Ask Ty...November 28

Q: How can you say that "no art was created today" when the act of declaring that no art was created is itself art?

- Otterfarm Rich, resident of the state of California

Ty: Good question and an even better observation.

I suppose the word, "busted," would fit nicely here.

Yeah, anti-art is still art, right? I guess it was an evolution of thoughts that got us here. I initially posted that, "No photos were taken today." Obviously someone somewhere took a photograph, but using myself as the center of the art universe I declared that none were taken.

And, why did I even do that? It's kind of a shot across the bow of sorts. It's a warning to me (and to others) that life is fleeting and art is even more so. It means that, golly, maybe I'll never take another photograph (or that my "eye" will die, or that my inspiration will die, or that, heck, I will die). Though the likelihood is slim maybe one day I will either cross a threshold or jump a hurdle (or suffocate on a cliché) and just stop doing art -- happens to "artists" all the time. In fact, maybe that act of stopping, cold turkey, after years of productivity is the ultimate anti-art statement. Which, dare I say, is art.

Anyhow, the "no photos" thread d/evolved into "no art was created." Which is certainly art; perhaps the purest art. But even with the public declaration of "no art," there's always something going on here in the Otis Studios that is art. Just the way it is, I suppose.

It's all process, people. And it's important to ride process out (as you know). Sometimes I just wait for process to happen (which is both essential and maddening). For instance I had nothing planned today. Then I got a note from Ben Tolman. Ben asked what was going on. Specifically what music stuff was happening but in order to get to music, I had to list everything recent from books to photography to podcast (my personal process). Then it hit me. Shit! I still have a ton of negatives to scan. So that's what I did today. Six hours of negative scanning, cleaning, and posting.

So, on one hand, no art was created today. On the other, it's all art. The answer, then, to your question is, "good question and an even better observation."

Just a guess!

-Ty