Artisan and the Five Levels of Input

[nelly]

Hello all,
Hoping someone can help me with this one...as an artisan I should probably come to grips with this topic. I can usually 'photograph' myself shifting between levels, but I really don't have an understanding of each level and how they pertain to the artisan operation. Can anyone point me in the right direction please?
Many thanks - Nelly

[Dave]

Hi Nelly,

Welcome to the forum!   

I've seen various theories about the inputs, but have yet to find anything definitive when it came to the artisan. It's a bit of a mystery as far as I'm concerned.

In my own experience, I think the outer inputs lie somewhere between the dream and daydreaming states. I know that when I'm engaged in a creative project, I often set the project aside for awhile and let it stew so that it's temporarily away from my direct attention and open to creative spices that come from possibly outside my self. At least it feels that way.

I've also noticed that after returning to the project it may seem to have suddenly grown in my mind, as if part of myself had been secretly working on it while my conscious mind was busy with other things. I doubt this is entirely related to input levels, but I suspect outer inputs do play a role in receiving ideas and information that is not readily apparent on the conscious level, and this ultimately helps with creative projects.

There is an article about inputs on this site:
http://www.michaelteachings.com/inputs.html

Best,
Dave

[Velleity]

I don't know if I can help, as I only have a discarnate artisan essence twin (and am a king role), but having been an art student for quite a while, sometimes it felt I could temporarily feel those extra inputs, or have a false experience of them. More like I 'knew' what it might be like to have them even though I don't. Being a king with one input, it was really difficult for me to be in art school and do longer term projects because I struggle to let things percolate on back burners in the way artisans can. If I'm doing a project, it kind of gets done in a week or a day or a 'set amount of time', and is one entire thing unto itself even if it has lots of levels (I usually don't see the 'meanings' until after it's finished)... but it's veeeery hard to combine hundreds of different elements into series or one huge art project at the end of the year that has to be put in an exhibition.

Once I'm done with a thing, I have to move on to something else. My one input just processes it in a condensed way and then that's it for the moment. Once I'm done simmering and boiling down the ideas, then it all just comes out in a rush of dedicated action. Sometimes the theme will come back months later, but I do a lot of complete 'one-offs'. Though then there's Georgia O'Keeffe (a king artist, one input), who found her theme(s), then was very singular yet very bold and vivid.

I got quite jealous of artisan art students, as they seemed better at juggling all the incoming influences and incorporating them like it was no big deal, or they'd go back half a year and pull something easily into present time, whereas I if I'm not organized can get very lost with everything coming at me through one channel. I just can't hold it all in my head, whether consciously or not. I had an advantage of making effective and condensed pieces of art in short periods of time, but was disadvantaged in that I couldn't spread out my themes throughout a year. Often I felt quite 'dumb' among all the artisans in art school... as I was just a bit too focused on what was there in front of me, and at the same time got frustrated with everyone floating off into unnecessary places during critiques. All the Hm-ing and er-ing of why someone chose to use certain things in their artworks, when it was fairly obvious to me... "why did you use this color, why this material? would it be better with a frame, what would a frame imply??" got on my last nerve... me thinking "because I just DID, there's no extra meaning, I don't care about the frame and what it signifies, I can't grasp why that might be important..." etc. etc.

Don't know if I helped! Seems more of a rant than an answer. I just know there's quite a difference between one and 5 inputs, and I felt that difference for quite a few years. The main thing seems to be that artisans can seem better a juggling a lot of different influences (from different planes), having it all in their head at one time. Whereas having that much info in my head at one time makes me quite stressed out. The tv-channels metaphor seems incredibly apt (to me).

