#The abstraction of language

[occultaluce]

Messages from the Absolute Drawings 14.5 x 21 cm 2024

[thecurioustale]

images, oh images, they do have the capacity to show things in ways that are less clear than words.

That's a great point. Music, too. Sometimes I'll think to myself that I could totally write The Curious Tale entirely as music (rather than just writing The Curious Score to accompany other works). When I think about it, the dissatisfaction I always feel is that it wouldn't actually be "complete" this way, because there would be no explicit descriptions of anything (except in the titles of pieces); no literal insights into Sodish food customs or Middemesne flora and fauna.

And that's true, but only half-true: Those things would still be visible to me in the music. They just wouldn't be communicable to others through it. The reason an all-music Curious Tale rubs me wrong then is that I very much do want others to be able to absorb it. If that were not a factor, or if my ideas that I wanted to communicate were less specific, or if precision were unimportant to me, then I could do it that way. Alas, I grapple with the vanity of wanting to be understood. Which leads me to:

there is a satisfaction in succesfully explaining something

For me, certainly, the satisfaction is in being understood. Even a little bit.

Images, music, other highly abstract media...these are the realms where art is done purely for its own sake. It's interesting how language is so universal in our lives that we think of "being understood" (in abstract ideas specifically, and not just in our basic emotions and physicality, which requires no language) as being something like electricity whose absence is extraordinary enough to be worth remarking upon, yet whose existence in our lives is young in human history. "The desire to be understood in the communication of abstract concepts" is actually a very advanced technological sophistication, not native to the human experience at all. Yet we don't see it that way. Perhaps it is good to be reminded of it sometimes.

with precision and yet at the same time preserving its chiaroscuros and its potential for interpretability.

The flipside of sacrificing some of our ability to be understood is that the art we create without this constraint can potentially be more accessible, and can be meaningful to more people. If we accept that people will make of our art whatever they want to make of it, and that any intentions we may have had with it will mostly or entirely be lost, then the sharing of art becomes an entirely different experience.

I can't say that such a mindset comes to me naturally or easily. I wish I could "tap in" to it more readily, actually. I ultimately make my art for its own sake—I am compelled to it—but always in the context of theoretically being understood. Without that desire, I would often simply not create a given piece of art, being content to let it remain in my imagination. The artists who make art but don't care how others interpret it are hard for me to wrap my head around—which isn't a disparagement. I would guess that some people do it out of ego, to impose themselves in the public awareness, like many graffiti artists. Others I think do it out charity and goodwill, the desire to share with people, to give gifts to the world with no rules on how those gifts are enjoyed. And still other artists...who knows? I can imagine there are probably many such motivations that compel the creation of art but do not seek to be understood through that art.

silly post ahead, dont take it like super seriously or anything:

one thing modern progressivism, specifically on queer topics, has ruined a little bit is gender bending stories.

like, the trans reading or framing does take away a bit of the mysticism and intrigue and transgressiveness from something like ranma, for example.

(and i have to clarify i am a trans woman who spends most of her time on tumblr surrounded by other trans friends, with a trans girlfriend who is constantly moving around queer spaces. i get that in other contexts trans themes are still very much edgy and risque but, well, that hasnt been the reality in my circles for years now, lol.)

when reading a gender bend story i find it so much more salacious and tittilating if its framed in the old cist het mindset of "this is a boy... but perhaps something else??? something weirder and more confusing??? a boy sometimes can be a girl and viceversa??? what is going on here???"

whereas now there is no mystery to it, i can simply allocate it to one of the common and well understood boxes of "oh they trans, oh they identify as a girl, oh they are gender fluid, oh they are nonbinary, oh they just like to crossdress".

i dunno, i feel like ray bradbury here, complaining that modernity has stolen the numinous, the liminal, the mysterious and romantic out of this world with its prosaic understandings. i find the confusion, the inner conflict, the limerence of it all much more interesting than the realization or the understanding or the coming to terms.

like, once a trans girl finishes transitioning and has passing and is living her life as she always wanted what you get is just a girl. a normal girl. an understood quantity. and i mean, cool, good for her. im glad she is living her truth but the fun part is over.

