Close
About
FAQ
Home
Collections
Login
USC Login
Register
0
Selected
Invert selection
Deselect all
Deselect all
Click here to refresh results
Click here to refresh results
USC
/
Digital Library
/
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
/
Accomplishing nothing: procrastination meditation poem
(USC Thesis Other)
Accomplishing nothing: procrastination meditation poem
PDF
Download
Share
Open document
Flip pages
Copy asset link
Request this asset
Transcript (if available)
Content
Accomplishing
Nothing:
“Procrastination
Meditation
Poem”
by
Alana
Riley
_____________________________________________________
A
Thesis
Presented
to
the
FACULTY
OF
THE
USC
GRADUATE
SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY
OF
SOUTHERN
CALIFORNIA
In
Partial
Fulfillment
of
the
Requirements
for
the
Degree
MASTER
OF
FINE
ARTS
August
2015
Copyright
2015
Alana
Riley
ii
Table
of
Contents
List
of
Figures
iii
Abstract
iv
I.
Introduction
1
II.
The
Aesthetics
of
“Umlessness”
4
III.
Procrastination
8
IV.
Meditation
Poem
10
V.
Refusal
and
Potentiality
12
VI.
Conclusion
15
Bibliography
17
Appendix
18
iii
List
of
Figures
Figure
1.
Riley,
Alana
(2015).
YouTube:
Eric
Wesley,
“Procrastination
Meditation
Poem”,
2012,
(Image,
screen-‐capture).
Retrieved
from:
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1GgIhlLmlMQ
iv
Abstract
Through
an
in-‐depth
interpretation
of
Eric
Wesley’s
video
“Procrastination
Meditation
Poem”
(2012),
my
aim
is
to
examine
the
signification
of
the
verbal
blunder
“um”,
and
to
propose
it
as
a
site
of
potentiality,
refusal
and
enlightenment.
Accomplishing
Nothing:
“Procrastination
Meditation
Poem”
*
I.
Introduction:
Eric
Wesley
is
a
Los-‐Angeles-‐based
artist
working
in
sculpture,
painting,
drawing,
film
and
video.
His
practice
explores
the
blurring
of
work
and
leisure,
the
critique
of
capitalism
and
mass
production,
often
employing
historical
references,
all
with
a
keen
sense
of
humor
and
irony.
In
his
video
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
(2012),
we
see
the
artist
sitting
in
a
swivel
chair,
wearing
a
white
button-‐down
shirt.
This
semi-‐formal
attire
resembles
what
one
might
wear
to
the
office,
not
the
stereotype
of
an
artist
in
the
studio.
While
there
is
no
furniture
visible
in
the
frame,
one
can
assume
he
is
sitting
at
a
desk
or
a
conference
table;
rarely
does
one
sit
in
a
swivel
office
chair
in
the
middle
of
a
room.
These
details
suggest
an
environment
of
work,
not
leisure,
and
even
less
so,
a
site
of
spiritual
transcendence.
In
an
email
exchange
with
Wesley,
I
learned
that
he
is
in
fact
sitting
at
a
desk
in
his
workspace,
with
the
video
being
recorded
by
the
camera
of
his
computer.
The
camera
is
fixed
and
framed
above
his
chest,
mimicking
the
“talking
head”
framing
of
a
speaker’s
address
on
screen.
There
is
nothing
but
a
white
wall
behind
him,
which
he
occasionally
turns
to
face.
Throughout
the
video,
he
spins
in
his
seat,
*
I
am
grateful
to
my
thesis
advisors,
A.L.
Steiner,
Charlie
White,
and
Noura
Wedell
for
their
generous
advice
and
many
helpful
comments.
I
also
wish
to
thank
Eric
Wesley
for
providing
the
details
on
where
to
view
his
video,
thus
enabling
me
to
procrastinate
and
meditate
along
with
him.
2
offering
us
his
profile
or
the
back
of
his
head,
but
even
when
facing
directly
forward,
his
gaze
never
meets
the
camera’s
lens;
the
viewer
is
never
directly
addressed.
