“Most people spend their entire lives trying to avoid friction,” Keenan began. “Somewhere along the way, I found it in myself a desire — a calling — to embrace friction, tension, transitions, changes and to work with them … Life is change. Life is friction.” Keenan continued, “[Life is] working with the tension and the friction, because that’s where art is. That’s where the art occurs. The purest art and the best forms of art are those ones that actually capture that moment; that edge.” James Maynard Keenan- Caduceus Cellars and Merkin Vineyards.
I became a fan of Tool, the American rock band known for its deep satirical and profound lyrical understanding of life’s complexity, geometrical philosophy, and the ups and downs, biochemical reactions that occur with life every day. I’m just a casual fan and I don’t really know much about the band apart from their music and the man behind the madness, James Maynard Keenan. But what’s interesting to me is his speech on winemaking, and for that random suggestion, I praise Youtube. “He began by incorporating the concept of friction in his voice, and that most people try to stop it, but yet he prefers to accept it, it can be an overwhelmingrealisation,”
To justify the action of friction, he uses various examples of life to either go against gravity or encourage it to produce something beautiful or a solution in that stressful environment. Examples of friction involve the playing of a cello or a mother giving birth. Life is working toward that resolution, allowing a transition to bring pressure and tension. And it is the purest art! Working with friction and uncertainty, catching the lovely moment. It’s appealing to him for artists who use that to capture that moment in whatever form it is, “Sonic joy, sonic rage, sonic sorrow … everything within that release” could be a canvas, camera, cuisine, music … anything. He introduces his wine company towards the end of his speech and describes why he chooses winemaking as a form of art that bears through the changes in the world and gives the joy of taste in the end.
Reference: Theprp.com. (2019). Tool’s Maynard James Keenan Gives An Inspirational Speech On Friction & Tension In Art | Theprp.com. [online] Available at: https://www.theprp.com/2015/06/19/news/tools-maynard-james-keenan-gives-an-inspirational-speech-on-friction-tension-in-art/
Youtube.com. (2019). YouTube. [online] Available at: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=lsQRBLDGP2w .
Fine Art America. (2019). Friction Art Print by Dee Carpenter. [online] Available at: https://fineartamerica.com/featured/friction-dee-carpenter.html?product=art-print [Accessed 15 Dec. 2019].
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