on processing

oh, i don't mean to dramatize art but let's face it jess: art has qualities that other things that live in life do not have. you know this. there is a difference between being entertained and thinking about the world. there is a difference between persuasion and nonutilitarian communication. between being reassured and being confused. believing and questioning. are these distinctions important for living life? for working and for loving? i don't know. but i think they're there. is saying art is just something that lives in life a reduction of its possibilities? hm, also do not know. art is just something people make. actually, i rather like that definition. it includes, of course, watches.

here's the problem with approaching drawing as one would writing: the existence of dictionaries. the things that can make writing mundane and utilitarian are the same things that prevent art from being understood. ah, but there are technical drawings as well. blueprints. those diagrams on procedural manuals. there are as many things to be said about understanding the visual field as there are about understanding language. and yet. draw me a picture, jessica. and we'll see how well i do making from your drawing a letter.

jessica, i'm not sure i've made any sense for the last two years. i love the birds. tell me, preferably in list form, what you think is important in life. in your life. in human life.