This
negation
of
an
audience
intensifies
the
impression
of
an
ongoing
internal
struggle.
For
the
duration
of
the
11
minute
28
second
video,
we
witness
the
artist
repeating
variations
of
“Um”.
At
the
beginning,
it
seems
as
if
the
“um”
is
just
the
prelude
to
the
articulation
of
a
thought:
he
is
going
to
say
something,
the
thought
is
coming
to
him.
This
is
what
we
expect
when
we
hear
the
utterance
“um”.
Instead,
however,
he
quickly
gets
lost
in
the
sound
of
his
own
voice.
The
pitch
shifts
to
that
of
fascination,
and
perhaps
almost
an
enjoyment
of
the
sensation
triggered
by
generating
such
a
sound.
The
“um”
morphs
into
iterations
of
itself:
“hm”,
“yum”,
“om”,
“ah”;
each
utterance
sparking
a
new
interpretation.
These
utterances
with
their
varied
tones
and
intonations
begin
to
take
on
the
form
of
a
language.
This
process
is
reminiscent
of
a
child
discovering
her
voice
and
its
full
3
range
of
capabilities;
getting
lost
in
her
own
babbling,
finding
joy
and
amusement
in
her
highest
pitch
screech,
at
times
even
startling
herself.
As
we
learn
as
the
video
progresses,
much
can
in
fact
be
communicated
through
the
almost-‐language
this
process
generates.
The
playing
with
syllables
turns
into
the
mantra
like
chant
of
“om”.
Yet
the
video
is
edited
to
cut
between
these
moments
and
return
again
to
different
states:
attempts
to
speak,
searching
for
words
and
thoughts,
toying
with
sounds,
meditative
chanting.
The
viewer,
along
for
the
ride,
is
jolted
from
witnessing
the
artist
sitting
antsy
in
his
chair,
struggling
to
contend
with
his
thoughts,
to
reveling
in
a
state
of
non-‐doing,
to
appearing
calm
and
meditative.
Wesley’s
“um”
is
an
endless
cycle:
the
video
signals
a
loop
with
its
first
frame
matching
the
last.
In
performing
speechlessness
and
the
failure
of
communication,
Wesley
is,
of
course,
not
alone.
For
example,
William
Pope.L’s
speech
during
the
Tate
Symposium
of
“Live
Culture:
Performance
and
the
Contemporary”,
in
2003,
similarly
plays
with
the
disappointed
expectations
of
an
audience
that,
like
the
viewer
of
Wesley’s
Poem,
awaits
comprehensible
communication.
Yet
addressing
the
audience
of
the
symposium,
Pope.L
performs
a
10-‐minute
speech
comprised
of
incomprehensible
utterances,
click
sounds
resembling
Southern
African
dialects,
and
a
few
mixed-‐in
French
words.
It
is
clear
that
he
is
not
speaking
any
one
language
but
rather
appropriating
sounds
and
occasional
words
into
a
format
that
bears,
in
gesture,
inflection,
and
cadence,
the
outer
appearance
of
a
public
address.
Alongside
him
on
the
stage
are
two
sign
interpreters
who
attempt
to
convey
the
sounds
as
best
they
can,
but
they
are
captured
laughing
while
trying
to
perform
this
task.
The
4
incomprehensibility
and
the
duration
during
which
he
persists
to
convey
that
which
is
indecipherable
makes
this
speech/performance
at
once
comical,
awkward,
touching
and
captivating.
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
evokes
a
similar
response,
despite
its
contrasting
context
and
execution.
However,
while
Pope.L’s
speech
serves
as
such
–
as
a
public
speech
–
a
comment
on
the
mannerisms
of
public
address
and
the
expectation
of
an
audience,
Wesley’s
video
is
more
intimate.
While
Pope.L
depicts
the
failure
of
communication,
Wesley’s
piece
is
about
its
non-‐
occurrence:
the
focus
shifts
towards
the
expectation
of
that
which
is
never
said,
that
which
should
follow
the
“um”,
the
act
of
communication
that
is
prevented
by
the
titular
“procrastination”.
