Life Imitating Art.
June 6, 2006Life imitating Art. I could have written this exact post. Perhaps less eloquantly, but nevertheless, an amazing coincidence–or have I unconciously given in to some form of blogosphere social pressure? … and no I’m not merely link-baiting.
I too have spent the last couple of weeks with my head in books, switching off the ‘idiot box’, taking the dog for a walk and spending more time meditating. I don’t have anything against TV per se, there just seems to be little on it that I find interesting or that entertains me. The exception to this is Spicks and Specks and RockWiz (Music quiz shows), which I really enjoy.
Reading also makes me want to write more, although to date this hasn’t really translated into keystrokes. I’ve been reading a fair bit of Beat poetry and the history of the Beat generation, including its influence on music and artists such as Bob Dylan and Jim Morrison. I’ve got a vague idea about writing an essay of sorts on the similarities of the Beats and bloggers, but I’m still clarifying my thoughts on this.
I also thought that as a consequence of the increased level of reading that I’d be blogging more, but that hasn’t happened either. Perhaps it’s a case of too much input making it harder to process the information and translating this to output? There doesn’t seem to be a direct correlation between input and output, that’s for sure.
June 10th, 2006 at 12:46 am
im intrigued to hear how you are going to make the correlation between bloggers and the beats…
i see the beats as being charaterised by bohemian lifestyle, drugs, controversial writing, counter culture etc. i cant say ive seen anything similar come out of blogging. on the whole it just seems self-referential at best, not to mention technically orientated.
the beats spoke for the postwar generation. or maybe the lost generation or whatever people also coin them. how has blogging spoken at this stage beyond a small minority of technically minded geeks? sure it is contextually interesting in regards to the dissemination of information and public opinion… but is it beatifik?
i can certainly see blogging as a symbol of freedom and spontaneity… but hardly as something which has captured a generation.
i guess its too early to know at this stage anyway… artistic generations always take years to be coined, boxed, and stacked.
commented Göteborg Central, Sweden, on route to Berlin from Narvik, Norway!
Tchuss daryl, im interested to hear what you have to say
June 21st, 2006 at 9:20 am
Hey Nick. Thanks for your comment and sorry for not responding sooner. Some punk left work to go live in Germany and I’ve been busy being the PC support guy ;(
> im intrigued to hear how you are going to make the correlation between bloggers and the beats…
I did say I has a *vague* idea about writing something! I’m glad you commented though … it helps to both question and cement some of my early thoughts.
> i see the beats as being characterized by bohemian lifestyle, drugs, controversial writing, counter culture etc. i cant say ive seen anything similar come out of blogging. on the whole it just seems self-referential at best, not to mention
> technically orientated.
Agree to a large extent that blogging is often technical and sometimes borders on being narcissistic, but I also think that there is an element of the controversial, and also a hint of a sub-culture that is challenging–or at the very least questioning–the values and norms of our current generation and the society in which we live.
> the beats spoke for the postwar generation. or maybe the lost generation or whatever people also coin them. how has blogging spoken at this stage beyond a small minority of technically minded geeks? sure it is contextually interesting in regards to the dissemination of information and public opinion… but is it beatifik?
Perhaps bloggers speak for the post-911 generation? Seems to me to be some striking similarities or side effects on the psyche of the two generations. Similar fears, concerns, thoughts I guess.
However, I don’t think our generation is quite as and nihilistic nor does it have the same sense of urgency as the beats. Perhaps it should!
I’m not entirely convinced that bloggers per se have the same artistic qualities or integrity as the beats. Perhaps its just wishful thinking that bloggers are taking up the intellectual challenge of trying to expand consciousness, awaken the masses and imagining a better future for the inhabitants of this crazy planet.
> i can certainly see blogging as a symbol of freedom and spontaneity… but hardly as something which has captured a generation. i guess its too early to know at this stage anyway… artistic generations always take years to be coined, boxed, and stacked.
I guess it is early. The stats are pretty compelling in terms of ‘capturing’ an audience or at the very least the potential to reach–and influence–public opinion. Generation Y seem to be pretty enamored with technology gadgets and all forms of media. Perhaps it’s just as shallow as that … just another form of entertainment; a mutated form of the TV virus?
Again, thanks for the comments. I’m not sure when I’ll get around to expanding on these thoughts, but this short interlude has been helpful. Take care “on the road” amigo.