Silent cross country walking trip with a 4x5

[gleaf]

I am of the very grumpy clan. Let's face it.. we of the old clan gained wisdom from surviving our many not so bright ideas. It is not the great success that guides our pathways. It is the number of bright ideas that came up zero or negative. I know that nature and reality attack full on when people plan a noble idea. My wishes are for him to learn by attempting his Mt. Everest. He may learn far more from continuing to completion in spite of some slips and failures that he would with the hypothetical crown of glorious achievement. Much thought needs to be given to safety and emergency recovery. I may think he's crazy, but he's young and an 80 year old just topped out on Everest last week. In a year he will be a fine mime and his Everest attempt will be in the book of experience. Contribute as you chose. My donation is in. Maybe this will be better than my buying etoys stock when it was tanking.

[Brian Ellis]

I think it's fine for him to do this and I wish him good luck. I've always regretted not taking a year off after undergrad school to do something more interesting than taking my first job.

I do question his plan to not talk and to use a 4x5 camera. Those things maybe add a little pizzazz to what's actually a very physically difficult, but fairly mundane, project. Perhaps the added difficulty makes it easier to raise money but I don't see what purpose they serve from any other standpoint.

[frotog]

Delusions of grandeur, magical thinking, self-entitlement - all hallmarks of narcissistic personality disorder, an affliction that runs rampid in this generation of twenty-somethings. I'd give him money too except I can't trust him to actually follow through with his plans. He would not be the first adventurer on kickstarter to con money from his sponsers.

[frotog]

http://www.outsideonline.com/outdoor...r-Nothing.html
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[barnninny]

Have to say I don't get why this pushes so many buttons. Do I get what he's doing? No. I don't get performance art in general, if that's even what this is.

But nothing about it makes me wanna holler about getting off my lawn. If he wants to do it, fine. It's his life. If people are willing to fund it, that's fine, too. It's their money. Is he misspending an excellent and expensive education that he might not have deserved? I've got no idea. But even if he is, at least he's doing it harmlessly. Meaningless performance art beats hell out of going to Wall Street to invent new meaningless paper.

[Leszek Vogt]

Then how did you find out? ;-)

She was explaining the details how it was done....after the fact.

Les

[jeroldharter]

Seems mundane to me. Many people have offered to pay me not to speak for a year, even for a minute at times. Never occurred to me that could be a kickstarter project. Maybe that should be part of the retirement plan. I bet a lot of people here could make out just as well as me.

It is amazing that someone would work for money and then donate money to this. Probably the same group that would like government to subsidize art. Just my opinion.

[Scott Walker]

It is amazing that someone would work for money and then donate money to this. Probably the same group that would like government to subsidize art. Just my opinion.

Sounds like those pesky Art Fairies again!

[Jac@stafford.net]

[...] Probably the same group that would like government to subsidize art. Just my opinion.

It is interesting that in Minnesota, public building funding allocates 1% for artwork incorporated into the project.

[jp]

Maine allocates 1% for public building art as well. It tends to be spent on expensive impractical or irrelevant items that some architect likes rather than something meaningful for the location or community. I'd rather it be spent on education than "consumption because it's in the budget" but it don't work that way.

The walking trip does remind me of Thoreau, but he didn't have a vow of silence, but rather valued solitude and walking. There's a lot to be gained by walking and observation and if someone has to shut their mouth to experience that, that's what they gotta do. OTOH, The silence vow makes it a gimmick likely meant to elicit curiosity and crowd funding. If I knew he was coming through my town, I'd be tempted to kick in $20, then shoot him with a paintball and see if he yelps. That would be memorable performance art.