Music 256a Reading Response 8, Fall 2021
Ray Gifford
Chapter 8: Manifesto

I will be responding to principle 8.17: "We design as an act of play", principle 8.18: "We design to satisfy a sense of purpose", and principle 8.19: "We design to promote eudaimonics" from Artful Design chapter 8. The first principle I love, and feels very accurate to me. I find that I have really enjoyed just making things for the hell of it, as a way of playing. To me, this principle is similar to the third ("We design to promote eudaimonics"). Where we are making things out of sheer intrinsic worth of the activity, and not for an external goal. But to me, it doesn't seem that everyone designs to play, and for the intrinsic worth of the activity. It may start out that way, but to me it seems that externals rewards may begin to replace those intrinsic rewards... and similarly may satisfy a shifted "sense of purpose". Designing for profit doesn't seem 'artful' to me at all. I feel that designing for profit can take on different forms, but ultimately is a mindset.

When I think of things that I've enjoyed doing in life, all of them were done out of intrinsic worth of the activity itself. And sometimes, money was coincidentally given to me. I've learned to really protect my creative interests, in various ways, by making money in ways that don't seek to capitalize on my creative interests... keeping career and creative interests separate. I've found even working in labs (which I thought was keeping my creative interest separate from my career), that I would join mostly because of an experiment that I want to design... then later I'm might be somewhat surprised by a salary. I found it difficult, while working a job, that I really enjoyed, to submit hours... because I felt that was killing my intrinsic interest somehow. Weirdly, I have a real problem with this... where I've worked for people and had to live in my car, homeless, for a long time. *I perhaps have an unhealthy relationship with money lol*. Because to me, it does seem to be the most accessible method of killing 'artful design'. [Another being external validation, maybe... but I find it really difficult to not share things that I've created, sometimes. Somehow that still seems somewhat 'artful', if for no other reason other than the idea that artists, almost by definition, are people that share. If an artist makes things and no one knows about the things or experiences them, to me, maybe they aren't an artist.] To me, it isn't the money itself... sometimes people just give it to you to keep you going in exchange for your expectant work... and that's a job. For me though, if I have to make the choice to submit hours for something that I really enjoy... I often won't. All of that to say... it's these three principles that almost feel validating in my decision to move to Santa Barbara, work whatever job that pays the best and allows the most free time. Make it work, and use that free time to make things that I really love, and with the people I love. Because I really want to protect those things, and not profit off of them. BUT is that "artful"... idk.

As a side note... I've been going down a rabbit hole of game making tools and whatnot. Started making stuff in Blender, reading forums for advice on achieving certain things... and came across groups that make 3D art in Blender and mint and sell them as NFTs lol. Which is absurd, but also got me thinking that I want to have a reason to practice with Blender... so maybe I should make NFTs. But I don't want money, for the reasons I mentioned. Lol Sooooo. I've decided, for whatever reason, that I'm going to make Blender characters in 3D, modeled after people that I interview. Looking for first-generation/low-income students with sick stories and ambitions, collect their stories, and mint an NFT modeled after them. Then break their tuition price up, or student loan debt, into realistic chucks and mint the precise number of copies of the model as NFTs, at that price. Lol. That way I get to practice, and the student gets money to hopefully help remove a barrier that might prevent them from achieving their ambitions. And the type of people that seem to be investors in NFTs, get a digital asset that may hold value (prob not), or a status symbol, or the satisfaction of investing in an individual, or whatever floats their boat. So anyways... if you know someone in particular, HMU.