art, perception and what matters

"As an artist, you can only be interested in what truly matters to you. You can only desire to know what you feel is worth knowing. " —Francesco Clemente, in Namarupa

I've been delayed getting my hands on the spring issue of Namarupa: Categories of Indian Thought that contains an interview with one of my favorite artists so I was pretty damn delighted to see it sitting in the entry room of the brand, spankin' new Ashtanga Yoga San Francisco this evening, aka the labor of love of Heidi Lender and John Wilhelm. Finally, San Francisco gets a studio devoted entirely to Ashtanga as taught by Sri. K.Pattabhi Jois. It's a drop dead, clear, and gorgeous space. I'm counting my blessings for the reminder today of things I forget that I know (as well as the fact that the studio is not too far from home). My India jones gets abetted a bit. Phew. Now the work begins anew...

So back to the interview, and Clemente's observation-What does matter?

What is the matter?

...earlier in the day, I made a lunch break pit-stop at World Chi Recording, two blocks from work, where Mr. Dave lets me put down rufs of songs that are more sketches than anything approaching finished. Today it was two: one more than a year old, one new-ish, both inspired by children, looking at the world with brand new eyes, loving it, all, all the matter, equally (yes, when I get an mp3 I'll put it HERE and you can see what a difference in perception a year makes) ...