The slide above is from the blog by Merlin Mann who is the creator of 43folders.com. This one slide has helped me more than any other piece of blogging information available. It caused me to ask myself "What is my obsession?" Once asked I was able to answer "Well that's easy! I love the connections between things... the truths that cross over from one artform to another or better yet from art into life." I call these connections "Equal Signs" and I use this term quite frequently when I am teaching. I tell students that often I don't even need to teach them certain things, I just have to get them to make a connection between what I am teaching and something that they already know. This... equals... that... Ah!!!
Now that I have my obsession identified I know what I want to blog about... truths... equal signs... connections... Artform to Artform... Artform to Life...
So... what is an example of an equal sign? My favorite is found within human desire... the "want." In every character/person there is something that drives them to action... their want. If I am still and silent with no movement save my breath and I want something to drink then I will rise and spring into action to get myself a cool glass of water. The action is caused by the want. This motivation is true in anything relating to real live human beings and it is true consequently to all well written characters from books to film to live theatre and improvisation. The want tells us the "why" behind bank robberies, affairs, nobel prizes, marriages, murder and any other action.
So here we are... a clear mission in front of us...
Locate a truth in life or in art.
See how far reaching it is.
Apply it to make my art and my life better.
OR...
Locate something someone else feels is a truth.
Evaluate it and test its reach and span.
If it is not a truth in my opinion then define why and show my view of its limitations.
If it is a truth then apply it to make my art and my life better.
Thanks for reading! See you again soon!
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