This is a honest look at what it truly means to be a an artist.
Via: Zack Arias
Category: Uncategorized
A country that loves art, not artists
In a survey of attitudes toward artists in the U.S. a vast majority of Americans, 96%, said they were greatly inspired by various kinds of art and highly value art in their lives and communities. But the data suggests a strange paradox.
While Americans value art, the end product, they do not value what artists do. Only 27% of respondents believe that artists contribute “a lot” to the good of society.
Further interview data from the study reflects a strong sentiment in the cultural community that society does not value art making as legitimate work worthy of compensation. Many perceive the making of art as a frivolous or recreational pursuit.
Other insights further illuminate the depth of the paradox:
• A majority of parents think that teaching the arts is as important as reading, math, science, history, and geography.
• 95% believe that the arts are important in preparing children for the future.
• In the face of a changing global economy, economists increasingly emphasize that the United States will have to rely on innovation, ingenuity, creativity, and analysis for its competitive edge—the very skills that can be enhanced by engagement with the arts.
I am extremely intrigued in this paradox of the value of art/artists. Further exploration is required.
Via: United States Artist
540 kick is rare. I’m impress that he pulled it off. Dude must be extremely hurt. Staged?
Explosions are fun when supervised. The suspense. The anticipation. Do you remember watching live fireworks for the first time? Or popping balloons with the intent of scaring your friends? Over the weekend at the Men’s BBQ, Andrew showed us some explosions. I forgot what the chemicals were used but it was exciting. Andrew is a chemistry teacher.
**Please don’t try this at home**
I love this song. It has a classical/contemporary feel to it.
I need another story
Something to get off my chest
My life gets kinda boring
Need something that I can confess
Til’ all my sleeves are stained red
From all the truth that I’ve said
Come by it honestly I swear
Thought you saw wink, no
I’ve been on the brink, so
-OneRepublic
Throwing away my Invisalign trays. That’s my second ziploc bag. It smells like hot stanky onion breath.
“Invisalign has limits” were the exact words my dentist told me after my last tray was done. He stated that that’s the best you can get with Invisalign. I was not satisfied with the results. Why didn’t he tell me from the beginning? Arghh, I’ve worn Invisalign since freshmen year. I love how convienient they are. However, I just got my braces yesterday. Traditional metal braces are so annoying. It’s like owning a Bently compared to a Honda Civic, a point and shoot to a DSLR, or an iphone to a nokia. The reason why I chose Invisalign in the first place was not to wear braces. My parents questioned and doubted the effectiveness of Invisalign in the beginning. I should have obeyed them.
photo by: Celebrate Life Photography
Ahh, simply beautiful =) …
How to Install LOVE
Tech Support: Hello … how can I help you?
Customer: Well, after much consideration, I’ve decided to install
Love. Can you guide me through the process?
Tech Support: Yes. I can help you. Are you ready to proceed?
Customer: Well, I’m not very technical, but I think I’m ready. What do I do first?
Tech Support: The first step is to open your Heart. Have you
located your Heart?
Customer: Yes, but there are several other programs running now.
Is it okay to install Love while they are running?
Tech Support: What programs are running ?
Customer: Let’s see, I have Past Hurt, Low Self-Esteem, Grudge
and Resentment running right now.
Tech Support: No problem, Love will gradually erase Past Hurt
from your current operating system. It may remain in your permanent
memory but it will no longer disrupt other programs. Love will
eventually override Low Self-Esteem with a module of its own called High
Self-Esteem. However, you have to completely turn off Grudge and
Resentment. Those programs prevent Love from being properly installed.
Can you turn those off ?
Customer: I don’t know how to turn them off. Can you tell me how?
Tech Support: With pleasure. Go to your start menu and invoke
Forgiveness. Do this as many times as necessary until Grudge and
Resentment have been completely erased.
Customer: Okay, done! Love has started installing itself. Is that
normal?
Tech Support: Yes, but remember that you have only the base
program. You need to begin connecting to other Hearts in order to get
the upgrades.
Customer: Oops! I have an error message already. It says, “Error
- Program not run on external components.” What should I do?
Tech Support: Don’t worry. It means that the Love program is set
up to run on Internal Hearts, but has not yet been run on your Heart. In
non-technical terms, it simply means you have to Love yourself before
you can Love others.
Customer: So, what should I do?
Tech Support: Pull down Self-Acceptance; then click on the
following files: Forgive-Self; Realize Your Worth; and Acknowledge your
Limitations.
Customer: Okay, done.
Tech Support: Now, copy them to the “My Heart” directory. The
system will overwrite any conflicting files and begin patching faulty
programming. Also, you need to delete Verbose Self-Criticism from all
directories and empty your Recycle Bin to make sure it is completely
gone and never comes back.
Customer: Got it. Hey! My heart is filling up with new files.
Smile is playing on my monitor and Peace and Contentment are copying
themselves all over My Heart. Is this normal?
Tech Support: Sometimes. For others it takes awhile, but
eventually everything gets it at the proper time. So Love is installed
and running. One more thing before we hang up. Love is Freeware. Be sure
to give it and its various modules to everyone you meet. They will in
turn share it with others and return some cool modules back to you.
Customer: Thank you, God.
By Rick Anderson, based on an idea by an unknown author.
LOVE IS THE MOVEMENT.
Ahhh isn’t she lovely? I’ve always dreamed of having one of my photographs published for a newspaper and today- it’s real. One of my photographs from the school board meeting made front page news on the Rebel Record at San Lorenzo High. I didn’t think it would make frontpage news when I submited the photos to the journalism class. But it turns out it did. Although the photo isn’t headlining The New York Times, I am still very proud of my work.
Now, I’ll be honest with you there wasn’t much effort needed to get this on the front page. All I did was attend the highly anticipated school board meeting with a camera and did it for free. Yes, I did it for free. I wasn’t even asked to take photos. I just did it because it was an issue the public needed be aware of. Should I get paid for it? Maybe. Being selfless opens up many doors and opportunity. Trust me or listen to David Hobby.
David Hobby is a photographer and author of the Strobist.com lighting blog, a site which promotes lighting techniques — such as off-camera flash — among photographic enthusiasts, often with an emphasis on the practical knowledge rather than the gear.
Four Reasons to Consider Working for Free
1. Tenet One: Free Buys Access
2. Tenet Two: Free Removes Boundaries
3. Tenet Three: Free Buys You Near Total Control
4. Tenet Four: Free is Powerful Karma
http://strobist.blogspot.com/2008/12/four-reasons-to-consider-working-for.html
Should all assignment photography be free? Of course not. But this is a definite start. Let’s face it people are attracted to the word “FREE.” Now I’m not calling you to do everything for free but giving up some of your freetime will definitely be something worth doing. Maybe you don’t want to be a photographer or change the world like I do. But you have smaller dreams which are just as worthy of pursuing. Giving up some of your “free“time to pursue your dreams or whatever it is will definitely be worthwhile. Everybody would like their dreams to come true. But very few are willing to pay the price for it.
Be free.
Great book, here’s three pieces of advice from this book:
1. Do not seek praise, seek criticism. When creating new ideas ask , ‘What’s wrong with it? How can I make it better?
2. Energy. “It’s 75% of the job. If you haven’t got it, be nice.”
3. Do not covet your ideas. Give away everything you know and more will come back to you.
If you’re a creative person, you should own this book
