But with art, the point is: You got to make it. You were able. You got to spend time quietly or loudly bringing something that was not in the world into the world. Maybe something like something before. Maybe something no one wants. It doesn’t matter. You chose to spend the time trying to do something for private personal satisfaction or frustration. Choose either one. Art is time spent doing some little thing that tells you something about yourself. Maybe something very quiet and maybe a revelation, and maybe only quiet. The thing you make may have some value to others for some reason or another, but that is a secondary issue. You spent time trying. The secondary issues come secondarily.
In America everyone expects to achieve. But in life, trying, simple trying, has great value.
Try it out. Lower your expectations to achieve some pleasure in the doing of something.
Something. Drawing. Arranging. Sorting. Collecting. Coloring. Washing, Planting. Writing. Singing. Dancing. Editing. Collaging. Cooking. Stirring. Molding. Casting. Pasting. Making playing card towers. Playing records. Face-painting.
Not for fame and glory. Not to please others. For simple quiet trying. In the company of time alone. At first it might feel crappy. But if you do something for a while you start feeling differently
- Gary Panter on the Point of Making Pointless Things