About Time

Lately, I’ve gotten tired of making stuff.

A friend says to me, “Art only becomes a commodity after the fact.” I know this already, but I keep forgetting. My amnesia derives from having too much to do, too many commitments (always to wonderful, interesting projects) and not enough “absent” time.

As I skim Peter London’s book No More Secondhand Art, I come to this statement: “(Art) is more than a collection of crafted things; it is more than the process of creating those things. It is the chance to encounter dimensions of our inner being and to discover deep, rewarding patterns of meaning.”

Though this sort of vortex-speak usually sends me into a new-age-induced stupor, I see a glimmer of truth in those statements. Whether it’s performing, literary or visual, art makes the intangible tangible. It helps us to know ourselves.

I read on: “Art is power, an instrument of communion between self and all that is important, all that is sacred.”

Okay, I admit that bloody little is sacred in my life these days. Dirty laundry, unmade beds and stepping on Legos™ in the middle of the night kind of get in the way of sacred.

On the days I do get to make art, I occasionally get to sacred. And I’ve discovered that what makes art sacred for me is time.

Most of my life is spent “multi-tasking,” which is employer talk for “doing several things badly at the same time.” A single focal point is a welcome change.

When I make time to spend in my studio, I relish that opportunity to focus on one thing.

My quest is for “slow mind”—the trudging, bewildered kind of mind that begs for another look at art in order to understand it fully. The kind of mind that fires synapses with the same pace as a walking meditation.

I strive for a pace at which I can give attention to detail, and the energy of my heart that goes into a new piece. And I know, too, while I’m working, that attention is enough to give meaning to a piece of art.

The lesson is this: time is what we have to give to art, and to life.

This writing appeared in Flagstaff Live! on April 22, 1999.