A friend gave me a book for Christmas. This morning I read an intriguing thought from Tim Burton. One that I plan on wrestling with today."...I tend to subscribe to the idea that, in a sense, you're always making the same film over and over again. You are who you are; your personality is usually the consequence of what you went through during your childhood, and you spend your life, consciously or not, rehashing the same ideas over and over again. It's true of all human beings, and it's even more true of artists. Whatever subject you tackle, you always end up taking a different approach with the same obsessions. In a way, it's annoying, because you'd like to think you're evolving. But at the same time, it's exciting, because it's like a never-ending challenge. It's like a curse you're desperately trying to break."
Agree? Disagree? Have a sudden craving to google Johnny Depp?
9 comments:
first of all - Mr. Johnny Depp is awful about follow up.
I tend to land on most people evolving in their work. Much of what we live out is based on our first few years of life (we've talked about this - it's why Annie's with the kids right now) but it doesn't stop there. Formative years are formative - but it doesn't stop there - just like you don't learn everything in school. You learned a lot then, maybe more than at any time in your life...but you also learn a bit every day.
I do see those demons Burton is wrestling with in his movies though. I'm guessing his mom never let him use mousse or eye shadow when he was a kid.
poor guy..
I can pretty much buy into that idea. I definitely see themes and similarities in my work no matter how different the topic. I would probably fall more into the "conscious" level than "sub-conscious". I would rather recognize my natural trends and leverage those to best help people tell their stories than ignore those trends and try to be something that I'm not. However I definitely dip into the latter on a regular basis:->
I agree to an extent. But I honestly think the pattern of rehashing certain ideas and focusing on a limited number of thoughts applies more to people that aren't artists. "Artsy" people tend to expand their thinking. They are the ones that pick up and move to Oregon and live there for a season and find themselves. They look for new ideas, and thoughts, and views and experiences. The less creative people tend to stick to what they know. They are the ones that never leave Middletown. They are fine to live the life they've always known and are used to.
I really like your question, and thinking about it. Here is my go at it. Once upon a time there was a Storyteller, THE Storyteller, who told a story, THE story. And the storyteller created us, the characters of the story, and set us smack dab in the middle of the story. He gave some of us an especial love of story and maybe a gift of storytelling, an innate sense of THE story, but we are not outside of it, so we can only see part of it, and imperfectly. So we try to tell the story we see, from our perspective; or we try to be like the Storyteller, to tell a story, but it is still connected to the story, though again, through our eyes. Like the 4 Gospel writers each writing the Jesus story. My voice/mood/perspective is connected with who I am and where I've been; also with my Creator and where I'm going. So I find that though my life and experiences are present in me and therefore everything I write, my Creator is developing me into a rounder character, and this story seems to find its way into everything I write and do because I am in the midst of this story in the midst of The Story. The Story being, Creation, Fall, Redemption/Reconciliation. I tend to read and see these themes, (or variations, twists or distortions) wherever I look, and I find that I write in that direction or directed by that. Hopefully in ways that are true to it, beautiful and good. I found all those 3 to be present in the ReGifter, btw. I guess that was more of a dialogue with Burton than a thumbs up or down. But maybe that even illustrates my point? I took your question and his quote and tried to tell my story?
sean, you learned that your people gave us lucky charms during your formative years, right? kind of explains everything about you.
craig, i have a hunch what your themes are. curious if you'll share.
chris, there are countless artists with compressed (opposite of expanded?) minds. think of all those velvet elvis painters...
julie, fascinating take. and i think you're right that your response illustrates your point.
racist
Chris,
Spend a day at art school and you'll find plenty of uber-artsy PROFESSORS who are as closed and compressed minded as you'll find. Their paradigm is just so "out there" that they see themselves as open-minded but they are just as set in their ways as Sean from Middletown. At least that's what I've found...
I actually have an artsy friend that's very open minded, Dan from PA. I have one of his paintings entitles "Big A Horse" displayed in my home if you'd ever like to see some of his art.
'Big Ass Horse' is this generation's 'Starry Night'.
You'll thank me later.
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