mass art.

true to the specificity of my previous post, 8am found me at joe momma's in avila beach. actually i was there earlier, due to the power in san luis obispo being on the fritz this morning, creating a sad lack of a working space heater and a whistling tea kettle at the peppered palm. 

i read susan sontag's, on photography, munched on a spinach feta croissant and intermittently burned my tongue on english breakfast tea. upstairs at this corner cafe is really the best place to be, where you can see the waves breaking (surprisingly big this morning in avila and dotted with several surfers), while surrounded by historical photos of avila beach. amid the bustle of enthusiastic interactions of the baristas with regular customers, the grinding of coffee beans and the chatter of middle aged gossip - i came across a quote that struck my fancy:

"Recently, photography has become almost as widely practiced an amusement as sex and dancing - which means that, like every mass art form, photography is not practiced by most people as an art."

what a fantastic musing. the grouping of sex, dancing and photography. the idea that these things slip into an unrefined, basic nature for the everyday layman. and as i reflected more on the subject i saw in my beachfront niche so many example of this. not unimaginative sex, dancing or photography but bleary eyed, 20 somethings who ordered their coffees in a daze saying they were heading back to fresno. an ecstatic border collie bouncing up and down for his frisbee. and a little girl, her face in a pout as she was dragged by her mom down the sidewalk. 

but for each of these inelegant, hasty actions there were people who were immersed in the artistry of their present moment. the woman who sat alone at an outside table, arranging the chairs to prop her feet up as she sipped her coffee while taking in the crashing surf. the man who slowly turned the pages of a meager monday tribune at the table next to me.  and the barista that discussed the travesty of cappuccinos made with fat free milk with a customer.

i go to school, work 30 hours a week and (attempt) to keep my body healthy and happy. i get that there's not always time to indulge in making your actions into art. there's long drives to be made, frisbees to catch and a family day at the beach to be enjoyed dammit! (not matter how reluctant your children might be). but if you're lucky enough to have this martin luther king jr. day off, i hope you indulge in some sort of art just a little.

happy monday!