A Secret about Art

2024-05-07 · letter vlog · John · 4:00 · watch on YouTube

Topic: Books & writing · mode: Personal essay · tags: timely hook, self promotion, community lore

After a Format-style opener in which he assembles a cheap step-and-repeat and interviews himself about the Turtles All the Way Down film, John argues that making art means bringing your whole self to it, but art also depends on the audience's gift of generous, open attention, and thanks viewers who brought their deepest selves to the film.

What is said

The parts of the video and what is said in each (★ — how much it matters to the video).

00:00:00 — Format-style opener: John assembles a cheap step-and-repeat and interviews himself about the film's response

★ John assembles a cheap step-and-repeat ordered for the film's Indianapolis premiere that didn't arrive in time, and feels like a reporter at the jankiest premiere ever. (playful) — 00:00:00 · Indianapolis
★★ Interviewing himself, John says he is thrilled with the response to the film so far: despite a minuscule marketing budget, it has reached so many people. — 00:00:29
★★ John says that even if you don't have amazing billboards in Times Square, Nerdfighteria will make you amazing billboards in Times Square. — 00:00:36 · Nerdfighteria
★★ John says that in the end word of mouth is all that matters for a movie. — 00:00:44

00:00:56 — A secret about art: bringing your whole self to making, and the generous attention art needs from its audience

★ John says Nerdfighteria is the best, whether fighting tuberculosis or supporting the film's turtles that represent doubt and consciousness. (playful) — 00:00:57 · Nerdfighteria, tuberculosis
★★★ John tells Hank a secret about art: making something requires bringing your whole self to it; reaching his weighed-down, abstract inner places and expressing them is the hardest part of his job. — 00:01:05
★★ Writing a book only he must do that, but a movie asks about a hundred people to: directors and actors, also producers, writers, production designers and makeup artists. — 00:01:26
★★ On his first day on set, talking with the makeup department about Aza's callus, John realized they had read the book and considered how to show it without sensationalizing it. — 00:01:38 · Turtles All the Way Down
★★ John says that sometimes you pour your whole self into something and it is still not great, citing W. H. Auden: all bad poetry is sincere. — 00:01:55
★★★ John says artists must make things with all the generosity and openness they can muster, yet remain wholly dependent on readers, viewers or listeners bringing theirs to the work. — 00:02:05
★★ John repeats that a generous reader can make a good book great and an ungenerous reader can make a great book terrible. — 00:02:15

“a generous reader can make a good book great”
★★ John says he can easily bring his whole self to some paintings, like the Raymond Pettibon spiral painting featured in the film; he can hardly look away from it. — 00:02:27
★★ John finds it baffling when people walk past that painting feeling nothing, except that he has likely walked past art they deeply connect with. (hedged) — 00:02:39
★★★ John says art must be made as a gift, and, wildest to him, the person receiving it must give a gift in return: their generous, open attention. — 00:02:48
★★ John says it means so much to him how many people, in Nerdfighteria and outside it, have opened their deepest selves to the film. — 00:02:58 · Nerdfighteria
★★★ John says the audience must commingle its own experiences and perspectives with the work; then the magic happens and the thing becomes greater than either could make alone. — 00:03:09

00:03:23 — Thanks to viewers who saw themselves in the film, sign-off, and a coda about the step-and-repeat gag

★★ John thanks everyone who has seen themselves in Aza, Daisy, Davis or Aza's mom for that gift, and for making the film something they could never make alone. — 00:03:23
★★ John says many hours went into the step-and-repeat gag, which isn't even a good bit: you pour yourself into something and sometimes get the film, other times the cheap step-and-repeat; that's art. (playful) — 00:03:33

In the description and comments

★ In a channel comment John says he loves The Format so much he spent three hours building a step and repeat. (playful) — creator comment
★★ The description says the Turtles All the Way Down film is streaming on Max now and thanks everyone who brought their deepest selves to it. — video description · Turtles All the Way Down

Humor (significant)

John stands before a cheap step-and-repeat he assembled himself for the film's premiere — 00:00:10

“Now I feel like a red carpet reporter at the jankiest movie premiere ever.”
Interviewing himself, John's reporter asks the interviewee whether he is the reporter — 00:00:49

“Kinda. It's complicated. Actually, that's one of the subjects of Turtles All the Way Down.”
John cuts from the red-carpet interview to a check on the weather — 00:00:54

“It's not great.”
John contrasts pouring yourself into the film with pouring yourself into this video's gag — 00:03:40

“Other times, you get the Wish.com step-and-repeat.”

Threads in this video

milestone · Turtles All the Way Down film adaptation (2017) — Interviewing himself, John says he is thrilled with the response to the film so far: despite a minuscule marketing budget, it has reached so many people. (00:00:29)
restate · What is art for? — John says art must be made as a gift, and, wildest to him, the person receiving it must give a gift in return: their generous, open attention. (00:02:48)

Where the stories that moved here went next

Turtles All the Way Down film adaptation (2017) — completed; last: milestone, 2024-05-21

Mentioned

Central: Turtles All the Way Down (film)

Also: People: W. H. Auden

Works: Raymond Pettibon's spiral painting · Turtles All the Way Down · Wind Beneath My Wings

Organizations: Wish

Concepts: gift · principle of charity · tuberculosis · visual arts

Places: Indianapolis · Times Square

Characters: Aza Holmes · Daisy Ramirez · Davis Pickett

Only in the description or credits: Max · Raymond Pettibon

Also centred on Turtles All the Way Down (film): On the Movies · An Amazing Day · Hello! Meet Daisy! · A Casting Announcement · Hello! Meet Aza! · Director Hannah Marks Is Nervous To Meet You

← Previous: Everything Wrong with Turtles All the Way Down · Next → We’re Here Because... Something Broke