AKA

I am super inspired with the website right now. I spent some time reading through older blog posts and got just as inspired as when I wrote them. Today I am restructuring the website to reflect the current understanding that I have been working on in my life which as you probably have heard many times now is..that art can be the craft of life. I simplified the website consolidating much of the conventional art of my own with the idea that I could invite others to share their work on the site as well acting as a kind of umbrella for work being made in a very contemporary vein. I also have put a section called AKA which stands for Awareness, Knowledge, Art or Also, Know, As. It’s a bit of humor something that has been much needed in this realm I have been working on and in. That realm is of course life itself.

I have also started to express a library here as a part of this site. I have not yet had any kind of funds to do a separate website for these new ideas. AKA is supposed to be an idea that can act as a new art site eventually in brick and mortar but also and perhaps more importantly as a movement for art being the craft of life where the whole artist is treated well and good. It is art as wellness as much as anything else. I still have The Art Fire running which is a social network for folks who are artists, by life or profession, conventional and unconventional. This is an unofficial and non-profit endeavor that I am doing for the betterment of all people everywhere. I do not have infrastructure to lend books at this time but the books included in the library here are ones that I have read and focus in at the intersection between art and life which when zoomed in close enough becomes everything.

I hope to really focus in on what it is I really want to do in my life now and use everything I have learned to be the person I truly am, thrive and help others. I continue my own practice of reading and meditation daily. At the moment I am reading a lot of audio books about mindfulness, art and so forth. My meditation practice is ranging from 3 to 30 minutes a day. These two practices mixed with good sleep, eating and exercise habits are absolutely changing my life for the better and I want to be able to share that good energy with others as I go along in my life. I am sure not everyone will relate to the idea and practice that art can be the craft of life but I do think, know and believe that it is relatable to everyone in the end. We are all always creating just by being alive, we help to make the world, we help to bring it into being, we manifest, we dream, we think, we breathe. Our heART pumps and we are brought to life, in life, ever-becoming, doing and being simultaneously.

The work here starts with the idea that art can be the craft of life. It looks at mindfulness as contemporary art. It looks at something I am referring to as art life as a continuation of what has been known as the art world (as pronounced by Danto). Art life finds art everywhere and in everything, in every person, as every person, in life itself. The idea of making conventional art that goes towards exhibits is still there but it stands as a facet of a much deeper and broader understanding of what art can be and has become and is becoming. It is the full breadth of art unlocking for betterment, peace and humanity. This art of our times will address and engage through awareness with current technology like A.I. (artificial intelligence), DNA editing, virtual reaility, augmented reality, and much more. It will address issues of our time like climate change, global relations and technological disruption. It will also incorporate the good-natured art that one wants to make just for the sheer pleasure and joy of it regardless of what current world trends, issues, concepts and challenges exist as a way of honoring the liberation of sheer creativity in us all.

I hope you will join me in this endeavor. Come join The Art Fire. Come sign up for the newsletter. Read a blog post. Get inspired by one of the many books that will be referenced in the library. Come to a Meetup once they begin. Start to practice art as the craft of life in your own life and unlock the truly awesome human potential that we are born with and always have with us. Take time to savor a meal, dream deeply and with vigor, walk calmly in the fresh air and come to life in all it has to offer. Don’t just be the artist of your dreams, be the artist of your life!