Intentionally Communal, or Are We just Waking up in the Same Bed?
I start this thread as a response to Uncle Jesse's question of an e-mail or so ago as to whether we are/will be an intentional community or just friends who support one another's art work. Please confine comments to this matter. I think Becky's thread, "Where do we go from here" is still in need of some exploration, but I view this an important subset of that larger discussion.
posted by Sinclair at 5:53 PM
2 Comments:
In this thread. I ask that we try to employ the "I statements" that we used in person, so that everyone who wants to has a chance to respond to the initial question before we began branching off onto sideroads.
My thoughts are still a little inchoate with regard to this very important matter, particularly given our current status as web-community/community of disparate geography.
When I first began thinking of Pangaea, my thoughts were very specific. I saw a rural motel with a performance space, restaurant, and a number of studios and facilities as well as a gallery and living spaces. This initial conception has, and is, continually undergoing changes based upon our discussions, new information, and the dictates of "life."
I'm very open as to how Pangaea is physically manifested. At this point I think it would be difficult, even detrimental to cling tenaciously to any particular vision.
I'm more concerned with the metaphysical/ideological aspects of Pangaea. I have a certain degree of flexibility here as well, and though my thoughts on these matters still forming, here they are at present.
I hope that Pangaea might serve two main purposes in my/our lives, a spiritual/personal purpose and an artistic/professional one. (Note: I separate them here, but the two intertwine regularly in my mind)
Spiritually/Personally:
I like all of you a lot, and I hope that you will be part of my life for a long time. I think that we often relate to one another in a far more profound way than we relate to others, and I enjoy this. Through Pangaea, whatever form it might take, I hope to continue growing and sharing with one another, that we might help to further our self knowledge and deepen our friendships over the years, both supporting and challenging each other as necessary.
Whether through the web/semi-annual meetings, or on a country estate with yurts, I hope that we can create an environment/means of interacting that is fun, safe, rewarding, bold, and stimulating for ourselves and eventually others...a place beyond the superficiality and "how ya doin?...fine...how was it?...cool" of the every day, whether we're talking about art or emotions.
Artistic/Professional:
Here I see Pangaea as a means of uniting our various talents, dreams, connections, and resources to accomplish more than any one of us could alone. This might mean collaborating on an art piece, buying a piece of property, renting studio space in a city, running a business, or putting together a multimedia art show and running a non-profit organization.
I don't want to sell myself to a 9-5 job that I dislike to pay the bills while trying to do what I love in my rare off hours. I have also yet to find an arts collective or "scene" that I would really want to be a part of. I don't want to get "Navy stars" tattooed on my elbows and become a hip scenester so that my band can play at the local coffee shop.
Now, I'm not suggesting that any/all of us can't/won't find a community that we really love outside of Pangaea. I think that entirely possible. Rather, I think that Pangaea might help us to find that, or better still, create it ourselves, on our terms. I hope that someday, I can spend my days surrounded by honest, interesting, down to earth people creating fun, interesting works of art and sharing them with one another. I also hope that we can find a way for this to sustain itself and us, that by helping to shape and guide this community, we could also make enough money to live and fund our own projects.
Aah, yes...so intentionally communal or not? I think yes, for my conception of Pangaea goes beyond supporting or collaborating on pieces of art. It goes to collaborating on pieces of time and life.
I mustn't type anymore now.
I look forward to each of your thoughts.
For now, my first preference is for the intentionally communal. My second preference would be to wake up in the same bed as y'all and be an art collective with no spiritual ties. I would rather have this than nothing. I'm quite flexible, especially because I am trying to realize that I have my own life path, and I may not come to a point in my life where I see things similarly enough to everyone else to really form that communal bond. I don't think I have control over this or can force it. I wonder if it's the same for y'all???
However, there are so many ways in which I do feel connected to everyone in our group and I love making art in a collective fashion. This seems really possible in the now.
Post a Comment
<< Home