So I was thinking about friendship, as always. I thought about various activities that people would do in a friendship-based society. There's one vital aspect of the human experience which I always ignored: art. I always ignored it because art nowadays (and, well, in a very large portion of history) is soulless, it's made to make money, or, in the case of pretentious art, its value is based on following a bunch of implicit or explicit rules (requiring novelty is also a rule in my book). It doesn't have to be so, putting effort into creating something for someone is rewarding for both the creator and the recipient.
In a friendship-based society, art would be a celebration of friendship. I can imagine art centers where people regularly gather for stand-up friend appreciation. I think poetry is especially fit for that purpose. Everyone can write a poem, but making it interesting requires knowledge about your friend. I believe formal rules to be generally silly and mere tips. It's like with gifts: the fiscal value shouldn't be important, it's the effort and utilizing knowledge about your friend that matters; a cheap or self-made gift which shows thought can be more valuable than just throwing money on generic stuff. This is what friendship-celebrating art essentially is: a gift. A typical friendship-celebrating gift would be a drawing which a child draws for his/her parents: its value is in the effort, for a parent it's more valuable than a print-out of Mona Lisa. I love the concept of people gathering regularly in some sort of a club and reciting poems written for their friends.
This is the kind of work that I'd love to do. This is the kind of effort that would satisfy me. If I had friends, I'd hold them so dearly. Just like King David wrote a whole book of psalms to celebrate his friendship with God, I'd write a whole book of poems to celebrate my friendship. But here's a catch: King David interacted with God so he could write for him and about him, I don't interact with my friends because I don't have any. I can find people to talk with online, but there are not many of them and they're always far away. I need to spend a lot of time with my friends to really get to know them. I want to go on trips together, watch movies together and have silly adventures together I could reference. I want the poems to be personal, reference our shared experiences and quirks. I can't do that without actual friends. Taking out friends from friendship just leaves an abstract concept, I need an actual muse (or preferably a whole group). Friendship poetry without friends isn't like coffee without caffeine, it's more like coffee (the beverage) without the coffee (grounded coffee beans) -- it's just boiled water.
As I've said, friendship poetry is essentially a gift. I want to give a gift but there are no willing recipients. How do you make a gift without someone eventually receiving it? How do you evaluate if it's a good gift? Sure, I could ask critics or try to stick to formal rules, but I'll end up with soulless art again. I want to celebrate friendship so much, I want someone to like who'd like me back. This is such an essential part of human experience or at least, I'd believe so… In reality humans don't seem to be really interested in friendships, especially adults. A romantic partner is supposed to fulfill all your friendship needs, but it's too much pressure and romantic partnership is something different, even if it should contain friendship. What people call "friendships" are usually "acquaintanceships" or something akin to "business partnership" where all the value is generated through resource exchange.
What a joy it would be to commemorate our personalities and our adventures with art. Such art would be so enjoyable and humble, because it's meant to elevate others, not yourself. Every city and town should have a friendship art center where groups of friends could invite the wider public to take joy in the product of their friendship. This is what art should be about: I'm happy for your happiness and I share your value system. In such manner we can cultivate our virtues and transform this chaotic world into a realm of culture. But for friendship art, I require friends first…
In a friendship-based society, art would be a celebration of friendship. I can imagine art centers where people regularly gather for stand-up friend appreciation. I think poetry is especially fit for that purpose. Everyone can write a poem, but making it interesting requires knowledge about your friend. I believe formal rules to be generally silly and mere tips. It's like with gifts: the fiscal value shouldn't be important, it's the effort and utilizing knowledge about your friend that matters; a cheap or self-made gift which shows thought can be more valuable than just throwing money on generic stuff. This is what friendship-celebrating art essentially is: a gift. A typical friendship-celebrating gift would be a drawing which a child draws for his/her parents: its value is in the effort, for a parent it's more valuable than a print-out of Mona Lisa. I love the concept of people gathering regularly in some sort of a club and reciting poems written for their friends.
This is the kind of work that I'd love to do. This is the kind of effort that would satisfy me. If I had friends, I'd hold them so dearly. Just like King David wrote a whole book of psalms to celebrate his friendship with God, I'd write a whole book of poems to celebrate my friendship. But here's a catch: King David interacted with God so he could write for him and about him, I don't interact with my friends because I don't have any. I can find people to talk with online, but there are not many of them and they're always far away. I need to spend a lot of time with my friends to really get to know them. I want to go on trips together, watch movies together and have silly adventures together I could reference. I want the poems to be personal, reference our shared experiences and quirks. I can't do that without actual friends. Taking out friends from friendship just leaves an abstract concept, I need an actual muse (or preferably a whole group). Friendship poetry without friends isn't like coffee without caffeine, it's more like coffee (the beverage) without the coffee (grounded coffee beans) -- it's just boiled water.
As I've said, friendship poetry is essentially a gift. I want to give a gift but there are no willing recipients. How do you make a gift without someone eventually receiving it? How do you evaluate if it's a good gift? Sure, I could ask critics or try to stick to formal rules, but I'll end up with soulless art again. I want to celebrate friendship so much, I want someone to like who'd like me back. This is such an essential part of human experience or at least, I'd believe so… In reality humans don't seem to be really interested in friendships, especially adults. A romantic partner is supposed to fulfill all your friendship needs, but it's too much pressure and romantic partnership is something different, even if it should contain friendship. What people call "friendships" are usually "acquaintanceships" or something akin to "business partnership" where all the value is generated through resource exchange.
What a joy it would be to commemorate our personalities and our adventures with art. Such art would be so enjoyable and humble, because it's meant to elevate others, not yourself. Every city and town should have a friendship art center where groups of friends could invite the wider public to take joy in the product of their friendship. This is what art should be about: I'm happy for your happiness and I share your value system. In such manner we can cultivate our virtues and transform this chaotic world into a realm of culture. But for friendship art, I require friends first…
