Ugh. I feel ridiculously nervous and uptight. Classes. Which can often be quite enjoyable, as I have some lovely, kind, understanding, frighteningly intelligent professors, themselves creators of very capable, thoughtful, and well executed work. They're good people.
My classes, though. It's a struggle. I often wonder if they all (my professors, not my peers) view me as unlikely to be able to make a living within my chosen industry.
I certainly feel pessimistic. But that's a pretty fixed character trait, at this point. I'm not proud of it, believe me.
Still... it's hard to be optimistic about an industry (one of many, or even all) undergoing radical structural upheaval and redistribution. I've essentially signed up to be a "content provider."
And yet I myself use almost only entirely free content. I buy books. And I pay Netflix and a cable bill (as I've mentioned prior). Otherwise I am a complete media parasite.
So... is it understandable why I'm not sure how anyone (including myself) is going to get a check every week?
sigh
Sorry. (Actually, before I lay the shroud down on my morose little pity party, one more bit of grimness. My "industry" seems totally defined and dependent on constant self promotion. Now... this isn't new. Everyone writes a resume, right? But I'm not really comfortable with selling myself as a commodity. I work hard, and will try to execute the requested output parameters of potential "clients" or "collaborators" if I'm lucky enough to find myself in a situation to do so. But e-mailing these people 6 times a year with a quick "blast"... it makes me feel nauseous. I guess either I haven't figured out how to stand mutely behind my work, or am just uncertain whether I've yet produced work worthy of standing mutely behind.)
Anyways....
Have you ever heard of tomato? They had a quote in their book, Process that has always moved me.
moi aussi, je ne suis demandé si je ne pouvais pas vendre quelque chose et réussir dans la vie. cela fait un moment déjà que je ne suis bon á rien. je suis âgé de quarante ans...
I, too, wondered whether I could not sell something and succeed in life. For some time I had been no good at anything. I am forty years old...
Marcel Broodthaers
And now that I'm quoting French conceptual artists, I've earned this.
Sunday, January 31, 2010
Mmmm. Yes. [stroke chin]
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5 comments:
Belgian. Artist.
That's really strange French - sounds more like informal spoken French that was then written down... unless it's utilizing ne explétif, which is a little over my understanding. But still even things like,
je suis âgé de quarante ans...
has a little bit different meaning in translation, to say you're 40 years old, you would just say,
J'ai 40 ans.
There's no French verb, "âger" (to age) and even if it was - it wouldn't use être to form the passé compose - he does it again with, "je ne suis demandé" (perhaps: je n'ai pas demandé.) It would be strange in French to use a loan word from English - they hate that shit.
I don't know if it's a colloquial thing for French-speaking Belgians to use such words, but it's not a large majority of people. Anyways, that's really poetically written. I may ask my teach and see what she thinks.
Actually, you should tell me if that's the actual quote, since you've just got a sorta google whack:
http://www.google.com/search?ie=UTF-8&oe=UTF-8&sourceid=navclient&gfns=1&q=%22je+ne+suis+bon+%C3%A1+rien%22
I'd think, "I am good for nothing" would be used a little bit more :)
Thank you for the correction, and great commentary on the quote. I would love to hear what your French instructor has to say about it, and any insights that might be gained into what precisely is sacrificed in translation.
(I should also make clear that I have a dead ear for languages, and no knowledge of French whatsoever. That portion was only data to me, and quite painstaking to reproduce correctly, as I'm sure you know.)
Have you had a chance to view his work in person? How had you heard of him originally? Or should I just be embarrassed to not have heard of him before looking him up tonight?
It's amazing how many creative people of earlier periods were so relentlessly modern, and so talented in so many disciplines. Quite inspiring, no? What I wouldn't give to be in a position to make bricolage sound work on vintage equipment. Although I'm sure, given the opportunity, I would find it fraught with difficulty.
Still in Paris? Can you work on your Visa, or is it difficult?
Naw, I'm back in the states, semi-permanently. I have a studio, but no residence or anything. I bruised my knee, so I'm letting that heal before traveling again. Takes MONTHS But, I am taking French classes for whenever it is, that I get out of the door - I've been abroad now... 6? times? It's inevitable.
I actually haven't heard of this artist, before - Belgium is a very strange place. French-speaking Belgium people I'm familiar with sort of start and end with... Plastic Bertrand, Magritte and Hergé (Tintin), to be honest. I did see a James Ensor exhibition at Musée Orsay, but he's really not one my favorites.
It doesn't really surprise me, if he was a member of the Surrealists, there surely were some big hitters and absolute egoists that would have taken the spotlight. After WWII, there was so much emphasis on the USA, that Europe was a little forgotten.
If I'm to believe this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Marcel_Broodthaers
That quote has been reprinted in a book put out by the Tate Modern, which makes me think he's had a Major Show, there.
Oh! and Jean-Claude Van Damme! Cannae forget thae right cunt!
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