all work is of this form. Also Paul Lafargue's classic "The Right to be Lazy" extols the virtues of chilling out for a living...of course in those days scrounging from your friends was more socially acceptable but. Interestingly Fluxus extols hard work as a means to an end. Maciunas considered work important to fund the art projects carried out in one's "leisure time". cheers, Sol.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
All play
No work
I wear rose-coloured
glasses
If I get the urge to
work
I lie down till it
passes
A found *business* card
NO
PHONE
NO ADDRESS
NO
BUSINESS - NO WORRIES
WHEN I HAVE THE
URGE TO WORK
I LIE DOWN 'TIL
THE URGE PASSES
CLEMENT E GALANTE
Retired
CONSULTANT AND ADVISOR FOR LEIURE
ACTIVITIES
STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES REFUSED
- Original Message -
From:
Aaron
Kimberly
To: [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000
6:42 PM
Subject: FLUXLIST:
A._S.L.O.T.H.
A._S.L.O.T.H.
MANIFESTO
Artist’s Society for Leisure and Other Thoughtful
Hooplah
or,
Artist’s Society Against Labour and Otherwise Tedious
Humdrum...
(EXCERPTS)
No One Should Ever
Work.
Work is the source of nearly all the
misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from
working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop
suffering, we have to stop working.
Re: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
A found *business* card NO PHONE NO ADDRESS NO BUSINESS - NO WORRIES WHEN I HAVE THE URGE TO WORK I LIE DOWN 'TIL THE URGE PASSES CLEMENT E GALANTE Retired CONSULTANT AND ADVISOR FOR LEIURE ACTIVITIES STRENUOUS ACTIVITIES REFUSED - Original Message - From: Aaron Kimberly To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 6:42 PM Subject: FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H. A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO Artist’s Society for Leisure and Other Thoughtful Hooplah or, Artist’s Society Against Labour and Otherwise Tedious Humdrum... (EXCERPTS) No One Should Ever Work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working.
FLUXLIST: A._S.L.O.T.H.
A._S.L.O.T.H. MANIFESTO Artist’s Society for Leisure and Other Thoughtful Hooplah or, Artist’s Society Against Labour and Otherwise Tedious Humdrum... (EXCERPTS) No One Should Ever Work. Work is the source of nearly all the misery in the world. Almost any evil you’d care to name comes from working or from living in a world designed for work. In order to stop suffering, we have to stop working. That doesn’t mean we have to stop doing things. It does mean creating a new way of life based on play; in other words, a ludic conviviality, commensality, and art...Play isn’t passive. -- Bob Black In the spirit of play, we submit this Manifesto: A._S.L.O.T.H’s Mandate is simple: 1. We reject all forms of work on the basis that they are not necessary components of a productive and fulfilling society; and accept that “to work” is to participate in the hierarchical structures in which we are alienated and alienate others. 2. We resist the ways in which current activist models reinforce problems on a structural level by failing to give up work. 3. We dedicate ourselves, above all, to the fine art of play. --cut-- IV. ART AND A NEW SOCIAL ORDER Art is useless. For this reason, we pursue art inexhaustibly. Many art movements of the past and present have situated themselves either in alliance with, or in opposition to, work. Da Vinci was a renowned procrastinator who was slow to complete paintings and who invented hundreds of useless objects. His notebooks overflow with accounts of time spent staring at clouds or plaster walls. Marcel Duchamp preferred chess to work. The few hours he would spend in his studio involved little more than the haphazard placement of art elements and it would take him years to complete a project such as the Large Glass. His “ready-mades” especially epitomize a bold hypothesis of work that anyone could replicate. Greenberg’s camp of Modernists also made useless art but isolated themselves with a strict “high art” vs. “kitsch” distinction. Rather than inspiring the working classes to be less “useful”, they alienated them and so did not problematize their relationship with any dominant order. Because the dominant voice is central, their art too quickly became ordinary. Every oft-repeated act will eventually become “ordinary”. The best ones, though, change us in the process. In contrast, current Activist Art often becomes too usefully engaged, insisting on itself as work much in the same way as Liberalists lobby for equal economic opportunity. Because many of these movements emphasize their activist, rather than aesthetic merits, they undervalue the very transgressive nature of the aesthetic itself. The aesthetic IS a sensibility, IS a philosophy, IS political and need not, should not, be collapsed into any specific ideology. --cut-- What Marxists call “Creative Labour” is a similar concept applied to all forms of activity. Creative Labour is an endeavour of passion and is therefore fulfilling. Einstein believed that while, at best, science could provide a means to an end, only personality could provide an end. In our society, individual personalities are muted by industry. Art can serve as a model for creative livelihood---a glimmer of humanity. We believe that better communities aren’t mass produced, but are created slowly, by passionate means and together by individuals. As an Artist’s Society, we are dedicated to the aesthetic change of communities. The physical environments in which we live greatly influence the quality of our existence. The aesthetic and functional decay of our surroundings is internalized by individuals and communities, thus leading to social decay. Passionate play should be built, literally, into our lives. For this reason, A._S.L.O.T.H. calls upon the union of architects, engineers, gardeners, musicians, writers...anyone whose activities contribute aesthetically to our environments... to quit work and devote their skills to play. V. MODELS OF BETTER COMMUNITIES Co-operatives, collectives and the like are models of a new order. However, we provide this warning: not every organization that claims to be a co-operative actually is one. Many reproduce old distributions of power in new ways. It’s difficult to shed this tendency as these are often our only models of behaviour. Decisions made by consensus, for example, may, out of a sense of obligation or impatience, prevent full individual expression. Such residual effects, or “withdrawal symptoms”, will eventually be eliminated with patience and commitment to the process and not to the product. VI. A._S.L.O.T.H. SUMMARY “Play is always voluntary. What might otherwise be play is work if it is forced.” (Black) - We defy compulsory production; - We don’t want to end employment discrimination, we want to end work; - We don’t want full employment, we demand full unemployment; - We don’t care if bosses are men, women, black or white; we w
