Rereading, and Derek Sivers’ Hell Yeah or No

Halfway through December, I received my signed copy of Hell Yeah Or No. A good motive to re-read the book.

Derek Sivers - Hell Yeah or No

I had already read the ebook. I purchased in one same offer – ebook and signed paper copy. Given the work Derek has put into producing and distributed the signedhard-cover version, I can not imagine he made much money on it.

I seldomly re-read books. But this one is definitely in the re-reading category. As a sidenote, my re-reading category includes: Gerrit Krol (Dutch writer (probably one of the first people writing on Artificial Intelligence in De Man Achter Het Raam (1982!), definitely in the Netherlands, but probably also internationally), Douglas Coupland, Haruki Murakami, Tom Peters (not everything, but definitely The Little Big Things).

Kim Gordon – Girl In A Band

Somewhere on the great Interweb I found a review of Kim Gordon. I did not know the book. It had disappointed this reader. Nevertheless I purchased the book, being a long term lover of Sonic Youth and curious about Kim Gordon’s life.

Girl in a Band

I found the book very good. Nice details describing Kim’s environment, household things, stuff, music. Written in a loose style. The edition of the book I have – the pocket edition with the orange cover – is a bit grungy. A nice fit with the black and white pictures in the book.

Kim Gordon sketches an entertaining and informative image of punk-rock life in the 80s, 90s and 00s. There seems to be no end to the progress of Sonic Youth, until Thurston Moore falls into an affair with fortune hunter Eva Prinz (the name is not in the book, but it required little research to find out).

The tone turns from melancholic, in the description of het schizophrenic brother, to disillusioned in her marriage with Thurston Moore.

Beautiful book and woman, strange.

The Art of Doing – have a vision, persevere, collaborate

The Art of Doing by Camille Sweeney & Josh Gosfield was recommended here and there, so I put it on my list. The book turned out to be different than what I expected—not in a negative way. I had expected a self-help book with chapter-by-chapter advice. Instead, every chapter shares 10 learning points from the achievements of high-flyers in a wide variety of professions. The list of these people goes from author Stephen Dubner to tennis champion Martina Navratinova to soprano Anna Netrebko.

The Art Of Doing

A few common threads emerge among these people. All have a vision, persevere through bad times, and are collaborative. None of them are psychotic “leaders” you typically find in large bureaucratic organizations or egomaniac attention-seeking media addicts. All are driven by a why. All are hardworking and humble.

My highlights:

Martina Navratilova: don’t specialize, dream big, practice and exercise (do the work).

Simon Doonan (I didn’t know who he was before reading the book – Simon is a world-famous window dresser): Go Niche, be the best at something.

Tony Hsieh: discover your values (first).

Mark Frauenfelder (by far the best entry in the book!): Make the blog that doesn’t exist, Be original, get an attitude, Don’t bullshit (don’t waste people’s time), mix things, find unexpected things.  

American Gods – Neil Gaiman

I love books that read like the writer does not know yet where the story will end yet.

This quality I love in Joseph Heller’s Catch-22, almost all the work of Haruki Murakami, and also Neil Gaiman’s American Gods.

American Gods reached a sort of cult status that I was unaware of when I bought a cheap pocket edition (9,90 euro). A television series was made based on the novel.

Read in two straight sittings. Incredibly good. At the level of Norwegian Wood, Voyage au bout de la Nuit, One Hundred Years of Solitude.

AKADEMIE X Lessons in Art + Life

One of the best books I read about Art in a long time is AKADEMIE X Lessons in Art + Life. (The ones from Will Gompertz are first because they are more accessible.)

The book is beautifully designed and illustrated. The text from various artists have different forms, and vary in usefulness and readability. Every article included reading lists and viewing lists. The book as such is an art education on itself.

The struggles of the artist.

One question is, how do you create a way of being in the world that allows new things (ideas, information, people, places) into your life without letting everything in?

The emphasis on an art that is idea-driven is very important in order to maintain diversity in artistic practice and so that art is a tool to produce knowledge about the world.

the whole trick is keeping the truth up front in daily consciousness.

Artists notice stuff – the way things come together or fall apart, the telling detail or the overlooked ruin, the tell-tale gesture. To be an artist you have to train yourself to pay attention to the world in which you live, constantly looking for clues, always aware of your surroundings.

One thing all artists need to be able to do is to present their ideas confidently to the range of people who come through the studio – peers, curators, writers, collectors.

… spend more time making stuff, less time thinking about it; and do a better job of networking, staying in touch with people who show interest or friendship.

Precise and clear riting skills play a very important role in an artist’s career.

Another thing that I wish had been taught at school was the business side of art.

Keeping a personal journal over the years also plays a very important role in my practice. Many ideas and interesting tidbits of information that I’ve picked up end in the journal

A large part of my time is spent on organizing the production of my work. Organizational and managig skills are extremely important… Artists need to learn to organize and to delegate their works to studio assistents or to fabricators when necessary.

Read! Don’t ignore the history of your art. Don’t waste time trying to reinvent the wheel.

Don’t fixate on ‘breaking’ onto the scene. If you keep making interesting work, people will notice.

My simplest advice for navigating the art market is never to operate from a place of desperation, and never undervalue yourself.

Good painting is timeless, suggestive and individual.

If you’re working on a project of your own, be happy that your’re on a deadline…

If you’re having a hard time getting the creative juices churning, try starting with what you know… – the objective is to get busy.

Stop making ‘art’ and start making your work.

Be prepared to be unpopular, unclassifiable and perhaps even out-of-date…

… the rest is longevity, endurance and the ability to keep on making work despite the pleasures and pitfalls of other distractions in life.

