reblog: pretentiousness

Here’s Jana Perkovic — the guerrilla semiotician – discussing pretentiousness:

guerrillasemiotics.com/2009/05/pretentiousness/

I am hoping she’ll sort out self-indulgence

¹ for me next. Actually, I sound cynical, but I am not at all. I enjoyed Jana’s ‘taking back’ of the word, and her discussion of failure reminded me of Steve Paxton from Materials for the Spine:

I believe that the important work is accomplished in the multiple failures to accomplish the idealized form — tiny back-to-the-drawing-board moments between attempts. The dancer has tried and been found wanting. With this awareness they seek new approaches. And the real work and value of improvisation has begun.

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1. The grand-daddy of put-downs with respect to making work. But where are the lines? When does work cross over into indulgence? Is it about lacking in vulnerability? Or being too vulnerable? Help Jana help!↩︎