The
repeated,
seemingly
useless
“um”
thus
becomes
an
activity
in
itself,
a
conscious
choice
not
to
pursue
another,
assumingly
more
important,
task.
II.
The
Aesthetics
of
“Umlessness”
For
the
entire
duration
of
the
Poem,
the
protagonist
repeats
variations
of
“um”:
a
verbal
blunder,
which,
usually,
as
a
moment
of
speechlessness,
precedes
a
communication.
With
the
“um”
comes
a
moment
of
awkwardness
–
an
uncomfortable
interlude
in
which
we
are
fearing
with
the
speaker
the
embarrassment
of
not
knowing
what
to
say,
of
not
being
able
to
say
anything
at
all.
Fillers
such
as
“um”
thus
have
become
the
symbol
of
lack
of
eloquence,
of
lack
of
rhetorical
polish,
even
of
lack
of
intelligence.
Spoken
word
should,
ideally,
resemble
a
printed
text.
Author
and
journalist
Michael
Erard
has
examined
the
5
history
of
this
“aesthetic
of
umlessness”
1
.
He
traces
the
presence
of
verbal
blunders
among
rhetoricians
of
ancient
Greece
and
Rome.
His
findings
propose
that
the
aesthetic
of
umlessness
is
a
modern
phenomenon:
according
to
Erard,
it
manifested
in
the
last
century
with
the
advent
of
industrialized
societies,
and
when
language
became
more
of
a
marker
of
status
and
social
class.
2
The
“aesthetic
of
umlessness”
is
reinforced
not
only
through
countless
unrealistic
dialogues
in
movies
and
television,
but
also,
and
in
particular,
through
the
ubiquity
of
polished
public
speech.
Toastmasters,
an
international
non-‐profit
organization
whose
purpose
is
to
improve
the
communication
and
public
speaking
skills
of
its
members,
has
a
policy
of
fining
members
a
nickel
for
each
“ah”
or
“um”
uttered
during
a
speech.
One
public
speaking
technique,
employed
by
Lee
Glickstein,
founder
of
Speaking
Circles
International,
is
to
practice
transforming
the
“um”
into
a
slow
“mmm”
sound,
which,
if
practiced
over
time,
would
eventually
lead
to
a
fading
out,
until
there
is
only
silence.
By
meditating
on
them,
Glickstein
said,
a
speaker
should
eventually
be
able
to
turn
“mmmms”
to
what
he
calls
“rich
stillness”.
3
The
goal
is
the
erasure
of
the
sound
entirely,
in
order
to
make
room
for
a
“meaningful”
pause.
Wesley’s
video
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
does
not
specifically
point
towards
public
speaking
–
there
is
no
implied
audience
that
he
is
addressing
within
the
video,
rather
a
monologue
seems
to
be
taking
place.
However,
the
expectations
created
by
the
proliferation
of
public
speech
with
which
we
are
confronted
every
1
Michael
Erard,
Um…
Slips,
Stumbles,
and
Verbal
Blunders,
and
What
They
Mean
(New
York:
Pantheon
Books,
2007),
113.
2
Erard,
Um…,
118ff.
3
Erard,
Um…,113.
6
day,
expectations
of
eloquence
and
flawlessness,
which
make
“um”
all
the
more
a
forbidden
utterance.
It
is
the
disappointment
of
these
expectations
that
causes
an
uncomfortable,
curious
or
even
amusing
reaction,
while
watching
Wesley’s
litany
of
“ums”.
The
culture
of
public
speaking
has
become
an
increasingly
popular
venue
for
the
dissemination
of
information.
The
ubiquity
of
TED
Talks
4
(TEDx,
TEDGlobal,
etc.)
online
is
astounding,
especially
considering
the
common
fear
of
public
speaking.
5
Each
easily
digestible
speech
runs
no
longer
than
18-‐minutes,
designed
specifically
for
our
current
attention
spans,
and
the
length
of
our
coffee
breaks.
