People who do not change their minds are stubborn, as changing our minds is normal and natural, as we live we grow, as we grow we learn, as we learn our thoughts about things may change. We need to be able to change our thoughts on things as we go through life.
The short answer, Joyce, is "naw" Permission slips do not trigger the change. The brain scientists are agreeing on this point, as well as every writer of every book and movie--what blows you out of that comfort zone is the experience, the moment, the thing that tells you two points, usually in this order: "I did not see it coming" and "There's no going back--there's only the unknown ahead."
What a wonderful post! About the hard stuff; like eating a better diet (and continuing to make poor health and nutrition choices) and clearing out the clutter that has become a hoard... I don't know WHAT would change my mind. Both of these ways of coping are not coping. Both are crutches used to avoid the harder deeper questions and most of all, grief. Letting go of any entrenched mindset I have involves grief. I'm aware I'm self sabotaging, even punishing myself as an excuse to beat up on myself more and NOT change. Awareness isn't enough. Does the pain really have to become so bad, or a terminal diagnosis get made - and then - too late? I am grappling hard with these questions and have no wisdom to offer - other than that going within and getting quiet and still - maybe for a long time - may be the only things I have not tried. I've certainly read (and hoarded) all the books on the topics of compulsive eating and hoarding! Still doing both! This is a risky and brutally honest comment about my own personal life struggles and I feel exposed and vulnerable but maybe it can help someone on what NOT to do. Un-busying myself seems paramount.
Regarding art; I remember my mind being changed by art, not my changing my mind about the art. You have to look and be still with a piece of art for a long time to absorb it. Especially when you have not seen it in person. I remember looking at a Jackson Pollack in a museum and staying with it til all judgy thoughts quieted down and it was just me and the painting and it absorbed into me in a way that I could finally see it - and appreciate it and what he was doing.
As for changing others' minds - unless their minds are at all open to a differing viewpoint that challenges their belief systems, it seems mostly futile. Live by example I guess? In these crazy times where people don't even know how to critically think, I turn to the philosophers. They weren't perfect but I think they had a grasp on the right ways to go about thinking and asking questions.
there is more I would say but want to stick to the topic here. But in short, thank you for donating to WCK! I just donated on my birthday and am short on funds but they are such a worthy organization doing frontline work. And.... I'm so excited that your next flipbook will be about Paul Klee - my favorite artist of all, other than maybe Georgia O'Keeffe and Stuart Davis! Looking forward to that!
Art, design, fashion, music, books, movies...new and novel experiences change our minds. Planned and unplanned. Mapped out and unmapped. When I went to San Francisco in 2018 to see the Robert Rauschenberg career retrospective, I said to the friend I went with, "This exhibit is going to change my life."
The sheer inventiveness in Rauschenberg's work was what I wanted to see up close. Loving his combine paintings, and knowing this was what I was going to focus on helped in becoming immersed in the exhibit, which I went through at least 10 times. Becoming a museum member when you know you're going to make multiple visits is a money-saver. I did the same when SAM (Seattle Art Museum) had an exhibition of Picasso's personal collection of his own work he kept. There was a retrospective of Rothko at The Guggenheim when I lived in NYC, and it was life-changing. The Met Museum had a large Van Gogh exhibit while I worked there on the night shift. Seeing the art installers put up the exhibit, and even leave a few of the paintings out of their frames for a brief time, was life-altering.
Thanks for the details and I love the repeat visits. Have you been able to capture any of the effects from those experiences? From my experience with the Gaultier show, I started playing with scale and became more willing to experiment. It's hard to tie experiences to actual changes but I think it's a worthwhile action.
Within a month of returning to Seattle from the two visits to San Francisco for the Rauschenberg exhibit, I began experimenting much more with my artwork.
Also, a curator I met at The Seattle Art Fair, who was at Rauschenberg's art space on Captiva Island, FL, at a student presentation, heard this advice from Rauschenberg: "Always stop when you're 80% finished." I've found this often to be useful advice.
People who do not change their minds are stubborn, as changing our minds is normal and natural, as we live we grow, as we grow we learn, as we learn our thoughts about things may change. We need to be able to change our thoughts on things as we go through life.
