Futility, And Colours

I think that while some people have interpreted my work as being nihilistic in a negative way, I see it more as speaking about how the lack of intrinsic meaning/purpose is something that frees you up to make decisions on a whim. I think this is reflected in the decisions regarding aesthetics - decisions that have no justification other than being whatever I feel like. Because it could be handled either way. Either:

- the work is pointless, so putting energy into varying colours is pointless, so don't do it,

or

- the work is pointless, so you are free to make decisions that make you happy such as varying the colours.

Although maybe what I'm communicating has changed; I vaguely remember that maybe at one point my work was about complete lack of meaning/purpose, including fulfillment. Now maybe it's more about lack of intrinsic meaning/purpose as something that emphasises the importance of fulfillment.

Still Making Dice Pieces

outcome is determined by dice rolls, so it is random/'meaningless'
certain visual aspects make it resemble a written language
the piece hints at a meaning, but this meaning does not exist

Things To Do

- Finish the series of pieces that have the above caption. Decide on presentation (also means evaluating the role of presentation/aesthetics in this series).

- Analyse the "Unnecessary Labour" piece, especially how it was last presented. What needs changing? How much should it stick to the original plan? In which ways has it evolved from the original plan? Maybe I should take some photos, playing with the presentation.

- Keep going with the pieces whose outcome is determined by dice rolls. This reminds me of aleatoric music, so I'm guessing aleatoric visual art also exists. I will research that.

Intentional Inefficiency

(Doing things for the sake of doing things - fixation on the perpetuation of cycles...)

- Exercise, e.g. running in circles, picking objects up and then putting them down again (and repeat)

- Having nothing that needs doing, so doing something for the sake of doing it, e.g. leaving the house for a "change of scenery," attempting to learn something to "keep your brain active"

- The cycle of manufacturing objects, convincing people that those objects are things that they need, selling those objects, convincing people that those objects are outdated, making new objects etc. (planned obsolescence, consumerism, buying out of desire)

Dice Rolls

I guess the fourth one makes the others self-explanatory. (In case it does not: these were all created using sequences of outcomes of dice rolls.)

- If something is random, does it have any meaning?

- Aren't we/our thoughts/our actions a consequence of chains of events that start from a random occurrence?

- Does a piece of "art" which has been created out of randomly chosen elements have any more meaning (in the eyes of the viewer) than one that has not? Especially considering that most contemporary art is intentionally displayed without some sort of description, and a large amount of it does not explicitly or literally illustrate its intentions - art nowadays often acts as a blank canvas onto which viewers can project their own ideas, and any specificity that comes from the mouth/hands of the artist is dismissed as being an attempt to "force an interpretation." If it is in the form of background information, then the viewer states that it represents failure to communicate through the work alone. If it is the work itself that provides specificity, then the viewer states that it is too literal. In that case most abstract art could be just as easily replaced with randomly generated images.

- Can something created without purpose serve the same function as something created with a purpose? (Probably.)

- Where there are no meanings, we invent them. Are these worth more, less or the same?

- If our existence does not come with a meaning, what is the difference between the life of someone who has invented their own meaning/purpose, and the life of someone who is also carrying out a series of actions, but without having assigned a meaning/purpose to these actions?

Labour/Work/Effort (Unfinished Brainstorming)

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does an equal amount of work in terms of the amount of energy used over the course of their lifetime."
- This would mean that it is not okay that people can inherit or relatively easily acquire assets and then profit off those assets in a way that means they do not have to do as much work.

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does an equal amount of work in terms of the amount of energy used per year/month/other."
- This would mean that it is not okay that people can inherit or relatively easily acquire assets and then profit off those assets in a way that means they do not have to do as much work.

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does an equal amount of work in terms of the length of time spent working over the course of their lifetime."
- This would mean that the importance/impact of a person's work was irrelevant.

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does an equal amount of work in terms of the length of time spent working per year/month/other."

"The ideal situation is one where the work is split in a way that is proportionate to the amount of work that each person is capable of doing - everyone ends up making the same amount of effort."

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does the amount of work that makes them happy."

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does the amount of work that leads to a feeling of fulfilment."

"The ideal situation is one where the total amount of work carried out is the smallest amount possible."

"The ideal situation is one where efficiency is valued, but people are willing to do more work if it leads to increased quality of life."

"The ideal situation is one where everyone does the most work possible."

"The ideal situation is one where the work a person does benefits only themselves and those they intend to help (i.e. no one ends up doing any work that benefits those they would not choose to help)."
- This suggests that ideas such as socialised medicine are not 'fair.' Some people believe this to the point where they would be a lot less happy in a country where they were paying taxes than in a country where they felt like they only had to pay for themselves and their families - even if the total amount of tax would have added up to a lot less money.

"The ideal situation is one where people's preferences (regarding type of work) are considered relevant to what is considered 'fair' distribution of work."

"The ideal situation is one where work is assigned to each person based on aptitude/abilities rather than preference, leading to greater efficiency."

"The ideal situation is one where each person does their share of every type of work."

Abstract Things

I'm starting some abstract pieces to do with the ideas of:
- repetition
- mindlessness
- working like a machine (this does not refer to quantity of work)

I may create some where visual aspects are determined by dice rolls.

This relates to the idea of futility and the instinct to be "productive" without necessarily having a purpose, or the instinct to invent a purpose and then work for that purpose (since people were not put on Earth with a set of goals).