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swestrupNot long ago I posted in my journal about Capricornucopia and the outpouring of local talent it represents. This sentiment was echoed in another blog here on LJ in which ![[livejournal.com profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/external/lj-userinfo.gif)
baronscartop noted that "Creative joy is contagious".
This is very true. Asmousme implied in her first comment to that second blog entry, if you surround yourself with people you'd like to be like, it rubs off. Its something I've been consciously doing for the last year or so, and I can see the effect it is having on me.
When you are surrounded by friends who are regularly writing novels, screenplays, comic books, plays, short stories, and serials, when they spontaneously form bands for the sheer joy of making music together, when they spend their free time composing music, painting, sculpting, photographing, drawing, and otherwise creating, these things no longer seem like the sorts of activities reserved for dedicated professionals in far off studios. They seem like the sorts of things that regular people are doing all around you, and that you might just want to join in on. The mental barrier to entry, if you will, is suddenly much lower.
It is, if you'll pardon a lousy analogy, like bowling. I don't bowl very well. In fact I'm terrible, but when a friend says they're getting a bunch of folks together to go bowling, I happily join in. I go for the companionship, for sharing in an activity, and for the sheer fun of throwing a heavy rock down a lane at some sticks. I'm not good, but that doesn't worry me. I know if these bowling outings continue, I'll get better.
The same is true of the creative arts. I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo last November. Its lousy and its still not finished, but I wrote it because my friends were doing it and enjoying it, because I'd always wanted to write a novel, because it was a creative outlet that I had let lie dormant for far too long. Its not great literature, but that doesn't matter. I shall write more, and I'll get better, and with the folks who surround me on LJ, I know I'll get positive encouragement to do so.
As I mentioned tobaronscartop at Capriconucopia, I think that the internet can take at least partial responsibility for this change in attitude towards the arts. It makes it possible to surround yourself with creative people without having to move to an artist colony. It also bring the web, and with it the ability for everyone to publish their work at little to no cost. Suddenly, creating and displaying your work is easy and everyone is doing it, so why not join in?
I have mentioned in this journal before that I have a fervent hope that it shall lead to a reburgeoning of culture to match that of the Renaissance. (And if it gets christened the 'Reburgeoning', then remember I coined the term here first, folks.) Even if it doesn't go that far, it would be nice to see art become the property of the people again, and not the studios.
Just now it occurred to me though, that if one wants a virus or a germ to be happy and grow and spread, you put it in an incubator with lots of the right sort of material to infect. The same is undoubtedly true of memes. The web and LJ are both good environments for the art meme to grow and spread in, but could they be better?
This is relevant to me because in the next day or so I'm writing a proposal for the creation of a new online social networking system to compete with LiveJournal, MySpace, Friendster and the rest. I already have a bunch of ideas on how the state of the art can be improved and the online experience made simultaneously more inclusive and more closely tailored for a given community.
What I hadn't thought of before was that it could have specific features to aid and abet in the spreading of the art meme. After all, why wait for a Reburgeoning when one can hasten its arrival? So, does anyone have any suggestions for features, functions, aspects, etc of a social networking system that would make it easier for you to pursue your arts, or would help encourage you to do so? What kind of art communities do you think would pull you in?
I understand that these are vague questions, but I'm really just fishing for any insights into the nurturing of the creative process that I should keep in mind while designing this new puppy.
There is, of course, no guarantee the proposal will be accepted, or that the site will be created as designed, even if its funded, but an idea once expressed is nigh unto immortal and can easily survive the death of many projects until it finally gets realized.
baronscartop noted that "Creative joy is contagious". This is very true. As
mousme implied in her first comment to that second blog entry, if you surround yourself with people you'd like to be like, it rubs off. Its something I've been consciously doing for the last year or so, and I can see the effect it is having on me.When you are surrounded by friends who are regularly writing novels, screenplays, comic books, plays, short stories, and serials, when they spontaneously form bands for the sheer joy of making music together, when they spend their free time composing music, painting, sculpting, photographing, drawing, and otherwise creating, these things no longer seem like the sorts of activities reserved for dedicated professionals in far off studios. They seem like the sorts of things that regular people are doing all around you, and that you might just want to join in on. The mental barrier to entry, if you will, is suddenly much lower.
It is, if you'll pardon a lousy analogy, like bowling. I don't bowl very well. In fact I'm terrible, but when a friend says they're getting a bunch of folks together to go bowling, I happily join in. I go for the companionship, for sharing in an activity, and for the sheer fun of throwing a heavy rock down a lane at some sticks. I'm not good, but that doesn't worry me. I know if these bowling outings continue, I'll get better.
The same is true of the creative arts. I wrote a novel for NaNoWriMo last November. Its lousy and its still not finished, but I wrote it because my friends were doing it and enjoying it, because I'd always wanted to write a novel, because it was a creative outlet that I had let lie dormant for far too long. Its not great literature, but that doesn't matter. I shall write more, and I'll get better, and with the folks who surround me on LJ, I know I'll get positive encouragement to do so.
As I mentioned to
baronscartop at Capriconucopia, I think that the internet can take at least partial responsibility for this change in attitude towards the arts. It makes it possible to surround yourself with creative people without having to move to an artist colony. It also bring the web, and with it the ability for everyone to publish their work at little to no cost. Suddenly, creating and displaying your work is easy and everyone is doing it, so why not join in?I have mentioned in this journal before that I have a fervent hope that it shall lead to a reburgeoning of culture to match that of the Renaissance. (And if it gets christened the 'Reburgeoning', then remember I coined the term here first, folks.) Even if it doesn't go that far, it would be nice to see art become the property of the people again, and not the studios.
Just now it occurred to me though, that if one wants a virus or a germ to be happy and grow and spread, you put it in an incubator with lots of the right sort of material to infect. The same is undoubtedly true of memes. The web and LJ are both good environments for the art meme to grow and spread in, but could they be better?
This is relevant to me because in the next day or so I'm writing a proposal for the creation of a new online social networking system to compete with LiveJournal, MySpace, Friendster and the rest. I already have a bunch of ideas on how the state of the art can be improved and the online experience made simultaneously more inclusive and more closely tailored for a given community.
What I hadn't thought of before was that it could have specific features to aid and abet in the spreading of the art meme. After all, why wait for a Reburgeoning when one can hasten its arrival? So, does anyone have any suggestions for features, functions, aspects, etc of a social networking system that would make it easier for you to pursue your arts, or would help encourage you to do so? What kind of art communities do you think would pull you in?
I understand that these are vague questions, but I'm really just fishing for any insights into the nurturing of the creative process that I should keep in mind while designing this new puppy.
There is, of course, no guarantee the proposal will be accepted, or that the site will be created as designed, even if its funded, but an idea once expressed is nigh unto immortal and can easily survive the death of many projects until it finally gets realized.
