Join Quinn on Saturday, August 24, 2024, at 1000 MST on Stream Yard or YouTube for another discussion about creativity and mortality. This week Quinn is going to address a Francis Bacon quote, "The quality of mortality." How artists struggle within cultures that don't provide sufficient illusions to buffer their existential dread.
Stream Yard (LIVE): https://streamyard.com/rgj2b62es2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/GDVcCBPu5Fo?si=npOlCTjB1hUZlKJM
Greetings!
I hope you can join me this Saturday for a discussion with Jeff Greenberg, PhD, co-author of The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life.
Jeff will spend the hour with us talking about how our knowledge of death influences our day-to-day living and behavior. We'll tackle what it means to be a creative person in light of our finitude (or impending death). What does creating art do for artists viewed through the lens of terror management? How does it differ from a non-creative person? Are there any advantages or disadvantages to being a creative type when it comes to death anxiety or existential terror? And what's the best way for people to understand and grasp these theories and their implications?
Saturday, August 17, 2024 at 0900 PST, 1000 MST, 1100 CST, 1200 EST, and 1800 CET
Stream Yard (LIVE): https://streamyard.com/pemntyfpd6
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/DmRTUrC8kFY?si=ZJa3lrGAraBwUDCx
Join Quinn to discuss Sheldon Solomon's video on bigotry, “Conversations with Solomon.” How can we use this for making art? What inspiration does this provide for creative and expressive work? Moreover, how is this connected the fear of mortality?
“Because cultural conceptions of reality keep a lid on mortal dread, acknowledging the legitimacy of beliefs contrary to our own unleashes the very terror those beliefs serve to quell. So we must parry the threat by derogating and dehumanizing those with alternative views of life, by forcing them to adopt our beliefs and co-opting aspects of their cultures into our own, or by obliterating them entirely.”
― Sheldon Solomon, The Worm at the Core: On the Role of Death in Life
Join Quinn on Saturday, August 3, 2024, for an hour and explore the relationship between creative and non-creative people and how they cope with mortality. Quinn will cover some of Ernest Becker's thoughts on Otto Rank's breakdown of how artists manage their anxiety about death.
Stream Yard: https://streamyard.com/rdy5fe8ipy
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/FPPpLUQFz7U?si=uJZIftVEZFMVHzHs
THE CREATIVE ANIMAL??
This week, Quinn will continue the series on The Creative Mind and Mortality, Part 3."This will address artist's unique perspectives on why they create art and the struggles they face in light of existential dread or mortality.
What does it mean to have a "creative practice"?
How does creating art help with the fear of death?
Do creative people process existential terror differently? If so, how?
Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death" and Otto Rank's book "Art and Artist."
Stream Yard (LIVE): https://streamyard.com/jc28hrjyd2
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/VeLDm2Xv2K0?si=nUy1SRxfR75J481P
Join me on Saturday, July 20, 2024, at 1000 MST for part two of an ongoing examination of the role that mortality plays in creativity.
Stream Yard (live feed): https://streamyard.com/hdccnpxqmj
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/WuIqkBuuggA?si=je73XTzh5ipZN0Kc
This week, Quinn will continue the series on The Creative Mind and Mortality, Part 2." This will address artist's unique perspectives on why they create art and the struggles they face in light of existential dread or mortality. What does it mean to have a "creative practice"? How does creating art help with the fear of death? Do creative people process existential terror differently? If so, how? Ernest Becker's "The Denial of Death" and Otto Rank's book "Art and Artist."
I’m back! Join me July 13, 2024, at 1000 MST! Links below!
The Stream Yard link will allow you to join the room on the live show. The YouTube link will allow you to view and send messages on the chat board. You can go to the YouTube link now and click on the bell, which will send you a reminder.
Stream Yard: https://streamyard.com/t5r53p8qtw
YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/live/OPfZS-a50Jw?si=UPm9YE-P4fRR7fDu
If you have any questions, feel free to drop me an email!
The Organ Mountains the other morning at 0555 on our walk/jog. The skies here are so beautiful and dramatic. It’s a painter’s paradise!
Hello! And hello, July!! Wow! Time is flying! It’s been over a month since I’ve posted anything here.
Life is wonderful in Las Cruces, New Mexico. Is it hot? Yes! It’s hot; so far, we’ve reached 105.5F (41C). And now we have the rainy season (they call it the monsoon season here). This will continue throughout this month and next.
We like it here a lot. We're still settling in; the garage is filled with boxes; and we're diligently working on our major home renovations, hoping to complete most of them soon. Settling in after a move can take months or even a year or two. That’s where we’re at now—just getting our legs, as they say. However, I’m posting this for a different reason.