2014
even
saw
the
publication
of
a
self-‐help
book
entitled,
“Talk
like
Ted:
The
9
Public-‐
Speaking
Secrets
of
the
World’s
Top
Minds.”
As
a
promotional
text
tells
us:
“Make
no
mistake.
Your
ability
to
persuasively
sell
your
ideas
is
the
single
greatest
skill
that
will
help
you
achieve
your
dreams.
Follow
these
nine
rules
and
you’ll
astonish,
electrify,
and
inspire
your
audiences.”
6
The
language
surrounding
this
culture
emphasizes
the
pitch:
“to
persuasively
sell
your
idea”,
reminding
us
that
ideas
are
commodities
to
be
sold;
the
listener
is
the
consumer.
The
formulaic
execution
of
a
TED
Talk
is
uncanny,
and
one
can
expect
to
not
hear
any
verbal
blunders
uttered
in
those
18-‐minutes.
4
TED,
a
private
non-‐profit
foundation
hosting
conferences,
originally
focused
on
topics
related
to
technology,
entertainment,
and
design
(thus
the
acronym),
but
has
since
broadened
its
focus
to
include
academic,
scientific
and
cultural
topics.
5
Gallup
polls
have
shown
that
people
fear
public
speaking
more
than
they
do
death.
Gallup
poll,
2001,
accessed
April
15,
2015,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/1891/snakes-‐top-‐list-‐
americans-‐fears.aspx.
6
Promotional
text,
“Talk
like
Ted:
The
9
Public-‐Speaking
Secrets
of
the
World’s
Top
Minds”,
accessed
April
15,
2015,
http://www.forbes.com/sites/carminegallo/2014/03/04/9-‐
public-‐speaking-‐lessons-‐from-‐the-‐worlds-‐greatest-‐ted-‐talks/.
7
Inescapably,
the
TED
Talk
has
experienced
its
moments
of
subversion
and
critique.
The
performance
by
the
comedian,
musician,
and
poet
Reggie
Watts
at
TED2012
7
is
a
well-‐known
example.
Watts
delivered
a
speech,
including
musical
interludes,
which
parodied
the
characteristic
TED
rhetoric.
His
speech
oscillated
between
several
languages,
taking
on
various
accents,
and
when
speaking
clearly
in
English,
he
combined
catch
words
and
phrases
all
too
familiar
to
this
environment
in
a
manner
that
seemingly
made
sense,
but
in
trying
to
follow
what
he
was
saying
it
becomes
clear
that
it
is,
in
fact,
all
completely
nonsensical.
If
we
compare
Watts’s
performance
with
Wesley’s
Poem,
we
notice
the
similarly
ironic
take
on
a
certain
aesthetic
of
polished
eloquence.
Watts
parodies
the
public
performance
of
the
TED
talker
in
their
presumptuous
pose
of
delivering
profoundness
in
a
glibly
packaged
and
easily
digestible
fashion.
While
Watts
disappoints
the
expectation
to
be
bestowed
upon
the
typical
polished
rhetoric
of
the
TED
talk,
Wesley
similarly
disappoints
the
expectation
of
“umlessness”,
thus
expanding
the
awkwardness
of
the
speechless
moment,
the
moment
that
exposes
the
speaker,
according
to
the
unrealistic
expectations
of
this
aesthetic,
as
un-‐
eloquent
and
even
unintelligent.
Yet
we
also
notice
the
obvious
difference
–
another
aspect
that
perhaps
makes
us
even
more
uneasy.
Watts
parodies
the
shallowness
of
sharing
meaningful
truths
by
the
portrayal
of
the
breakdown
of
communication.
Wesley,
however,
withholds
communication.
“Um”,
the
uncomfortable
blunder
before
a
more
7
“Ted
Talk,
Reggie
Watts”,
accessed
April
25,
2015.
https://www.ted.com/talks/reggie_watts_disorients_you_in_the_most_entertaining_way?la
nguage=en.
8
meaningful
elocution,
never
actually
bears
fruit;
the
tension
it
creates
is
never
resolved,
and
like
a
disharmonic
chord
that
is
never
resolved,
it
leaves
the
audience
with
an
ongoing
feeling
of
cacophonic
dissatisfaction.
As
we
witness
throughout
the
video,
the
initial
utterances
of
“um”
seem
to
be
simple
blunders
that
a
viewer
would
soon
expect
to
give
way
to
a
statement
composed
of
words
and
sentences.
Throughout
the
video,
however,
we
witness
how
this
apparent
ambition
to
turn
speechlessness
into
communication
gives
way
to
playful
repetition
of
different
shades
of
“um”
that
seem,
to
the
protagonist,
worth
uttering
in
and
of
themselves.
Uttering
“um”
becomes
an
activity
in
its
own
right;
the
protagonist
chooses
not
to
say
anything
else,
and
“um”
takes
on
the
role
of
a
refusal
to
communicate.
III.
Procrastination
It
is
in
this
context
that
the
title
of
the
piece,
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem,
attracts
our
attention.
8
How
and
why
would
the
utterance
of
“um”
be
regarded
as
“procrastination”?
As
we
have
seen,
“um”
is
usually
perceived
is
as
an
utterance
that
is
preparing
and
preceding
a
(more
or
less
successful)
communication,
an
utterance
that
is
aesthetically
undesirable,
yet
at
least
instills
the
hope
of
leading
to
something
better.
Procrastination,
by
contrast,
is
defined
as
“voluntarily
delay[ing]
an
intended
course
of
action
despite
expecting
to
be
worse
off
for
the
delay.”
9
It
is,
by
definition,
8
Remarkably,
this
video
is
not
listed
in
the
available
list
of
Wesley’s
works.
The
work
is,
however,
accessible
on
“YouTube”,
under
the
title
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem.
In
an
email
exchange
between
the
artist
and
the
author,
Wesley
confirmed
that
this
is
the
title.
9
Piers
Steel,
The
Nature
of
Procrastination:
A
Meta-‐Analytic
and
Theoretical
Review
of
Quintessential
Self-‐Regulatory
Failure
(University
of
Calgary
Press:
Alberta,
2007),
65.
9
going
nowhere.
Furthermore:
procrastination
is
a
choice:
a
less
fruitful
or
even
counterproductive
activity
is
chosen
over
a
more
important
or
more
pressing
task.
While
this
choice
might
be
deemed
compulsive
and
will,
typically,
be
accompanied
by
a
guilty
conscience
–
the
task
actually
carried
out,
the
“procrastination”,
is
a
conscious,
intentional
activity.
“Procrastination”
is
thus
a
conscious
refusal
to
function
in
a
way
one
is
expected
to
function.
What
we
observe
in
the
video,
then,
is
that
the
artist’s
repeating
of
“um”
does
not
serve
the
purpose
of
arriving
at
a
thought,
but
rather
the
purpose
of
not
arriving
anywhere.
If
the
repeating
of
“um”
is
procrastination,
then
it
is
a
conscious
choice
not
to
speak.
The
“um”
does
not
signify
a
failure
to
communicate;
it
is
a
refusal
to
communicate,
to
come
to
an
idea
or
to
articulate
intelligible
thought.
In
a
society
that
is
built
around
the
everlasting
increase
of
productivity,
“procrastination”
is
a
vice
–
or
even
a
mortal
sin.
Procrastination
is
not
acknowledged
as
a
state
that
prepares
creation;
it
is
understood
to
be
the
denial
or
even
refusal
of
productivity.
It
is
therefore
unsurprising
that
procrastination
is
a
common
topic
of
a
literature
that
purports
to
improve
our
lives
and
deliver
us
from
afflictions
such
as
gluttony,
addiction,
depression
or
the
insurmountable
proclivity
to
procrastinate.
We
all
know
how
to
overcome
procrastination,
how
to
realize
our
full
potential
and
achieve
success,
how
to
fulfill
our
life’s
purpose,
or
how
to
get
rich
–
the
goal
always
being
to
manifest
control,
to
achieve
and
to
improve.
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
can
be
viewed
online
on
“YouTube”.
There,
Wesley’s
video
is
filed
alongside
other
videos
such
as
“Meditation
for
Overcoming
Procrastination
to
Fulfill
your
Life’s
Purpose”,
“Subliminal
Healing
Thy
Inner
Self”,
10
“Whispering
Hypnosis
to
Overcome
Procrastination”,
and
“Effective
Meditation
–
Manifest
what
you
really
Want
NOW!”.
This
syntactical
connection
to
the
“self-‐help”
video
genre
–
created
by
YouTube’s
algorithms
that
are
incapable
of
detecting
irony
–
enriches
and
enlivens
the
video’s
meaning,
presenting
possibilities
of
sabotage
and
subversion.
A
person
seeking
help
from
the
perils
of
procrastination
will
stumble
upon
Wesley’s
video
and
potentially
be
lured
into
another
11
minutes
and
28
seconds
of
abominable
procrastination.
IV.
Meditation
Poem
Before
the
eyes
of
the
(maybe
even
accidental)
beholder
now
unfolds
the
entire
extent
in
which
expectations
are
disappointed
–
the
undesirable
“um”,
the
consummate
non-‐activity,
is
turned
into
an
activity
in
itself.
The
repeated
elocution
of
the
syllable
becomes
a
poem,
a
playful
experiment
with
sounds,
inflection,
cadence,
reminiscent
of
Dadaist
poetry.
10
But
the
piece
takes
the
provocation
even
further.
At
some
point,
Wesley’s
“um”
turns
to
an
“om”.
These
two
utterances
exist
at
polar
ends:
“um”,
the
inadvertently
uttered
blemish,
and
the
deeply-‐felt,
purposefully
enunciated
“om”
–
the
syllable
that
enshrines
the
process
of
arriving
at
non-‐thought
as
a
spiritual
pursuit,
with
strong
religious
implications.
Both
oral
expressions
are
indicative
of
a
searching,
a
process
and
a
pursuit:
the
former,
a
helpless
stumble
on
the
way
to
a
communication,
the
other
as
the
epitome
of
perceiving
the
way,
the
process
as
the
goal
itself.
Wesley’s
procrastination
shifts
into
meditation:
his
refusal
to
10
Dada
artists,
such
as
Hugo
Ball
and
Kurt
Schwitters,
constructed
“sound
poetry”,
employing
repetitive
sounds
and
vowels
instead
of
words.
11
communicate,
his
refusal
to
function
as
he
is
expected,
takes
on
a
religious
or,
at
least,
“spiritual”
note.
Chanting
“om”,
“the
mother
of
mantras”
11
,
is
believed
to
promote
a
sense
of
peace,
and
to
clear
the
mind
of
noise
and
clutter
in
the
quest
for
spiritual
enlightenment.
In
the
Hindu
system
of
spiritual
practice,
this
syllable
is
believed
to
represent
the
manifestation
of
God
in
form
(among
many
other
things).
It
belongs
to
a
mystical
science
of
sound
vibration
used
for
spiritual
transformation
through
which
the
meditator
enters
states
that
are
beyond
thought.
Having
its
roots
in
Hindu
and
Buddhist
practices,
this
chant
is
common
within
the
many
Western
yogic
practices
that
mimic
and
plagiarize
Eastern
spirituality.
We
have
primarily
discussed
“um”
as
being
a
signal
of
trying
to
arrive
at
a
communication
–
at
least,
from
the
perspective
of
the
audience,
as
hopefully
leading
to
a
communication.
The
greatest
fear
of
the
speaker
and
the
audience,
the
greatest
possible
embarrassment
would
be
that
the
mind
goes
“blank”,
where
the
speaker
entirely
looses
her
train
of
thought,
unable
to
escape
the
awkward
situation
of
speechlessness
indefinitely.
Tricks
like
the
“meaningful”
pause
are
supposed
to
help
to
overplay
the
blank
and
to
help
the
speaker
get
back
on
track.