[nelly]

Thank you, David and Elisabeth,
The shifting between reality and day dreams I think relates to the 5th level, and I think Michael refers to it as 'escaping to the 5th '  - or copping out! which is probably accurate, and I can see it in myself when I slide into the negative pole of artiface. A lot of artisan work occurs in this level, I think, and it needs to be brought to bear via another level, or it remains the artisan creation that just never becomes concrete - the great 'I was going to' or the great artisan ideas that are easier to leave in the abstract. I have quite a few projects that were just perfect in the abstract, and I didn't feel any need to actually do or create them - but I'm not sure if this is valid experience or just laziness!!
David,  I will read that link thank you.
Regards,
Nelly

[Dave]

I couldn't possibly list all of the creative tangents I've mostly left abstract in my mind. Creativity is a form of play for me and the majority of my creations rarely see the light of day. For instance, I love jazz music and it's rare for me not to be mentally improvising something in my mind. I never write any of it down, however, since it's something that's always there and I've never felt the need to preserve it.

I do enjoy placing a creative project on autopilot and returning to it later to see how it has developed. Other roles do this, too, but I suspect Artisans have the edge.

Best,
Dave

[Dave]

Often I felt quite 'dumb' among all the artisans in art school... as I was just a bit too focused on what was there in front of me, and at the same time got frustrated with everyone floating off into unnecessary places during critiques.

All the Hm-ing and er-ing of why someone chose to use certain things in their artworks, when it was fairly obvious to me... "why did you use this color, why this material? would it be better with a frame, what would a frame imply??" got on my last nerve... me thinking "because I just DID, there's no extra meaning, I don't care about the frame and what it signifies, I can't grasp why that might be important..." etc. etc.

I agree. Some of the art-speak can be pretentious and unnecessary. As Gertrude Stein once said: sometimes a rose is a rose is a rose is a rose. On the other hand, that deeper ponderance does have its place at times. I love art, for example, that makes an impact with Tao-like simplicity, but I must admit an occasional weakness for art that is layered with meaning. It's a fun adventure to look deep within a work to find the inner levels of truth.

Best,
Dave

[Velleity]

that deeper ponderance does have its place at times

Definitely agree. Humorous art is fun as well. My art usually has a lot of personal significance that maybe only I will ever know, and it's always amazing when others say more or less what I was personally intending. Perhaps there were more artisans in my nz art classes, as I was often shocked that a group of them could 'get' all the subtle meanings from my art that I thought would never see the light of day; really resonating stuff I wasn't even aware of until they pointed it out. "Oh yeah, I was immersing those certain thoughts into that when I made it but completely forgot I had!" Crazy stuff.
 

[mAmbessa]

elisabeth, do you find that you can only do 1 project at a time? and just can't seem to move on to something else with a clear conscience/almost impatience unless you finish the first project first?

[Velleity]

mAmbessa, I think that's why I had trouble at art school, having to do 'a project' over an entire semester!

When I get an idea and then start on the output of it, yeah, I do really tend to work on it all in one go. I take breaks for food and water and some sleep etc. but it would feel very strange to 'start something else' or something that's 'quite different' before I'm relatively done with the other thing ('relatively' meaning 80-90% done). In art school I was used to working 7 hours straight on something and not feeling too tired.

I wouldn't tell it to any of my art instructors, but for months or weeks I'd sit around just thinking about things and ideas, themes, letting things gestate inside or come to something substantial, then I would churn it all out in a few days before it was due. This didn't work very well when I was depressed or when I lacked ideas, but with my output people thought I had "done a lot over that two week holiday!" when really I'd done it all the night before. ;-P

I never told them how I worked, because I was afraid that they would tell me, "with that kind of output think what you could DO with a few months!", me thinking "sure, I could muralize the entire art building but by the end I'd probably have to be hospitalized".

King making art (for me) = "bursts of bulk quality work".

Another grade school teacher noticed it too, when I kept finishing early on certain things and there would be 'a lot' done, and a lot 'very well' done. Said to me "Your work is wonderful! But I'm not quite sure if I like that you work this way... "

[jk]

Artisan here. If leaving things to percolate on back burner is supposed to be typical of Artisan, then I can validate that. I normally read several books at the same time, picking up the one I feel like reading most at a particular time. I don't mean fiction books, (those I either read in one go or don't finish at all), I mean books that you need to process, like self-help and spiritual growth books.
My job (software dev) actually "artificially" forces me to leave things on a back burner as priorities constantly change, and when I am forced to do so, I hate it, if i happen to be focused on something and its coming along well.

