Knowledge is (not always) power...
It is possible to know too much. One thing I did not anticipate upon venturing into the world of art and artists is being privy to the internal workings of their lives. Discovering that one's hero is, well, human, can be humbling, to say the least. I decided I don't want to know everything. Maybe once I thought I did, but really, I am comfortable in my fantasies. It's akin to that moment when it dawned on me that my parents are human and did (when they were married) what adult, sexually active, humans do/did. I didn't want to know or think about it. I felt this strange sensation in my stomach, the kind I get after reading a book in a moving vehicle. It's kind of like that, except what I'm discovering are dark moments in my hero's lives when they've acted less than heroic and the people around them responded in the like.
Maybe it's best if I get off the ride and start walking. Or maybe not place my heroes on such high pedestals. Or better yet, best to keep in mind that everyone, including our near-mythic-proportioned heroes are, after all, people too, with real problems and quirks, even if they are not the quaint kind of quirks we like to hear about. Like, it can be funny to joke about how Jackson Pollock was a huge drunk and philandering genius dripping paint on canvases, but not so funny when we think about how the drinking was a sympton of the depression that led him to wrap his car around a tree (killing another passenger along with him), or how all that womanizing affected Lee Krasner. No, we don't really want to hear about that. It's too sad and real and tragic in a gut-wrenching-oh-dear-I-think-i'll-need-to-work-this-out-with-my-shrink kind of way. But it is also true. In the end, it makes for great art, right? What a bunch of hooey.
Anyway, I'm part of the industry and now I know too much. And yes, I have spent a session on it with my shrink. "What does it all mean?"
I'm not implying i'll be someone's hero, but someday, my kids might find out things about me that they might find less than seemly. They might have that "oh my god you're kidding i think i'll be sick" moment. My advice, always carry some dramamine with you, kid. It could be a bumpy ride.
*****
He said: "See, this is what I live for!"
She said: "What?... Material?"
He said: "Yes!!"
And they both laughed.
*****
Feel Good Jam of the Day
"Like Humans Do"
David Byrne
&
"Buy A Dog"
Luce
Never Ending
Maybe it's best if I get off the ride and start walking. Or maybe not place my heroes on such high pedestals. Or better yet, best to keep in mind that everyone, including our near-mythic-proportioned heroes are, after all, people too, with real problems and quirks, even if they are not the quaint kind of quirks we like to hear about. Like, it can be funny to joke about how Jackson Pollock was a huge drunk and philandering genius dripping paint on canvases, but not so funny when we think about how the drinking was a sympton of the depression that led him to wrap his car around a tree (killing another passenger along with him), or how all that womanizing affected Lee Krasner. No, we don't really want to hear about that. It's too sad and real and tragic in a gut-wrenching-oh-dear-I-think-i'll-need-to-work-this-out-with-my-shrink kind of way. But it is also true. In the end, it makes for great art, right? What a bunch of hooey.
Anyway, I'm part of the industry and now I know too much. And yes, I have spent a session on it with my shrink. "What does it all mean?"
I'm not implying i'll be someone's hero, but someday, my kids might find out things about me that they might find less than seemly. They might have that "oh my god you're kidding i think i'll be sick" moment. My advice, always carry some dramamine with you, kid. It could be a bumpy ride.
*****
He said: "See, this is what I live for!"
She said: "What?... Material?"
He said: "Yes!!"
And they both laughed.
*****
Feel Good Jam of the Day
"Like Humans Do"
David Byrne
&
"Buy A Dog"
Luce
Never Ending
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