Wesley
turns
these
expectations
on
their
head
–
the
“um”
as
blankness
of
the
mind
becomes
an
intentional
pursuit,
as
expressed
by
the
transition
into
the
emblematic
“om”.
In
his
refusal
to
function
as
expected,
Wesley
thus
invokes
a
cultural
contrast:
the
meditative
state,
associated
with
Eastern
religious
and
philosophic
practices,
11
"Om."
The
Columbia
Encyclopedia,
6th
ed.
2014.
Encyclopedia.com,
accessed
April
29,
2015,
http://www.encyclopedia.com/doc/1E1-‐Om.html.
12
serves
in
a
wider
sense
to
reinforce
his
refusal
of
Western
societies’
focus
on
productivity.
The
uneasiness
we
experience
when
sitting
through
the
video
indicates,
ironically,
that
for
the
average
person
in
our
society,
one
can
assume
that
patience
and
meditation
might
take
more
effort
and
focus
than
complying
with
expectations.
V.
Refusal
and
Potentiality
A
similarly
unexpected,
unsettling
and
far-‐reaching
refusal
has
found
its
paradigmatic
literary
expression
in
Herman
Melville’s
famous
short
story
Bartleby,
The
Scrivener.
Melville’s
character,
Bartleby,
works
as
a
scribe
in
a
lawyer’s
office.
One
day,
upon
being
asked
to
perform
his
duties,
he
simply
replies,
“I
prefer
not
to”.
12
This
refusal
he
repeats
throughout
the
story
when
being
ask
to
perform
any
actions
whatsoever.
It
is
stated
with
the
emphasis
on
preference,
not
will
or
ability.
The
phrasing
of
this
refusal
is
important:
what
is
unsettling
is
not
only
the
refusal
to
work
itself,
the
non-‐compliance
with
what
is
expected
of
an
employee,
but
the
way
in
which
this
refusal
ultimately
disrupts
and
dismantles
the
entire
existing
system
and
day
to
day
functioning
of
the
attorney’s
office
13
.
The
formula
“I
prefer
12
Herman
Melville.
Bartleby,
the
Scrivener:
A
Story
of
Wall-‐Street,
accessed,
April
20,
2015,
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11231/pg11231.html
13
As
pointed
out
by
Rancière:
"The
formula
erodes
the
attorney's
reasonable
organization
of
work
and
life.
It
shatters
not
just
the
hierarchies
of
a
world
but
what
supports
them:
the
connections
between
the
causes
and
effects
we
expect
from
that
world,
between
the
behaviors
and
motives
we
attribute
to
them,
and
the
means
we
have
to
modify
them.
The
formula
leads
the
causal
order
of
the
world
that
rules
what
we'll
call,
in
Schopenhaurian
terms,
the
world
of
representation,
to
its
catastrophe."
Jacques
Rancière,
The
Flesh
of
Words
(Stanford:
Stanford
University
Press,
2004),
147.
I
am
grateful
to
Noura
Wedell
for
providing
me
with
this
reference.
13
not
to”,
as
described
by
Deleuze
14
,
serves
as
a
liminal
space:
in
this
space,
Bartleby
remains
nonetheless
active
as
a
scribe,
within
his
apparent
passivity.
“Bartleby
has
won
the
right
to
survive,
that
is,
to
remain
immobile
and
upright
before
a
blind
wall.
(…)
Being
as
being,
and
nothing
more.
He
is
urged
to
say
yes
or
no.
But
if
he
said
no
(to
collating,
running
errands…),
or
if
he
said
yes
(to
copying),
he
would
quickly
be
defeated
and
judged
useless,
and
would
not
survive.
He
can
survive
only
by
whirling
in
a
suspense
that
keeps
everyone
at
a
distance.”
15
In
much
the
same
way,
Wesley’s
“um”
is
neither
a
“no”,
nor
a
“yes”.
