Another way of Looking at Design (The nature of a \'Creator\')

by dhw, Friday, November 20, 2009, 14:29 (5481 days ago) @ xeno6696

Matt: Before I started learning music and music technology, it was all about "being in the moment".-We have an extraordinary capacity for separating our levels of consciousness ... which is yet another of our mysteries. Awareness of technology can be fascinating in itself, and is obviously essential for a practitioner, but it can also ruin the impact of art and music. No artist or composer wants his audience to focus on his technique! In fact too much awareness of technique can inhibit the whole creative process. I worked very closely with a renowned literary theorist for over forty years, and although this opened up areas of literature that I'd never thought about, it was essential for me actually to dismiss these insights from my mind when it came to my own writing. -It's interesting that nowadays you have "a deeper appreciation for all things mystical". I think it's the emotional subconscious that links up to what you call the "deep impacts" (which of course need not have anything to do with religion), whereas the intellectual conscious can act almost as a barrier. An image I like is that of the city, with its massively impressive artificial structures totally covering the earth and natural life beneath its foundations. Abandon the city, and before long the natural world will take over again. That's not meant as a criticism of intellect, though. We need a balance between the levels. Too much of the one will destroy the spontaneous pleasures, and too much of the other will turn you into a raving lunatic! But which of the levels will take us closer to any sort of "ultimate truth" is the question you and I will probably never be able to answer.-A propos of which you wrote: "The only time you can stop asking questions is if you actually have an answer. And in my case, there is practically no way to tell that I've found an answer." Then you and I together will carry on asking questions, and shake our heads in wonderment at those who reckon they have the answers!-Confirmed technophobe: no priests necessary. You just have to keep going through the ritual of messing things up. Or having them messed up for you ... as in my 48 hours without the Internet.