Elisabeth, what I can identify with from your post, is burst of dedicated focused activity. If something is coming along well, then (provided I have a financial incentive ) I tend to just do that and barely sleep let alone anything else. Then dry spells and rest follow that. I most definitely don't work at a steady pace and I deliver mostly right before the deadline (or after).

What I have loads of, is tons of projects that will never get finished, and that is fine, because I don't see a point of finishing something just for the sake of finishing it, if its no longer needed or no longer gives me joy etc.

But I'm not quite sure if I like that you work this way... "

School tells us so many things that are utter rubbish.

[Velleity]

Interesting jk, I think where we might differ then is that I don't usually have 'multiple unfinished projects'... ? I don't really like starting something and then not finishing it. If I start it, I will return to it. Or I'll "try it out" to see if I would want to put in the effort to continue. Sort of like sampling, but usually when I get an idea I really go with it. It pains me to have to leave things I've put effort into. I like getting something to that 80-90% line before I feel comfortable leaving it.

I really like the television screen metaphor for inputs though. As I think possibly the one-input can look like five-inputs, but only superficially. Or at least, King seems strange to me because it is one-input but has a cardinal outlook, so it's like being able to look out on the scene, the overview, and see all the parts All At Once, the bigger idea/theme and how parts fit together into it. Like sitting back in front of a gallery of paintings. You're focused, yet you can see all the paintings and can zoom into explore all the nooks and crannies of them while still realizing they're part of something 'bigger' (a wall space). Maybe it's kind of like Artisan turned inside out, as I can see a bit why king is said to be the opposite of that role... like, king has a 'theme' and sees all the parts, and artisan might have multiple themes/projects but still has to find out all the parts of them (i.e., they're "out there")? I don't know. All interesting though.

[jk]

Thinking about this, perhaps its great that people are different in these ways. In job sense, I am a finisher. I often finish off things other people start and abandon for various reasons (as long as they are still required). There are other people in the team who on the other hand are terrible at that and great at constantly exploring new technologies, starting things off. Obviously having a mixture of such people in a team works well. Applied to a broader sense of the world, having people who start things and having people who finish things, still works well.

[jekyblue]

Artisan here. If leaving things to percolate on back burner is supposed to be typical of Artisan, then I can validate that.

I can validate this also. I'm Artisan-cast Artisan.  I also make use of that back burner approach. When I was in school I tended to write my papers the night before they were due, but they flowed because they were built in the back of my mind while I did more fun stuff. When I'm stuck on an issue, I can often go to bed with the intent that an idea will come to me overnight, and usually the idea is there in the morning. (Though it might wake me up at 2 am.)

I've got the tons of unfinished projects, too. However, like jk, I do tend to finish work projects as long as they stay valid. Maybe because if I came up with the creative idea, I know no one else will be able to do it right. And I do go into a zone at times where I am completely in tune with a project and can't be interrupted to do anything else. But those types of projects are usually incredibly complex and require lots of juggling to pull together so they stay fresh for me longer.

And multiple books -- all the time. Fiction or non-fiction, whatever topic happens to be fresh for me today. Usually I have two going at once: one for reading in bed and one that I keep with me for waiting rooms, eating alone, etc. (but sometimes I'll pick up the third book for a change of pace).

My job is software dev related also, jk! I wonder if the field attracts Artisans generally?

[jk]

Hi jekyblue,
I had to smile reading what you wrote. So it's not just me About the books - I am considering getting a Kindle. Then you have loads of books with you all the time, taking almost no space at all. I also use iBooks on my phone. Yes I think there would be many Artisans in software development field. It is definitely creative, and it involves understanding of structures and systems. It is intellectual and not exactly a position of a spotlight. What could be more Artisany? I used to dabble in graphic design too which I have enjoyed very much.

[Diomedes]

Abby plays the role of an Artisan on NCIS.  Tim plays the role of scholar.  They are both excellent at computer operations.  I suspect that the best computer operators/developers, etc. are either artisans or scholars.

The TV show (NCIS) presents an interesting contrast between the styles of a scholar and an artisan.

Diomedes