The Pleasure of Exchanging Ideas Posted on November 17th
One of life’s great pleasures, at least for me, is the exchage of ideas. There’s nothing quite like sitting down with someone that is creative go off and let the flow of thought go as far as it can, and it’s a rare ocurrence that 2 people find that same wavelenght… the show is quite spectacular. I get a similar high whenever I talk about comic books; the premiere of “X-2: X-Men United,” when after going with a 30-person posse we sat down at a local gas station’s convenience store and talked about the movie (and comic books in general) for hours, so much so that my girlfriend at the time and another friend’s girlfriend took off and we didn’t realize it until 45 minutes later when we took a break from discussing who would win in a fight between Solid Snake and Batman. This was after discussing the topic for a good hour and a half, mind you… you can’t help but admit that when you’re on a roll, you’re on a roll and there’s nothing in the world that’s going to get you off that high; now, it seems that I’m an excitable one. If you give me some wind on a topic I’m quasi-passionate about I’ll go and I will not stop unless I’m stopped by someone else. There are times when I’m so excited that the Command Center in my brain doesn’t have to do a damn thing; the controls shift to auto-pilot and I’m capable of looking back at myself go and remember why people think I’m crazy. I’m not crazy: just easily excitable, and I love it. I like it that I can go on for hours. I like it that I can’t help indulge myself… it makes me feel alive, you know? But more often than not it’s always a one-way street, and that’s what makes hanging out with an artist such a stimulating excercise for me.
Last night I went out to La Casona in order to meet a photographer friend of a… I don’t even know what she is, but she’s rather important to me and supportive. The reason why she wanted me to meet this person was because I’m starting this thing called “Project V.” This is a photography project, it’s this young lady’s initiative, and I’m serving as a pusher/facilitator of sorts in order to make the project a bonafide reality. I wasn’t going to mention anything until I had the banners and other publicity ready but what the hell… click here to go to the site, where you can find out more about the project and how you can participate.
Going back to the story, it was a mellow and uneventful night over at La Casona and after a few beers with my friend, the photographer showed up. Now, I’m new to this whole photography thing; I don’t know much of the movers and shakers in Panama beyond a name here and there so any type of guidance is appreciated… on the other hand, my friend told me that the photographer was really interested in knowing what the project was about, and how he could help. You can tell people are creative due to their disposition to know of the unknown; any normal person would snicker and never follow through, but not artists. They want their senses to be stimulated and reach that high I talked about earlier… so after some introductions and a beer or two, we got down to business.
I’ve been a writer most of my life, but I’ve been a proffesional writer for around 3 to 4 years; words are my craft, I’m the master of my domain and even though I have passive knowledge of a lot of things (I like to learn new things, and I’m the type that knows a little bit of everything as opposed to a lot about one specific thing) sometimes you come to realize that the waters run deep. Really deep. I’m über glad I got to meet this guy in particular because as I laid out the pitch for him and I realized that I’m not exactly the qualified person to talk about this project since I won’t be taking the pictures and it’s not my project to begin with, he gave me great insight and reminded me of a couple of things that make artists who they are. Artists get a bad rep because since our activities don’t necessarily require fixed hours, a dress code or whatever it doesn’t pass as a real job in the eyes of society… this concept is wrong on many levels because I didn’t bust my ass 3 months straight without sleep in order to push out Mada Faká, and I didn’t spend 6 months taking shit and defending my work to a group of people that, in their majority, didn’t understand what I wanted to do. In a few respects, I feel like I failed because I should’ve been able to make them understand, yet I obviously didn’t. This is of no consequence, though; the point I’m trying to make is that being an artist, not just a writer, photographer, painter, filmmaker, or whatever else your forté is you have to be aware that it’s not easy, It’s sometimes 10 times more exhausting than any deskjob but the payoff is that much greater, that much sweeter… my greatest joy is for me to be able to communicate with you. To pull out an emotion out of you with what I write… that’s what I write for to begin with, other than my insatiable desire to tell a good story; I like to make people feel laughter, sadness, contempt, sympathy, anger, anything that will pull out an emotion out of you… and I can’t shut it off. I can’t do it and I love that. This guy is something like what I described earlier, I perceived; he loves what he does, and it seems like he can never shut it off, either.
