RE: [-empyre-] some introduction ::

["Jim Andrews" <jim@vispo.com>]

> > Hi - Can you say more about this? I'm not at that stage vis-a-vis
> > programming - I have to consciously make decisions, test things
> > visually/aurally. How do you achieve a state where you can really
> > do what you want?

It isn't exactly the case that one finds that what one wants 'is a shell, an
empty husk of meaning from which the purpose breaks, if at all, only in
fulfillment,' but as with writing and most of the other things we create,
there's the intention and then there's the realization, and these can differ
in all sorts of ways. Sometimes productively, as one responds not only to
what one has created but the possibilities at hand, sometimes
disappointingly. A feel for the possibilities of chance is, as always,
useful.

I have spent most of the last year creating a tool I hope to use to create
some art. What I wanted to do was not possible with the tools at hand. Much
of the year has been spent in making the tool usable by others, and salable
to others. But this process also makes the tool more flexible and granular
than it would have been had I made it for only my own use. And it will
finally be easier to use by me, too, as well as others.

If you really insist on doing what you want, it can take quite a while. So
you have to be kind of selective about what you insist on. But if you don't,
you can be guided rather a lot by the easy possibilities at hand, which can
'cliche out' quickly. I skipped among technologies for several years,
leaving them when I felt I cliched them out. I have been using Director
since 99, however, and don't feel I've done that yet, don't feel that
possibility as imminent (or is that immanent?). I note you are using Visual
Basic now, Alan. How are you finding that?

> yes, sometimes things interact in a different way that one expected
> it's the 'accident',  and it can be highly creative
> and you can play with this 'chance', as a new tool

Yes, the accident can be productive. Many of the accidents are unproductive,
ie, the thing just won't run, bugs out, but occassionally the happy accident
arises. Being receptive to such possibilities is important, I agree.

ja