The short answer, Joyce, is "naw" Permission slips do not trigger the change. The brain scientists are agreeing on this point, as well as every writer of every book and movie--what blows you out of that comfort zone is the experience, the moment, the thing that tells you two points, usually in this order: "I did not see it coming" and "There's no going back--there's only the unknown ahead."
Love it. Also says a lot about our current political divide and what might impact that.
What a wonderful post! About the hard stuff; like eating a better diet (and continuing to make poor health and nutrition choices) and clearing out the clutter that has become a hoard... I don't know WHAT would change my mind. Both of these ways of coping are not coping. Both are crutches used to avoid the harder deeper questions and most of all, grief. Letting go of any entrenched mindset I have involves grief. I'm aware I'm self sabotaging, even punishing myself as an excuse to beat up on myself more and NOT change. Awareness isn't enough. Does the pain really have to become so bad, or a terminal diagnosis get made - and then - too late? I am grappling hard with these questions and have no wisdom to offer - other than that going within and getting quiet and still - maybe for a long time - may be the only things I have not tried. I've certainly read (and hoarded) all the books on the topics of compulsive eating and hoarding! Still doing both! This is a risky and brutally honest comment about my own personal life struggles and I feel exposed and vulnerable but maybe it can help someone on what NOT to do. Un-busying myself seems paramount.
Regarding art; I remember my mind being changed by art, not my changing my mind about the art. You have to look and be still with a piece of art for a long time to absorb it. Especially when you have not seen it in person. I remember looking at a Jackson Pollack in a museum and staying with it til all judgy thoughts quieted down and it was just me and the painting and it absorbed into me in a way that I could finally see it - and appreciate it and what he was doing.
As for changing others' minds - unless their minds are at all open to a differing viewpoint that challenges their belief systems, it seems mostly futile. Live by example I guess? In these crazy times where people don't even know how to critically think, I turn to the philosophers. They weren't perfect but I think they had a grasp on the right ways to go about thinking and asking questions.
there is more I would say but want to stick to the topic here. But in short, thank you for donating to WCK! I just donated on my birthday and am short on funds but they are such a worthy organization doing frontline work. And.... I'm so excited that your next flipbook will be about Paul Klee - my favorite artist of all, other than maybe Georgia O'Keeffe and Stuart Davis! Looking forward to that!
Art, design, fashion, music, books, movies...new and novel experiences change our minds. Planned and unplanned. Mapped out and unmapped. When I went to San Francisco in 2018 to see the Robert Rauschenberg career retrospective, I said to the friend I went with, "This exhibit is going to change my life."
Thanks, Russell. And did it? And if so, how so? The more I think about what changes our minds, the more fascinating it is. Thanks for the restacking!
The sheer inventiveness in Rauschenberg's work was what I wanted to see up close. Loving his combine paintings, and knowing this was what I was going to focus on helped in becoming immersed in the exhibit, which I went through at least 10 times. Becoming a museum member when you know you're going to make multiple visits is a money-saver. I did the same when SAM (Seattle Art Museum) had an exhibition of Picasso's personal collection of his own work he kept. There was a retrospective of Rothko at The Guggenheim when I lived in NYC, and it was life-changing. The Met Museum had a large Van Gogh exhibit while I worked there on the night shift. Seeing the art installers put up the exhibit, and even leave a few of the paintings out of their frames for a brief time, was life-altering.
Thanks for the details and I love the repeat visits. Have you been able to capture any of the effects from those experiences? From my experience with the Gaultier show, I started playing with scale and became more willing to experiment. It's hard to tie experiences to actual changes but I think it's a worthwhile action.
Within a month of returning to Seattle from the two visits to San Francisco for the Rauschenberg exhibit, I began experimenting much more with my artwork.
Also, a curator I met at The Seattle Art Fair, who was at Rauschenberg's art space on Captiva Island, FL, at a student presentation, heard this advice from Rauschenberg: "Always stop when you're 80% finished." I've found this often to be useful advice.
Thanks … never heard of the 80% thing. While I understand that we may go on too long, not sure how to recognize the 80% point.