The exchange of ideas was nothing short of excellent. It reminded me of why I’m doing all of this. But most importantly it gave me a perspective I can use in order to help her and her project that’s much, much better than the one I had until last night. I blame it on my impulse to hit the ground running once everything’s set up and ready… I was reminded that the project is not mine to spearhead… I’m just the pusher. I’m the guy who provides the resources this time around; it’s the artist, the one who knows the project and its intentions better than anyone, that should walk the bridges I build. What a weird spot to be in. This all feels remarkably odd sometimes… and you wanna talk about “weird?”
Photo: “… you have to let her go through the process. If not, then she’s just pointing and clicking… She has to go through the process of talking to the “models” or whatever, she has to go to the photo labs and find out how much the prints are going to cost, she has to set up the shoots themselves as well but the most important thing she has to know, Rob, is why she’s doing this. Anyone can take a picture of a pussy. There are photographers that call some models over to his house and he takes pictures of them; the girls fuck and he sells the pictures for thousands of dollars! That’s pornography though, and I don’t think that’s her approach, right?”
Rob: “Definitely isn’t.”
Photo: “Exactly. Photography, just like any other art, is about causing an emotional reaction from the person who experiences it. Every picture is a story, and in order for her to take the right picture she has to do her research. She has to get to know every person that will grace her with their likenesses and she has to get to know their story… that way, when she takes that picture and the public sees it, they can see the person’s story behind it. That’s the beauty of photography. That’s what separates amateurs from professionals, I believe. You have to let her go through the process.”
Rob: “I agree. I don’t like anyone fucking with me while I write.”
MadHattress (my friend, looking at me as if I was hiding something. I was): There’s more to it, though!
Rob (trying desperately to divert Photo’s attention from her statement): “All I’m trying to do is make it easy for her to find everything she needs to do the gallery. I don’t want to butt in with everything she does since it’s her project and I agree with you man; nobody knows this thing better than her.”
Photo: “She has to know why she’s doing this. If not then the photographs will have no meaning, they’ll be useless from an artistic standpoint. She has to be sure of what she’s doing and when people ask her about the photographs, because they will, she has to be able to respond. The greatest movers and shakers here, it’s going to be the first thing they ask. ‘What are you trying to say with this?’ She has to be ready to answer those questions and convince me and everyone why she believes in this project.”
MadHattress: “This case is different, though! He can’t back off! This girl’s special to him, Photo.”
Rob (wanting to punch MadHattress in the cooch): “Excuse me?”
Photo: “Wait, wait, wait. Is this girl just someone you know and want to promote or is she she like, your partner in crime?”
Rob (slightly feeling like I’m on the spot): “Umm… I suppose she is, yes.”
MadHattress: “More like the love of his life…!”
Rob: “Puh-lease. Don’t be ridiculous.”
Photo: “Ok, but you care about her, right?”
Rob: “Yes, I do. But I try to keep things separate… it’s only fair.”
Photo: “That’s good, but you still care about her. I see it, now; all you have to do is give her the push she needs, man.
Rob: “YES! Thank you! I’m the pusher, man.”
Photo: “Awesome, man… you have to be the link, but you have to let her walk the bridge; if she’s an amateur photographer I supposed she’s scared.”
Rob: “I think so, yeah.”
Photo: “You have to push her and support her. She’ll be fine… dude, I’ve been a professional photographer for 6 years; my work has been on display here, New York, Sao Paolo and other places and I’m still scared. Everybody’s scared!”
Rob: “I know. She shouldn’t let it stop her, though.”
Photo: “That’s right. That’s where you come in… you have to help her, but at the same time let her do it on her own.”
I’m a pusher now.
Rob is lazy and has not put tags yet!
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note to self:
Dont take “MadHattress” to business meetings where things like this could occur…
You got off easy on that one.
Rock on Rob.. rock on.
Commented Butter on November 17th, 2006.Shit, tell me about it! I don’t even want to think what she would’ve said if she had been on a roll…
Commented Rob on November 17th, 2006.Project 5 or project V as in vagina? If its the latter does it involve vaginas?
If I had to choose between batman and snake I gotta say Snake would win. Think about it, hes prolly up to par on fighting skills and he has taken on armies single handedly. Snake wins, plus hed prolly just shoot batman in the head…
Commented Lucho on November 17th, 2006.Well if the V stands for Vagina, get that project started Rob. I want to see some cunts/pussies/beavers/pan ocho’s. =)
Commented Marco on November 17th, 2006.God I can take the pics, I have no moral barriers. :0)
Commented Bastardizer on November 19th, 2006.