Function or Art

Any activity can be made purely functional or can transform into a work of art – choice is ours. We unknowingly carry out “mundane” things in life – which signify that they have been reduced to a series of tasks with minimum emotional or any other kind of an involvement from us. Why do we do choose to carry out activities in this manner? How does an activity become mundane? Reviewing it further we will notice that:

a.       We spend minimum time with that activity – which means there are numerous other tasks (lined up) that need to be completed by us in minimum amount of time. The key ingredient here is not giving enough quality time to generate a sense of involvement or attachment.

b.      We might be expecting only monetary returns (or quantifiable/ profitable/ personal) advantages from doing it.

c.       We wish to have it predictable – only a one way relation from us to the activity but not the reverse.

d.      Improvisation is done only to reduce time and pack in more quantum of the same activity – thus we only tend to produce rather than explore.

e.      The activity should be well managed, coordinated, logical and legal.

In trying to elevate any activity into a work of art, we are implying the following:

a.       More time to discover what we are involved with doing. We focus on the moment and not on completion. We do not choose to lay importance to the output, but the process becomes important.

b.      We internally change and accept the unexpected in the activity – thus the relationship is a two way engagement.

c.       We do not dictate, rather guide the process of activity. The activity may also change us in the process. Thus, we may realize that boundaries between us and the activity may be dissolved at times.

d.      We discover feelings, connections, attachments, reflections – as crucial dimensions of the mind as we continue to be engaged with the activity.

e.      The process is lateral, interconnected, absurd, unpredictable and refreshing.

f.        The highest form of art may reveal a quality of transcendence or universal connection with humanity.

Thus any relationship – son, husband, teacher – can be described in above terms.

Any action – cooking, stone cutting, writing, reading, designing can be done in above terms.

Life, as we know, can be lived in either of the two ways as stated above.