Kissing in the Rain: Kairos & Divine Madness

Photo of the beginning sketch of one rainboot

The greatest catastrophe that any artist would dread to face is the loss of creativity and imagination. The one fundamental characteristic that drives him or her to work is the creation and realization of an idea.

In a sense, I have lost that. Sometimes I doubt this system. This system of going to school where we measure time by semesters- it's ridiculous. How can I create a product within a course of four months that would benefit the women in Kosovo and make a niche within the Weestern market? There simply is not enough time to fully flesh out such ideas- they'll be abandoned once Christmas rolls around and we all get our grades. "At least we got two credits." Time should be one long flowing fluid stream- not cut up and broken into pieces. We think in such small terms- semesters, holidays, schedules, weekends, weeks, months, days etc.

So I've lost this desire to create- that is- to create at my own will. Parsons has basically out drawed me, out- inspired me and sucked all the love I had for art and made it into something I dread. It takes effort for me to doodle now- I can't simply daydream and allow my mind and hand to wander across the page. I try to sit and think and I can't draw.

So it came as a revelation to me the other day when my mom insisted that I buy a pair of rainboots come November when New Yorkers must fight their way through immense pools of city water. Last year my jeans were constantly soaked to the knee but I was adamant in buying a pair of galloshes. Of course being who I am, I didn't want just any pair of rainboots because they're associated with gardening and trudging in mud. Here in New York, they come in forms of cowboy boots, they come with patterns such as polka dots, army print, floral shapes, stripes, and wedge heels. Nine West recently just collaborated with a designer called Thakoon to create a shiny black rainboot with a lace print on it and is now selling for $75 (I think).

But I didn't want to spend a great amount of money on a pair yet I wanted one that would stand out compared to all the other colourful ones out there. So I went to Ricky's and purchased a pair of standard black rainboots for $39.99 (cheapest that I've come across- they overcharge you here):

Personally I find them too utilitarian looking. So that same night, I took out my paints which I discovered had all dried up. :( I found my misplaced paintbrushes and took a brush to it- freeform. And the more I painted, the more I got into it. I'd feverishly paint and not do my readings for class. All I could think of was painting my boots. I guess this was what Plato meant by 'divine madness' which is found in musicians and artists alike- uncontrolled and uncoerced. I guess this was my imagination and creative drive in kairos- painting rainboots. Lol. When I was doing homework, all I could think was painting. When I was in my lecture class discussing Regarding the Pain of Others (will blog more about this later because it's really interesting), I sat there and opened my sketchbook and actually doodled out ideas for the other boot. My sketchbook is not really a sketchbook. I admire all those people who actually draw in their sketchbook. But how I come across ideas is by writing. So my entire sketchbook are lengthy ramblings in cursive as to how I could approach a project with a different perspective and idea. There are hardly any drawings much to the disappointment of my peers who sometimes ask if they could see my sketchbook.

My inspiration and creative drive was contagious: I got my roommate into it and the other night we both sat down with our boots and painted and watched Kamikaze Girls (I think I've 'watched' it about 8 times now- seriously). We stayed up till 4am that night painting away. We were both inspired by this one scene where the narrator saw this Lolita dress on display in a shop window and the mannequin suddenly points a pistol at her and shoots the girl. "The 'old me was slain. And I was reborn." We both thought it was such a clever scene, that I painted the mannequin with the gun and the first sentence of that phrase while she painted herself dead on her boot and the latter part of the quote. So now we both have kick butt rainboots: