the art of concealing art

(excerpt from my journal entry dated June 14, 2012, a Thursday)

I’ve been meaning to write about acquiring a confident hand. The concept or idea of it came to me a long long time ago, and I didn’t know how to go about it then. But when I vacationed in Davao and, as a way of pakikisama, helped out Mommy Marlene (Marj’s mom) in kitchen work (i.e. slicing up vegetables and prepping other ingredients), that’s when the idea became clearer to me.

You see, while there, I had learned to chop and cut vegetables alla Chef Boy Logro (albeit not even half as fast as the good chef) by emulating Mommy Marlene’s way of doing it. You place your left hand on the vegetable in a certain way while your right hand handles the knife, making it go through a systematic motion of slicing up the vegetable. If you’re left-handed, you just re-assign the two tasks to the…err…whichever hand is up to the task. (Not that I think my readers are dumb—I just don’t want to be biased against left-handed people.)

Anyway, by following this system, I noticed that my cutting “prowess” grew faster by 70 percent. Not that I had a measuring device to gauge the difference. I just thought I had to assign a figure to be more clear about what I’m talking about—although, of course, that would probably confuse you further since you don’t have the slightest clue as to how slow I was to begin with.

The fun part about this is that I even tried my new-found knife skills with my eyes closed and—lo and behold!—I did it. You can just imagine how wonderfully pleasurable this has caused me. It’s like riding your bike without holding on to the manibela:  “Look, ma, no hands!” Except I didn’t lose my hands.

It’s like you can perform in a circus already. It’s like…oh enough of this “it’s like”! In short, I gained a confident hand. Or hands, if you like. That’s what I’ve been meaning to talk about.

There are skills in life that you acquire and they become so much part of your system, it becomes remarkably uncanny whenever you put them to use.

Like me giving Tatay a bath, for example. I’ve been doing the routine everyday for years already, it seems Tatay and I can go through the routine with our eyes closed already. Whoa! That’s pushing it too far.

But why bother about gaining a confident hand?

I do so, because I’ve always been interested in the concept of “the art of concealing art.” Gets? The art of the true masters: they have so mastered the art, not the slightest effort to be artsy can be gleaned. Hindi trying hard.

I think having the confidence is the first step to the art of concealing art. Oh, okay. So maybe, it’s the SECOND step. The first step is, of course, acquiring the knowledge/skills to do the task. Knowing the steps thereof. Like musicians gaining basic knowledge of the finger work that produces the sounds from their instruments. Or like chefs who have familiarized themselves with different types of knives for different cutting purposes.

You bring them to the kitchen, the true masters are like ninjas brandishing about their swords with stealth efforts. Ninjas, by the way, don’t chop up vegetables with shuriken. I don’t know why I even wrote that, it just came to mind.

You see, it would really help also if, besides a confident hand, the right tools are also used. Really sharp trusty knives for master chefs. Really great-sounding guitars with excellent workmanship for “feel” and handling for guitar godz. Even the greatest masters would suffer the quality of the desired results if the appropriate tools (in the right condition) are not used.

Next step would be lots of practice. Practice nang practice para ma-reinforce ‘yung confidence na na-acquire mo, hanggang sa maging parte ito ng sistema mo.

Parang ‘yung self-portrait ni Rembrandt. May hawak siyang brushes, maulstick and a palette, but it’s not clear in the painting where his hands end and where his tools begin. In the painting, the tools have become part of his limbs!

Or ‘yung acting ni Jim Carrey sa “Man on the Moon”; ni Meryl Streep sa “The Iron Lady”; or ni Marion Cotillard sa “La Vie en Rose.” Critics say they weren’t actors acting; they were actually possessed! The artistry has been so well concealed because THE ARTIST AND HIS ART HAVE BECOME ONE.

Sa writing yata, ganun din: when readers don’t remember you—the author—but have come to relish instead the experience of the work you have written. “Invisible writing” ‘ata ang tawag dun. Dapat maging invisible ka, makalimutan ka bilang author. Instead, ‘yung writing mo ang dapat maalala ng mga readers mo—HINDI IKAW!

Wow. I’ve got a long way to go. Parang na-frustrate ako bigla sa realization na ‘yun a. Anyway, tsaka na lang ako magsi-sintir dito. Waste of space.

So, what’s the next step after a confident hand becomes a master of his craft? I think it would be expanding your horizons. Not necessarily breaking the rules.

Learn some more. Learn how other masters see it and do it. Fuse what you know with the techniques and methods that other masters employ. Huwag lang basta sumunod sa uso o makipagsabayan sa uso. Naging master ka na nga ng craft mo, tapos magpapadikta ka pa sa formula ng mainstream.

Lastly, for lack of an ender, happy birthday, everyone!

Jim Carrey as the Environmental Guy