[doctorhandshake]

My corollary axiom: “always be documentin’”, or, “document or it didn’t happen”.

I’d say easily 3/4 of the best stuff I’ve ever done was never bounced from the DAW/NLE, turned into a non-realtime/static artifact from code, or otherwise made archival, and far fewer projects / prototypes / physical experiments got the respect of any capture of any kind.

On a certain level I like the wabi-sabi nature of that. On another I wonder how many opportunities to converse or collaborate about mutual interests or future opportunities went by the wayside because I ‘labored in obscurity’ for so much of my life.

I’ve been doing some coaching for folks coming up in my industry recently and this has been an idea I’ve tried to convey early and often - “always be documentin’”.

[bxparks]

I read this like 3-4 times and I cannot parse or understand this comment. What does "DAW/NLE" mean? (DDG search says Digital Audio Workstation, and a whole bunch of links to something NLE Choppa). What does "non-realtime/static artifact from code" mean? What does "got the respect of any capture" mean? What does "wabi-sabi" mean? How does all this relate to "always documenting"?

[dc96]

DAW/NLE = digital audio workstation/non-linear editing (you'd have to search both terms in order to get the correct context, especially if used right next to each other).

The author is probably talking about video editing of some kind, whereby he either regrets not saving more source code or taking more screenshots of his work if I had to wager a guess. Not sure what the "non-realtime/static artifact from code" refers to when it comes to video editing -- perhaps much of it was rendered from code? 3D software, programmatic editing, etc.?

Wabi-sabi being used a bit weirdly in this context, but I think they mean the temporality of it all has innate beauty. Sometimes not capturing every single moment/line of code is OK, and there is beauty in a moment not strictly captured, to be appreciated more since you'll never see it again.

[doctorhandshake]

Yeah sorry to be oblique .. you are correct in regard to the intended meaning of DAW, NLE, and wabi-sabi. As for static artifacts, in my case I work with generative systems quite a lot, often durational systems that make image / sound / lighting / movement stochastically or non-deterministically over long periods, and are generally a living thing that has behavior. While a picture or other recording of those things represents a shadow image of what the real thing is, it beats nothing.

In this case, I mention wabi-sabi as the zen acceptance, even beauty, of the transience of all things, because it makes the creative act primary, rather than a very un-zen attempt to hold on to something fleeting, which some would say is the source of all unhappiness.