I have not yet finished this book but I am currently reading The Art of Asking: or how I learned to stop worrying and let people help. by Amanda Palmer.

A lot of the work and research I am currently doing is looking at human interaction and exchange outside of the market economy or the “logical” way we have to perform together in society. I have been thinking, for example, about creating a framework to continue working which my Portraits for Cocoa Farmers project would be subsumed into. Ultimately the projects and research I’m interested in doing comes down to a core of love. Love for our place, our environment, people, ourselves; focusing on love, truth and beauty can easily be a lifelong project and I enjoy thinking of ways these things can manifest themselves.

The Art of Asking has been extremely impactful as far as understanding how the real art of any object is the conversation and connections it initiates. This book also talks about the importance of building community through your practice and how this community provides a feedback loop and inspiration for new work. I recently had a conversation with an artist colleague and she proposed the formula of: Ritual => Intimacy => Community. It’s a loop too, because with community you will create and recreate rituals and intimacy and ultimately this is how we were meant to be as humans. Our fullest human experience is engaging with others and growing as a result. This is the focus of my art practice and why I am such a fan of Amanda and her book! You can find it here.