Thursday, April 1, 2010

daily practice


The grad classes in my department engage in an organized daily practice. Each person chooses something managable, simple to make every day. Making is something that can happen for a variety of reasons, due to a variety of circumstances. Making because it is what we do in general, rather than because we are particularly moved to make something is an incredible stregnth, a burdon of sorts, and a colossal relief.

Making always helps me to keep myself together and have better eyes when navigating thru the mountains of things which inevitably come up. As important as the personal act of making, is keeping sight of other people's making and why we make things; what we make.

SO, I am trying to start a new daily practice - it has 2 parts:

1. make something for someone in particular, document

2. find something that someone else made that i love.

there is a lot of figuring to do, and taking these small steps is probably the most productive way to do it.

1 comment:

Marsha Lieberman said...

I love the idea of daily practice. As a dancer this is so easy-- you just work at it every (almost) day. This is a "doing" career.

A making career is really the same; add a new thing to whatever you are working on every day, even if there are only five minutes to devote to it. A month into any new work, you will really have something, even if the finished product is still a long way off.

I am working on the second of two large paintings that will be hung in June. I am hoping that by following my own advice, this second one will be ready to show!!!