I was surprised and, yes, disappointed at Erik's negative reaction to my 126 words. It seems to have created some tension between us, but we'll get over it and the Kisokaido Project will go ahead. Ironically, however, in light of all the time we've spent bouncing ideas off each other about the art component of the project, it may well be in a form closer to that which I envisaged back when Erik first mentioned that he wanted to join me on the walk and make art along the way, which is of me concentrating on the walking experience and him concentrating on the artmaking experience.
It wouldn't be the first time something like this has happened. I'm reminded of Bashing Ronald, the movie Erik made about the Tokyo anti-McDonald's protest we were involved in back in 1997. Because his focus was entirely on making the movie, he felt he couldn't actually take part in the protest. Today Erik explained on the wiki that he couldn't afford to be involved in personal projects that didn't further his goal of becoming a full-time artist, and that he wouldn't be involved in a trek like Kisokaido if he didn't think he'd end up with a body of (marketable) work at the end. I'm not saying this approach is wrong, just pointing out that as someone who doesn't aspire to becoming a full-time artist my goals and priorities are different, that for me the experience takes precedence over the art.
In a way, the collaboration aspect is what really attracted me to the Kisokaido art project. I envy Erik's creativity, and was excited at the prospect of working on something together. The thought of working on a separate art project alongside his just doesn't have the same appeal, so I can't see myself devoting much time to this. I'll certainly be recording the experience in some form or another (in writing and/or video), but I'll be doing my best to ensure this doesn't get in the way of the experience itself.
Distance walked today: 0km
Total distance walked since blog began: 198km
Days left until launch of Kisokaido Project: 106
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2 comments:
this seems a bit sudden, matthew, i'd like to keep talking/writing over the next few weeks. in about three days you went from having very few convictions about the art project to a manifesto and subsequently dropping the whole thing. anyway looking forward to skyping tomorrow.
That's not really how I see it. I posted a wishlist (after telling you I'd been writing down some ideas and being encouraged by you to continue doing so) with the aim of moving things forward, and you responded by rejecting it outright with the comment, "I think our approach is different enough that we're going to end up with two very different pieces." That signaled to me that you're no longer interested in collaboration. You've also stated you're not interested in compromise. In today's post I've simply speculated on what the result of all this will be.
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