François Matarasso

Blog

arestlessart.com/

Profile

arestlessart.com/author/regula

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  • What is a good listener?

    I’ve always enjoyed talking, working through ideas and feelings with other people, listening to their perspective and, ultimately, understanding something better. Talking is central to workshops, meetings, conferences and so on. Writing, like this, is just another way of talking – testing and organising my thoughts. Mostly, I talk about ideas, but this year I’ve…

  • Learning about community art from ChatGPT

    Computers have changed our lives in so many ways that it’s hard to find the right terms to describe what has happened. Digital is an easy shorthand, but that seems to refers to how the technology works. Information and Communication Technology (ICT) is a mouthful, but helpful in focusing on how the technology is used…

  • #2 – Writing philosophy

    A Selfless Art, Update #2 It seems that, without admitting it to myself, I’ve accepted a target of writing 1,500 words every day. So far, that’s what I’ve done, but it’s not sustainable. Life has other plans. There are people I need to care for, and more tiresome obligations I can’t put off. There will…

  • #1 – Writing about writing

    A Selfless Art, Update #1 Yesterday, I began work on A Selfless Art – six hours work and 1,600 words. That’s about as much as I can achieve in a day, if I start writing by 6am. At the moment, I’m going for quantity. Write, and keep writing. Write some more. Don’t stop to think, let the…

  • Imagined community: Regular Marvels, Part 3, ‘The Light Ships’

    The Light Ships is about community, the feelings and commitments we freely offer each other, unconnected with kin- or friendship, though it often embraces both. I’ve been thinking about community throughout my working life and I’m still discovering its meanings, power and value. I’ve seen it everywhere—in the suburbs of Sofia, in post-industrial Gateshead, in rural…

  • The joy of creation: Regular Marvels, Part 2: ‘Where We Dream’

    ‘In a cozy corner of the electric flame department of the infernal regions there stands a little silver gridiron. It is the private property of his Satanic majesty, and is reserved exclusively for the man who invented amateur theatricals..’ P. G. Wodehouse, The Gem Collector, Ainslee’s Magazine, New York 1909 The professional art world’s disdain…