I am on the brink of making a significant decision in my life (no, it is not relocating! LOL!). Because of this potential endeavor, I have been absent from my blog or writing here. I’m going to hold off on posting the news until I know for certain that it’s going to happen. I would like to query those who follow my YouTube channel (or this blog) and ask if they would like to engage with weekly live video streams again.
A few weeks ago, I received an email from a person who was jumping into the wet collodion process and shared how much they had enjoyed watching my YouTube videos. I appreciate these kinds of comments. I do get a few that write me and tell me they’re engaged with the 200+ videos on my channel and that they’ve found the information helpful, encouraging, or even a bit entertaining.
If you’re interested in joining a live show or even just watching the videos after they’re made, drop me an email or comment here. Let me know if this sounds valuable to you. My main goal would be to engage with the conceptual and the technical (ask questions live or send me emails to address on the show), and if I end up involved with this new venture, I’ll include that in the videos. Moreover, it would be beneficial to have a small community again engaged in talking about life, art, and making pictures.
And no, I’m not selling anything or asking for any commercial compensation; this is strictly for engaging with each other and having meaningful conversations.
Monsoon season in Las Cruces, New Mexico, June 29, 2024, 1730.
“Phrenology” - Whole Plate Black Glass Ambrotype - Viernheim, Germany 2009
Every time I start to write about narcissism and self-esteem, some wires get crossed and confusion sets in, and I try to wriggle my way out of explaining the difference between the two. There is a very fine line between the two, and it’s very difficult to explain the nuances.
Self-esteem is very important for psychological security. You need it; every human being does. But what is self-esteem? Most people think that it’s feeling good about yourself. And that’s true, but it plays a much bigger role than that.
Ernest Becker said that self-esteem is as important as food to a human being. That’s quite a statement, but I think it’s true. Self-esteem boils down to a very basic need: having meaning and significance in a world that values you. Most of the time, our culture provides ways that we can bolster our self-esteem. Getting a degree, accomplishing important things at your job, raising a family, or belonging to a certain religion or political group. Even joining in with the fans of a specific sports team. All of those cultural constructs can give us the framework for boosting our self-esteem and making us feel like we’re significant in a meaningful world. That’s what we’re after (psychologically speaking), whether we’re aware of it or not, and most aren’t.
There are plenty of harmful ways we try to find that comfort, too. Ernest Becker articulated some of the malignant traits of pursuing this; he called it, “tranquilizing with the trivial.” These activities include shopping, social media, drinking, drugging, etc. These are all ways humans “turn off” (or try to) the constant gnawing of mortality. Most of the time, we try to work within our cultural worldview and boost our self-esteem by following what’s appropriate and accepted in our culture. If our culture doesn’t provide obtainable ways to bolster our self-esteem, we'll resort to tranquilizing with the trivial, or worse.
I just read an article about America's declining IQ. It’s called “Our Falling IQ Shows in the Polls” by Sabrina Haake. You can read the article here. I can’t help but see that social media has played a big role in this, among many other things (see article). I’m worried about this country. These are not new concerns; they are just more present and potent than before. And I can’t help but tie all of this back to Becker’s theories and Solomon’s empirical evidence about death anxiety and terror management theory. It’s so easy for me to see the correlation and causation. Some food for thought.
On another note: I’ve been editing my book like crazy for a few days. I try to get some editing time in every day. It’s exciting to see it get closer and closer to becoming a real, published book! I know there won’t be very many people interested in it, but for those that are, I hope you’ll find it potent and thought-provoking.
This is a great interview. The interviewer talks to the writer of “Flight from Death.” Ernest Becker and the Denial of Death (there are two parts and hopefully a third coming out soon).
“Sacred Trees” - 2022; Whole Plate - Platinum/Palladium Print from a wet collodion negative.
On Quinn Jacobson's work "In the Shadow of Sun Mountain (Tava Kaavi): The Psychology of Othering and the Origins of Evil:" It's a poignant reflection on the historical and psychological dimensions of land ownership, colonization, and the human experience of mortality.
Jacobson's exploration of the unconscious denial of death and its connection to historical atrocities is thought-provoking. By linking these themes to the specific landscape and history of the Rocky Mountains, where he resides, he brings a personal and localized perspective to broader existential questions.
The integration of ideas from cultural anthropologist Ernest Becker and social psychologist Sheldon Solomon adds depth to Jacobson's exploration of mortality salience and existential anxiety. It's fascinating to see how these psychological theories intersect with historical and geographical contexts in his artistic practice.