skylarwoodward

Two weeks ago I stopped by a friend’s gallery opening entitled Conditions are Perfect. Admittedly, I made the detour in my Friday evening because of the intrigue aroused from love of the Conchords. However, the show was great and George’s collection on display was fantastic. Perhaps even more impressive was the explanation they put together on how this classic quip from Business Time related to the objective of their collective artworks. Supplementing this essay was a brief statement by Chason Matthams explaining his collection specifically. It resonated well with me in addition to larger theme itself, even though I found his edgy organic late-Guston-esque work less accessible.

your day to day, the pattern, can be a prison you must design for yourself in order to deal with not pursuing the triumph of real joy. not addressing what you truly want creates a terror so large that an entire existence of numbed out living is created in order to mask it. the prospect of joy so grand that the fear of not attaining it makes the work that must be done to do so seem daunting and impossible. instead we opt for the meaningless that we then put all value upon, seemingly easier work and living, moments of happiness increasingly fleeting. a system that branches out sucking away more than it will ever reward you, both of those directly associating with you and of yourself. the result is joyless.

– Chason Matthams

Though I hadn’t planned on it, I suppose this is a more fitting time than any to comment that I’m doing something new now. For the past 3 months or so I’ve been working as a part of the Brickhouse in San Francisco. After 5 years of working at Yahoo! it was time for a change, though I never expected to still be tethered (however loosely) to the mothership in Sunnyvale. Especially in light of this quote, the first few months have been fantastic. Every day is different and certainly I’m full of more joy than I have had in a long time. In my yesterday I can sympathize with ignoring a notion of routine to break from downtown by bike and celebrate with Kiva on their 100,000 user. The city itself has a healthy rumble of unpredictability that sustains our own disorder which itself is well-greased by a welcome rabble of Anarchists, rebels, and freethinkers comprising our majority; and, our organization by design is buzzing with a sea of ideas and projects – both formal and informal. The result is an environment that while not always sensible or comfortable, is truly a delight to be in. Though I’m sure this, and even more so – my life, is many journeys away from the artist’s ideal it is propitious change that it is hard not to wish I had made earlier.