9
votes
Where are you in a scale that goes from maximalism to minimalism including everything in between? Artistically and cognitively, are you drawn towards complexity or simplicity?
Do you thrive on chaos or structure? Are your personal spaces clean or populated by all kinds or objects? Do you wear bright colors or white shirt and jeans? Do you prefer fast cuts or meditative editing? Probability or deduction? Heidegger or Russel? Buñuel or Buster Keaton? Lynch or Spielberg? Godart or Hitchcock? John Lennon or Paul McCartney? A party or a small gathering? A lot or just a little?
:)
Of the two, I am more of a minimalist by temperament. I prefer my tools to be simple, comprehensible, and effective. I am a big fan of the UNIX philosophy, both in computing and in some of the rest of life. That said, I am myself a generalist. I am not a small, sharp tool; I like to use them.
I am not a big fan of the contemporary industrial "minimalist" aesthetic. Hell, to me, looks an awful lot like an IKEA. I'm more of a peasant aesthetics sort of person--natural materials, handmade goods, visible imperfections and repairs. My appreciation for traditional Japanese aesthetics puts me dangerously close to weeb territory.
Cognitively I'm a big dumb caveman with delusions of grandeur. I can't multitask for shit and am easily distracted. I deliberately chose a computer that crashes if I open more than four tabs of Firefox for this reason.
I enjoy maximalism in art sometimes. Listening to complex music used to be one of my reasons for living.
To answer your other questions:
I thrive on responsibility, and that usually looks like structure.
My personal spaces are usually an unholy wreck, though I've gotten tidier as I've aged. I typically keep kitchen and workshop spaces more organized than sleeping spaces.
I wear earth tones, blues, and greens. Some have colorful patchwork. I do have a pair of mint green trousers that I'm probably skinny enough to wear now.
Edgar Wright is my guy, so it's gotta be fast cuts.
Induction.
Nietzsche. Haven't read Heidegger firsthand, but from what I gather I would prefer him to Russel.
No opinion, woefully undereducated in this department.
PTA. Of the two, Spielberg wins by default--haven't seen a Lynch yet.
As above, Hitchcock by default.
Frank Zappa.
Usually a small gathering for me, thanks.
Just enough. Moderation in all things...including moderation.
Based on your answers, I think you will like Lynch.
Especially choosing Zappa.
All signs seem to point towards that. Do you have a recommendation for my first Lynch?
Not who you asked, but The Elephant Man holds a special place in my heart, and has absolutely incredible performances by an incredible cast. However, it's pretty straightforward and so not like most of Lynch's other works which are often very surreal, esoteric, and bizarre. But if you're into that sort of thing, Eraserhead is a good one to start with since it takes those elements to the extreme. It's a bit slow but visually stunning, and just as intriguing as it is disturbing. Even decades after last watching it, some of the visuals are still seared into my mind, they had that much of an impact.
This is the correct answer, but my wife's retort:
If you're gonna jump feet first, go with Rabbits. It's the epitome of "If you can't handle me at my worst you don't deserve my best."
There's also that one episode of Twin Peaks Season 3. If you've seen it, you know the one.
Twin Peaks is also very accessible, but is most appreciated when already a Lynch fan. Frost reigned in a lot of Lynch's ...inaccessibility.
LOL, your wife is cruel! Recommending Rabbits to someone who has never seen Lynch before is like suggesting someone eat Surströmming straight from the can after they express a desire to try Swedish cuisine. ;)
And I actually don't know what episode you're referring to. I have tried watching Twin Peaks a few times over the years, but despite enjoying most of Lynch's movies and even his shorts, I just can't ever seem to get past the first few episodes of Twin Peaks. I dunno what it is about it, but I have always found it incredibly boring. I guess I just prefer his more inaccessible and outlandish stuff.
The first few episodes of Twin Peaks are the weakest IMO. It really starts kicking in about halfway through Season 1. Keep in mind that everything so campy and overacted is intentional.
Season 3. Episode 8 IIRC. In a season of pure weird, it's the weirdest.
So I've heard from other Lynch fans as well... but I just can't seem to get over that hump into what is supposedly the good stuff. Maybe one day I will though.
I decided to watch The Elephant Man again after I made the above comment, since it's been quite a while since I last saw it... and god-fucking-dammit, it totally destroyed me again. I don't think I will ever be able to watch this movie and not be a blubbering mess by the end of it, which is what I am right now.
