Arting at the End of the World

The key to my sanity

Before I get into it, my Books Are My People book recommendation newsletter drops tomorrow on New Book Release Day with fifteen titles to whet your bookish appetite. You can sign up here. 

It was the big Barbenheimer weekend and we chose to see Oppenheimer. The antithesis of an uplifting movie, it was bleak, brilliant and raised a ton of ethical questions that I can’t stop thinking about.

This led me to ponder why I make art.

And I didn’t come up with one easy answer.

As a writer and visual artist and general patron of the arts, I make art for a variety of reasons:

• it’s a lovely escape from this crazy world.

• it can be a mirror to this crazy world and it helps me better understand it.

• it’s a form of self-expression.

Whatever the reason, for me, making, watching, participating in art is always necessary, like breathing. It always has been.

And just to be clear, had I chosen the Barbie route, I don’t think my bottom line would have been any rosier. I keep thinking about discarded, dismembered plastic Barbie body parts in landfills across the world and floating in the ocean. (Don’t get me wrong, I loved Barbies when I was a kid. My favorite was some aerobics Barbie who wore turquoise spandex and was problematic in a host of ways.)

Despite what you may think, I am ever the optimist and to counter my moments of feeling dreary, I want to focus on controlling what I can control and that includes continuing to incorporate sustainability in my creative practices.

What can this mean?

• Using natural materials for applying paint (more on this in another post.)

• Using upcycled material for printing.

(These are two large gel prints I made with leftover packaging material)

• painting on recycled cardboard.

-       Continuing to make these upcycled journals from upcycled sources, giving paper scraps a second home.

(This is what two drafts of a 350+ page novel looks like)

• Printing out novel-length works only when I’m nearing the end and then using them for other purposes like:

• collage fodder.

• Scrap paper.

• Testing paints.

• Placing between sheets in my journals so colors don’t bleed.

• Using the backside of papers to make to-do lists.

If you live in the San Francisco area, please check out my good friend’s store Simple for all of your sustainability needs. They even sell my journals there!

So this is where the Barbenheimer weekend has landed me. Have you seen either of these films? Which one? What sustainability practices do you practice in your life related to art, or not!