[inkflowergarden]

Playing with abstact (light language) symbols.

[philosophybits]

Reality is infinitely diverse, compared with even the subtlest conclusions of abstract thought, and does not allow of clear-cut and sweeping distinctions. Reality resists classification.

Fyodor Dostoyevsky, The House of the Dead

[hhhhleb]

getting to know each other

they got stuck in the Void(?) for an indefinite period of time…without Ink's brush and vials.. they have nothing to do but talk i guess..(more thoughts in tags)

related to this thing with sci and this red ink thing

[cellakershek]

Eyes on God do not see, metal, oil, acrylic, and resin on wood panel

cella kershek

[arrimorr]

Helllloo!!

First of all, I want to say that I love your Gravity Falls content, it's so beautiful and deeply emotional.

I also wanted to ask if you have any headcanons about the characters, like Ford or Bill.

Hiiii! Thank you so much!!!!

Uhhh, im not really a "small headcanons" type of fan, BUT I have two character study fics about Bill and Ford, so, if you want to read my takes about these characters you can read them! Behaviorism is Bill centric, and, in my opinion is a bit better written, A step Backwards is Ford centric

[saytrrose]

Does abstracted queenie pass the harkness test

[qoldenskies]

How do you write the psychological aspects in canary continuity so well? I want to write something involving that topic but it’s not nearly as eloquent and impactful as yours. (My personal guess is either you’ve spent hours researching or you’re a psych major.) Any tips/advice for those just starting to write about that sort of topic, as well as just possibly writing better in general? Ty!!

(Also canary continuity it was so good I finished it in a day and a half and stayed up till 3 in the morning bc I was so addicted before I forced myself to stop and go to bed)

i did some research on how to write horror, mostly (very hard to find good sources for it iirc, which sucked and i blame google), while the emotional stuff came from my own experiences (ocd + what i think is pretty severe generalized anxiety) and just me kind of winging it. its very sweet to assume im a psych major because i didnt even graduate highschool 😭😭😭 dropped out in my junior year!

i dont have any really good advice because its been so long (coming up on 7 months?) since i wrote CL in particular, i cant remember a lot of the research i did. i think it's just a matter of finding your muse and trying to put yourself in the moment instead of writing what'll feel like summaries of scenes.

[occultaluce]

Under the Gaze of the Ancients Drawings 9 x 6 cm 2024

[faaun]

the way that diff languages sound r so fascinating they're all different and all so vivid

[haveyoulistenedtothisalbum-poll]

Tracklist:

The Library (Intro) • I. Crawl • II. Worldstar • Dial Up • I. The Worst Guys • II. Shadows • III. Telegraph Ave. ("Oakland" by Lloyd) • IV. Sweatpants • V. 3005 • Playing Around Before the Party Starts • I. The Party • II. No Exit • Death By Numbers • I. Flight of the Navigator • II. Zealots of Stockholm [Free Information] • III. Urn • Pink Toes • Earth: The Oldest Computer (The Last Night) • Life: The Biggest Troll [Andrew Auernheimer]

Spotify ♪ SoundCloud ♪ YouTube

[philosophybits]

He who divides the world into two parts moves in the sphere of abstractions... The world as it is, and not as people dream it to be, is not divided into two camps: it is infinitely more complex and diverse.

Nikolai Berdyaev, "Political Testament"

[camelots-daffodil]

If scientific databases had a filtering and search system half as good as AO3 everyone’s lives would be significantly improved

[itwoodbeprefect]

bisexuality and maybe even polyamory win: the automated thai > english translation has no clue what to do with this gender neutral thai word, so it translates two lines from the same singer to mean that he wants a boyfriend in one sentence and a girlfriend in the immediate next

[sergeypalche]

Sergey Palche

Untitled, (The essence of the phenomenon of language) 2024

Paper, acrylic.