Late Interview
I requested this interview from beeporama, like, ages ago, but for some reason I didn't get an email when he replied with the questions. Seeing a random interview in someone else's journal reminded me of it, so I went back to look and, lo and behold, there they were, waiting for me.
So, without further delay...
1. What is "Art"?
Well, in the broadest terms, I'm probably willing to view almost any act or object as art, as long as somebody somewhere has some sort of aesthetic reaction to it. I don't think it's particularly useful to label things "art" or "not art," though, Cat and Girl notwithstanding. Rather, it's useful as a way to convey the particular context in which you are viewing some other topic. For instance, you might say "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was technically impressive, but an utter failure as a work of art."
2. Are there people who "deserve to die"?
I don't believe in universal moral imperatives, but there are people I'd as soon see dead, and imaginable situations where I might kill. I think there are two main factors contributing to that. First, I don't see death as particularly bad or frightening - everybody dies, so there's really no avoiding it. Quality of life seems much more important to me than the specific date on which you die. Second, while I'm typically quick to trust and take a liking to people, even if I've only just met them, and my friends are extremely important to me, I have what seems to be an unusually low degree of empathy for people I don't know or don't like. I don't know if it's because I don't think I'd like the vast majority of people in the world if I knew them, or if there's just some pieces missing in my brain, but things like the Tsunami last year or 9/11 or a smarmy coworker dieing in a car accident just don't have much impact on me.
So, if it made sense in the context, then yes, I would kill somebody who posed a serious threat to me or somebody I cared about. I don't know that "deserving" would really be a factor, though.
3. Does the other side of the abortion debate have a valid point?
Well, assuming that pro-life is the (most) other side, then sure they have valid points, depending on your initial premises. If you assume that a) fetuses are people, and b) killing people is wrong -- both of which are defensible positions -- then I think that's a pretty iron-clad argument against abortion. I don't hold with either idea, personally. I think most people's disagreement probably centers around the first point, since it's mostly a matter of interpretation and gray areas, and nobody's likely to say "Yes, I am in favor of killing babies." Well, actually, I guess in reality I imagine most people's position is just whatever their parents/political party/church has told them to believe.
4. Why is Hamlet so great?
Short, true answer: Because when I read it, I go "OMG! That's so great!"
Long, more informative answer: Several reasons. I first read it in high school, and I was a pretty gloomy, cynical, unhappy teenager (like everybody, I guess), so it fit well with my outlook at the time. I love the lyricism of the language, and there are some interesting ideas exquisitely presented. The rich history of discussion, criticism, and allusion also appeals to me, though Sturgeon's Law is in effect there, as anywhere. I love live theater, and I wear a lot of black. It's morally ambiguous, and the protagonist doesn't really win at the end, both of which have always appealed to me ("pretty good guys who always win versus ugly bad guys who make inexplicably stupid mistakes" is among the most offensive sorts of artistic bullshit). There's an actual story, in which exciting things happen, to go along with all the characterization and allegory and philosophical monologues. At the same time, you can take that story and those words and present them in a startlingly wide variety of interpretations, depending on what you emphasize, what you leave out, and (occasionally) what you add.
5. Where would you most like to be right now?
Speaking in the immediate sense, at home with Suzanne, either reading or playing a game of some sort together (Scrabble, Tekken, Animal Crossing, whatever). Alternatively, doing something I'm passionate about - DJing or making something being the main things that spring to mind.
More generally, I'd love to be either in Portland or possibly up on a mountain somewhere remote (where the weather wasn't so abominable). Most of the time my immediate answer would still be the same, though, which is much of why living here isn't so bad (the other part being that I have a good job and friends hereabouts).
So, without further delay...
1. What is "Art"?
Well, in the broadest terms, I'm probably willing to view almost any act or object as art, as long as somebody somewhere has some sort of aesthetic reaction to it. I don't think it's particularly useful to label things "art" or "not art," though, Cat and Girl notwithstanding. Rather, it's useful as a way to convey the particular context in which you are viewing some other topic. For instance, you might say "Star Wars Episode III: Revenge of the Sith was technically impressive, but an utter failure as a work of art."
2. Are there people who "deserve to die"?
I don't believe in universal moral imperatives, but there are people I'd as soon see dead, and imaginable situations where I might kill. I think there are two main factors contributing to that. First, I don't see death as particularly bad or frightening - everybody dies, so there's really no avoiding it. Quality of life seems much more important to me than the specific date on which you die. Second, while I'm typically quick to trust and take a liking to people, even if I've only just met them, and my friends are extremely important to me, I have what seems to be an unusually low degree of empathy for people I don't know or don't like. I don't know if it's because I don't think I'd like the vast majority of people in the world if I knew them, or if there's just some pieces missing in my brain, but things like the Tsunami last year or 9/11 or a smarmy coworker dieing in a car accident just don't have much impact on me.
So, if it made sense in the context, then yes, I would kill somebody who posed a serious threat to me or somebody I cared about. I don't know that "deserving" would really be a factor, though.
3. Does the other side of the abortion debate have a valid point?
Well, assuming that pro-life is the (most) other side, then sure they have valid points, depending on your initial premises. If you assume that a) fetuses are people, and b) killing people is wrong -- both of which are defensible positions -- then I think that's a pretty iron-clad argument against abortion. I don't hold with either idea, personally. I think most people's disagreement probably centers around the first point, since it's mostly a matter of interpretation and gray areas, and nobody's likely to say "Yes, I am in favor of killing babies." Well, actually, I guess in reality I imagine most people's position is just whatever their parents/political party/church has told them to believe.
4. Why is Hamlet so great?
Short, true answer: Because when I read it, I go "OMG! That's so great!"
Long, more informative answer: Several reasons. I first read it in high school, and I was a pretty gloomy, cynical, unhappy teenager (like everybody, I guess), so it fit well with my outlook at the time. I love the lyricism of the language, and there are some interesting ideas exquisitely presented. The rich history of discussion, criticism, and allusion also appeals to me, though Sturgeon's Law is in effect there, as anywhere. I love live theater, and I wear a lot of black. It's morally ambiguous, and the protagonist doesn't really win at the end, both of which have always appealed to me ("pretty good guys who always win versus ugly bad guys who make inexplicably stupid mistakes" is among the most offensive sorts of artistic bullshit). There's an actual story, in which exciting things happen, to go along with all the characterization and allegory and philosophical monologues. At the same time, you can take that story and those words and present them in a startlingly wide variety of interpretations, depending on what you emphasize, what you leave out, and (occasionally) what you add.
5. Where would you most like to be right now?
Speaking in the immediate sense, at home with Suzanne, either reading or playing a game of some sort together (Scrabble, Tekken, Animal Crossing, whatever). Alternatively, doing something I'm passionate about - DJing or making something being the main things that spring to mind.
More generally, I'd love to be either in Portland or possibly up on a mountain somewhere remote (where the weather wasn't so abominable). Most of the time my immediate answer would still be the same, though, which is much of why living here isn't so bad (the other part being that I have a good job and friends hereabouts).