It's astonishingly well told, shot, and acted, and it's so very, very, painfully poignant. So even if anyone reading this is more interested in Lynch's surreal shit, I still highly, highly recommend watching The Elephant Man at some point too. I promise that it's worth seeing.
100% not what you asked, but it would probably be a good idea to understand where Lynch is coming from. Buñuel's Un Chien Andalou is less than 20 minutes. For bonus points, see The Discreet Charm of the Bourgeoisie.
Another thing to understand about Lynch is that under the appearances of being a total innovator he is also highly referential, and he inherits many concepts and aesthetic references throughout his career, specially from film noir.
This thread did get me thinking a bit, because my view on minimalism has definitely changed over time. Five years ago I would have said I aspire to some form of minimalism, but now I'm not as sure if it is something worth aspiring to in a general sense.
The positive aspects are a simplicity and calmness which provides a kind of clarity: cutting away the unnecessary allows one to focus in on what is truly most important to them. The substance or function of something often becomes the focus rather than the form. I can see why it is appealing.
The negative aspects are sterility and isolation, and sometimes I even get a sense of joylessness. I think of things stripped of signs of individual preference so that they can be sold or re-sold to the largest possible group of people, like an apartment painted Landlord White. It creates uniformity by its nature.
So... I don't know. I like it when it's used to bring attention to something that is beautiful, or when a tool is made more effective by its simplicity, or when it reduces waste that is clearly unnecessary. But the times I encounter it used poorly it really makes me feel just terrible in a way I find very difficult to articulate. Disconnected, almost, or like something is being intentionally concealed from me.
I lean Minimalist, and want to lean further that way.
That said, I was quite disappointed visiting at this post and not finding an actual quiz-like tool to grade me on how minimalist I am.
Not joking. That would be a nice tool, like those Myers-Briggs "ENFP" etc personality types.
Lol I'm afraid my "questionnaire" was more along the lines of a conversation starter ;)
You might mistake me for a minimalist, but in reality, I'm a "functionalist". What works, works, but more often than not what works for me is somewhat minimal. I cannot function with distractions, especially of the visual kind. If there are many objects in my peripheral vision, they will impose constant pressure on my cognition and require conscious effort to avoid them.
While there are exceptions, I do not cherish maximalism in most of its forms and presentations. I find myself unable to appreciate vibrant works of art cherished by many. That includes movies like Le fabuleux destin d'Amélie Poulain and Moulin Rouge!, as well as most musicals, and beloved TV shows such as Dirk Gently's Holistic Detective Agency and RuPaul's Drag Race. All of those poses a real difficulty for me. I do love Doctor Who, which is both maximalist and histrionic, but I watch it in installments with long times (like years) in between because I do get overwhelmed.
I also consider myself a classicist and modernist, and by that, I mean that I appreciate the classical and canonical genres and artistic tendencies. I expect comedies to be funny, horror to be scary, thrillers to be thrilling, and noir to be black-white and preferably starring Humphrey Bogart. I find some strands of post-modernist thought useful and enlightening, but post-modern art does not move me often.
The avant-garde is boring and arrogant because only the arrogant believe whatever they do is new.
Now to answer my own "questionnaire":
A weird kind of structure that reasonable people might just call "another kind of chaos".
As clean as possible, but due to cognitive needs, not to conform to some abstract notion or philosophical ideal.
Most of the time, clothes are immaterial to me. I wear whatever is clean and easily accessible. Many of my clothes are given to me by people that feel revolted by my battered state. However, I have a great appreciation for classical formal men's wear such as suits, suspenders, and hats of all kinds.
I don't walk around disguised as Sherlock Holmes or anything, but that is the one kind of clothing I care about. However, I must be consistent, I won't wear a fedora with jeans, or suspenders with a t-shirt. It must be the full package. That means that I rarely get to use the clothes I like.
I usually rock an exotic mustache which I'd describe as a mixture between a homeless bear and Salvador Dalí.
I feel constrained by my own question because there are more options than that. Spielberg's Close Encounters of the Third Kind, the best science fiction of all time (fight me!) has an ASL (average shot length) of 7.2 seconds, so I'll settle with that.
Deduction, like Sherlock Holmes.
Russel, because I actually understand it.
God, I hate the guy that came up with these questions! Fuck him, both!
To say that I love Spielberg is an understatement, he is one of the most important people in my life. Nothing against Lynch, though. Just not my thing.
Hitchcock, because I'm not in college anymore and I'm allowed to have fun.
Paul every day of the week. Forget about changing the world, I'm all about the love songs.
Ultra small gathering, maybe just me.
A lot of the same things!