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The Qualiadelia of Privacy
March 19, 2009
There is more subtlety and more nuance in real human relationships than in any work created by an artist. One might even suggest that artists lack a sense for human artifice, and that this is why they retreat into their dehumanized art (which most people don't "get"). However, by creating art that puts people off, artists reveal some profound aspects of ritualing and the qualiadelic experience.
Over the recent centuries, artists have learned to produce works marked by ambiguity, whose meanings are purposely left unclear. Often, because we don't understand it, the mystery and the wonder of the work is transferred to the artist. It is the artist who holds some magic key, some genius that the rest of us lack.
The artist, like a modern shaman, seems to exist in some alternate reality than the rest of us. It is hard to put our finger on it because of how we define our own selves. We are concerned with individualism but artist are often extremely conformist within their circles. And we consider ourselves as "personalities," more or less developed, while artists often come across as immature and moody -- "temperamental."
In their conformity and their temperaments, artists are a throwback to an earlier age, when true ritualing was more common.
At one time in our communities we had no space of our own -- no privacy. In fact, there wasn't a great deal of individualism -- everybody had their roles and that is how, for the most part they were known. But there were different temperaments, and in the rituals of daily life when one's temperament flared up, people stepped back.
In this temperamental past people were skilled ritualers, and they knew how to act out in order to create privacy in public. As modern individualism evolved, along with our senses of self and personality, we lost our prowess at ritualing. The artist, who retains the old temperamental nature, still has the ability to ritual consciously, and still has the ability to create private space in public.
The artist must submit to the gaze of his or her audience. It is a ritual when we go to an opening at a gallery, or a play, or a concert. The magic key that the artist has, the power, is the ability to create a private space in the middle of the public. In an extreme example we might think of Michael Jordan or Tiger Woods, who are, perhaps, never more alone than when they are in the "zone" before the eyes of all their fans.
But the artist does not simply juggle balls -- theirs is not simply an act of focus and muscle control. An artist juggles symbols, ideas, qualiadelia, and their goal is something ineffable and unknown. Somehow, for any of us to join them, we too have to find privacy among the crowd.
Today, the crowd is not people so much as ideas. We have no escape from the constant stream of language and symbols that are borne through our senses and live in our minds. The artist, in ritualing, has quieted the din by constellating the few brightest qualiadelia and creating the possibility of a new harmony. The rest of the noise is hushed in awe.
This is the experience that draws us into rituals. This is why we regret having missed them. We long for those moments when meaning arises, and we all see it. We only truly belong to a community when we discover the qualiadelia of like-minded souls through ritualing.
Be Qualiadelic. Be Conscious. Change the routine.
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