Verwarde Cavia observeert veranderingen

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Na Taal Is Zegt Maar Echt mijn Ding, las ik van Paulien Cornelisse De Verwarde Cavia.

De Verwarde Cavia is een melige verzameling columns die eerder in NRC verschenen over de dagelijkse beslommeringen van Cavia, een gescheiden alleenstaande vrouw zonder kinderen. En Cavia observeert. Cavia is het liefst op zichzelf.   Cavia worstelt niet met het leven, hoewel ze wat zeikerig is. Maar het leven overkomt haar. Ze is naïef en neemt heel weinig hele kleine initiatieven. Ze is de goedheid zelve. Ze wordt misbruikt voor dubieuze praktijken als bespioneren van collega’s.

 Het oppervlakkige leven en gebrek aan diepgang is wellicht het thema in de Cavia verhalen.

Cavia produceert geen diepzinnige gedachten.   En zo kwam het dat Cavia zich te midden van borrelende mensen bezighield met de filosofische vraag: Als je aan het mingelen bent, maar niemand merkt het, is er dan sprake van mingelen? Cavia mijdt moeilijkheden. Maar is droogkomisch.   Nu Enzo weg was, werd Cavia ineens weer wakker in haar eigen huis. Ze was er de afgelopen tijd zo weinig geweest dat ze het zielig vond voor haar spulletjes, maar ze sprak zichzelf meteen streng toe: Dingen zijn niet zielig! Je kon wel aan de gang blijven. “Het was even stil. ‘En dat jij dan de keynote doet?’ vroeg De Groot.’Bijvoorbeeld!’ zei Cavia. ‘Bijvoorbeeld.’ Zo direct even opzoeken wat precies de definitie van een keynote was. “Goed: zei De Groot. ‘Make it happen.’Cavia slikte. Cavia raakt in de war van veranderingen. Maar niet op een pathologische manier.   In mineur over alle veranderingen liep Cavia door de regen naar huis. Om zichzelf op te vrolijken kocht ze bij de kantoorboekhandel wat bruine enveloppen, eigenlijk alleen om eraan te ruiken. Uiteindelijk is het leven van een kantoorbediende die slappe nieuwsbrieven rondstuurt slechts een setting een lichte levenswijze die Paulien Cornelisse voor ons schetst. Het kleine leven in The Office, Het Bureau, Debiteuren Crediteuren, maar dan stiekem toch best gelukkig mee kunnen zijn met de geborgenheid van deze weinig uitdagende werkomgeving.  

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Steal Like An Artist – Austin Kleon

Great, compound book, about getting art work done, Steal Like an Artist by Austin Kleon. 

Stealing is only part of it, and not something to be ashamed of, but rather a necessity.

All things come down to discipline and stamina, applying the principle of Ignore Everybody (Hugh McLeod who seems to be his friend).

Like his note on sharing the dots: connecting them is the trick.

Adheres to the principle in reading: will not finish books i don’t like. Love that.

In the back a number of book recommendations. Thank you very much Austin.

Read also Show Your Work. 

Alain De Botton – The Consolations of Philosophy

In The Consolations of Philosophy, Alain de Botton helps us put life’s difficulties into perspective. De Botton guides us through the works of a number of well-known philosophers (Socrates, Epicurus, Seneca, Montaigne, Schopenhauer, Nietzsche) and distills lessons from their work.

The Consolations of Philosophy

From Socrates we learn to examine the statements of self-confident people. Oftentimes you find these statements can not stand up to even mild scrutiny. So, subject their convictions and also your own premises to criticism. Support your beliefs with good answers to counter arguments.

Epicurus tells us that epicurean is actually not, as opposed what we often associate it with today, equivalent to being an unbounded bon-vivant. Instead, Epicurus tells which components are more important than “stuff” for our well-being: friendship, freedom, reflection.

Seneca learns us to enjoy the beautiful things of life, but to always be prepared to loose these acquirements. And to not get freaked out when this happens.

Do not assume the world is conspiring against you. Annoying things happen to you while no one is aiming to hurt you. You are not being sabotaged.
(Even better, to speak with Kevin Kelly, the world is conspiring to your success: pronoia.)

Motaigne states that he who thinks he is wise, is in fact a fool.

The banal physical things can not be denied. Even the king has to shit and it stinks too.

Our culture is not the norm. Our habits and rituals are just as strange as those from a distant Indian tribe in the jungle of South America. Arrogance is misplaced.

Wisdom and scholarship are different things. Wisdom is rarely taught in schools. Not (just) philosophers are able to lead a virtuous life. Also a poorly-educated worker can live wisely and “produce” wisdom. (Grandmother’s wisdom).

Schopenhauer strikes me as a grumpy man. It is not our intelligence that steers our decisions, but the unconscious. Our intelligence is busy justifying our decisions through the construction of logical reasonings. Very much like Kahneman has found: fast decision making is done by our System 1 thinking, which is impulsive and subjective. Our System 2 is more thoughtful and slow, but tends not to correct System 1 decisions but rather justify those decisions.

Love between man and woman is only successful if our unconscious thinks that it may produce good offspring. Procreation is what drives all this, unconsciously. Consoling consequences: when your love is declined, this is only because nature predicts an unsuccessful reproduction, not so much because the other person dislikes you.

Nietzsche explains there is no joy without difficulties. Difficulties are necessary prerequisites for joy.

From the efforts of the craftsman follows the genius of the artist. Genius is not born but created. The route to follow learning your crafts: sublimate, spiritualize (internalize), elevate. Do not resign to things that are too difficult to achieve, but instead fight to achieve these. There is no other way.

See also Beauty and Consolation.