The "Force" for "GOOD"

Each of us has the power to be a force for good . . .  or become entangled in the "Dark Side".

Dan Cormier brings a fresh perspective on these issues in his recent post on The Cutting Edge and The Broken Telephone Project.

Quoting from The Cutting Edge:

"As a community of artists (connected through the medium of polymer clay, but not limited to it), most of us hold certain concepts and values in high esteem: originality, influence, interpretation, collaboration, attribution, citation, and permission. I like to think of these as ‘The Force’ that holds our community together, and most of the time, we not only benefit from that, we celebrate it. Most of us. Most of the time. But we also have ‘The Dark Side’: mediocrity, derivative work, misrepresentation, copying, stealing. These are things we don't like to talk about, or maybe don’t know how to talk about, but they linger and have for a very long time, like a cane-slice-covered elephant in the room."

"This ‘Dark Side’ is something I’ve seen through the experiences of others, but even more first-hand, I have experienced it repeatedly in my own career, as an artist, teacher, inventor, and author."

"Unfortunately, even when the Force is strong, the Dark Side has an uncanny ability to disproportionately drain us, tap our time, rob our energy, and derail us from our creative pursuits, individually and collectively. This is a sad truth."

 END QUOTE

 

 

Becoming a "Force" for "GOOD" starts with confronting the problems and understanding the causes that lead to them.  Writing this lecture about the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly forced me to reach beyond the superficial observations to come to grips with the underlying issues more deeply. With continued and extensive discussions, I've realized that the ramifications are even more pervasive than I thought.

But if more of us acknowledge these issues, raise awareness, share links on our Facebook pages or blogs, and strive for excellence, we can all have the power to be a "Force" for "Good."

Read the entire post by Dan Cormier and Tracy Holmes on "The Cutting Edge, THE BROKEN TELEPHONE PROJECT:SEEKING HIGHER GROUND. It is worth reading and looking at the links provided.


The Cutting EDGE post, http://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=384069808367379

The lecture The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY in the AGE of the Internet ;

RECOMMENDATIONS from The GOOD, The BAD, and The UGLY In The Age of The Internet

This series will continue on ASK Harriete following up on the lecture more deeply.

Harriete Estel Berman

P.S. All of the images in this post are from the Broken Telephone Project organized by Dan Cormier. Here is what he says: "As artists, we can choose to face these issues and address them in many different ways. Ultimately, that’s what I wanted to do with my Broken Telephone Project."

CLICK on the images or the link to see all of this exceptional work that proves that inspiration does not result in copycat or derivative work when the maker is speaking with a "singular artistic voice."