Maybe i should talk about something i know nuts about.

Last saturday, i accompanied him to a workshop/forum/talk (i really can't decide which it is) at PKW where he was one of the panelists speaking in the morning. The topic for the day (there were 3 sessions in all) was Art and Technology (or something like that). Some interesting points were brought up, for example, how there is a evolution of technology within art history itself from the most primitive (e.g. stoneage man curving on his roof with a rock) to the cyberart of today (e.g. computer animations), going in tandem with mankind's evolution. I guess i have never thought of painting as a form of "technology" and the typical layman view would be (at least for me): painting evokes a sense of tradition or historical or even old, while technology usually mean new, digital, electronic etc. Simplistic view of course and i'm glad that this forum has made me think alittle harder on this subject.

[I think i can articulate better talking or discussing such issues with people than typing it out. Somehow, words is not flowing as much. Perhaps because this is not really something i know much about. Ok, to get back to the real topic i am writing about today...]

Something that struck me that day was that it is always inevitable when you put a group of artists in the same room talking about whatever issues there are about art, one thing will always come up, or perhaps one question: that is, what is art? Seems like this is the perpetual question waiting to be solved and perhaps if an answer could be found, the world would be saved. More the 3/4 of the time were spent debating this issue. What is art? What is creativity? Everyone has their view. Some felt strongly about it or are more articulate (perhaps voice was also louder) while others (like myself) were contented to just listen and observe. A few times, i was on a verge of commenting (its an open floor discussion) on some points or the other but the artists just moved way too fast for me. I wonder if it was only me. I felt that the thoughts of those people around me seems to flow very fluidly from one question to another. And before i even knew what was the point being made or make my comments, some other points were brought up or issue raised while my brain was still processing what had just been said. It is actually quite stimulating, keeping the brain on its toes but after a while, you either get frustrated at the pace or what was said or just have a splitting headache.

Anyway, i can't remember much about what I wanted to say except it was something about communication. I think someone mentioned that the art itself is communicative but i didn't really agree because in my line of work, communication always means two-way (i.e. a "linkage" between 1 & 1, you cant communicate with a rock though you can talk to it. Though of course, communication do not mean just speech or verbalizations). Yes, the artist can communicate to the audience with his art and the audience can respond back. But the art piece itself is still basically an object. Without the artist, the audience can only speculate what was being "communicated", and that to me isn't communication since who would the audience communicate to in reciprocal?. Perhaps i am not understanding the point the speaker is making but these thoughts did cross my mind in that juncture, only to be lost quite rapidly as someone else suddenly talked about language and teaching. Well, at least i get to articulate it out on my blog here.

The time to digest or process such issues is usually done after the forum, with him or some of his other friends. To voice out to another person, wait for feedback, digest the information and respond. Perhaps an open floor "discussion" doesn't quite work for me. I find it difficult to "discuss" anything effectively in a big setting. Group of 4-5, yes. Group of 10-20? Not really. To me, anything greater than that didn't mean discussion, it just meant that someone get to voice out their views (if they have a chance) and for others to listen.

Well, it was an interesting forum nonetheless.