The
“um”
is
as
similarly
counter-‐intuitive
and
socially
unacceptable
as
“I’d
prefer
not
to”:
confronted
with
a
question,
it
would
be
customary
to
eventually
answer,
rather
than
indefinitely
withhold
an
actual
answer
by
only
continuously
answering
“um”.
The
apparent
refusal
remains
implicit,
the
continuous
“um”
is
not
an
outright,
explicit
“no”;
it
leaves
an
open-‐endedness
that
still
lends
itself
to
the
prospect
that
it
might,
and
could,
go
forward.
It
thus
creates
an
extraordinary
state
of
in-‐between,
the
Deleuzian
liminality.
“Um”
signals
a
moment
of
pause,
reflection,
contemplation,
hesitation,
and/or
nervousness
(or
all
of
the
above).
With
each
“um”,
there
is
the
anticipation
that
something
will
eventually
come
from
it;
it
can
be
anything.
“Um”
may
represent
the
search
for
the
right
words,
but
what
if
the
words
never
come?
What
if
the
“um”
continues
endlessly?
Rather
than
interpreting
this
speechlessness
as
a
form
of
stasis,
this
liminal
state
could
be
examined
as
a
site
of
potentiality.
Perhaps
the
most
14
Gilles
Deleuze,
"Bartleby;
or
the
Formula,"
Essays,
Critical
and
Clinical,
Tr.
Daniel
W.
Smith
and
Michael
A.
Greco
(University
of
Minnesota
Press:
Minneapolis,
1997),
68.
15
Deleuze,
Bartleby,
71.
14
productive
and
profound
experiences
we
can
have
are
the
ones
that
perplex
us;
the
questions
that
we
can’t
answer
and
we
are
left
speechless,
but
continually
seeking.
This
dichotomy
is
present
in
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem,
we
witness
both
the
spiral
of
going
nowhere
and
the
labor
of
the
mind
repeatedly
attempting
to
arrive
at
something
–
whether
it
is
a
thought,
an
idea,
inspiration,
or
its
very
opposite:
a
lack
of
thought
and
an
empty
mind.
Drawing
on
Aristotle,
Giorgio
Agamben
suggests
that
potentiality
is
defined
by
a
state
of
“faculty”
–
the
state
of
having
the
knowledge
and
ability
to
produce
or
to
do,
and
having,
at
the
same
time,
the
power
to
refuse
such
action
16
.
Once
one
transcends
this
state
into
that
of
action
and
doing,
one
is
no
longer
in
a
state
of
potentiality,
only
actuality.
Utilizing
Melville’s
Bartleby,
The
Scrivener
as
the
ultimate
paradigm,
Agamben
states:
“As
a
scribe
who
has
stopped
writing,
Bartleby
is
the
extreme
figure
of
Nothing
from
which
all
creation
derives;
and
at
the
same
time,
he
constitutes
the
most
implacable
vindication
of
this
Nothing
as
pure,
absolute
potentiality.”
17
Both
protagonists,
both
Wesley
and
Bartleby,
are
not
good-‐for-‐nothings;
procrastination
only
exits
if
there
is
something
that
one
is
putting
off
doing;
it
is
not
possible
to
procrastinate
on
nothing,
thus,
pure
potentiality
can
only
exist
if
one
is
not
doing
that
which
one
is
capable
of.
Bartleby
remains
a
scrivener,
despite
not
scribing,
and
Wesley
remains
an
artist,
despite
his
act
of
endless
procrastination.
Both
remain
protagonists
in
the
true
sense
of
the
word.
16
See,
eg,
quoting
from
De
anima,
Giorgio
Agamben,
Potentialities,
(Stanford
University
Press:
Stanford,
CA,
1999),
178.
17
Giorgio
Agamben,
Potentialities,
(Stanford
University
Press:
Stanford,
CA,
1999),
253f.
15
VI.
Conclusion
If
we
choose
to
adopt
Agamben’s
view,
then
Bartleby,
and,
by
extension,
the
protagonist
of
Wesley’s
Poem,
revert
to
a
state
of
potentiality
by
taking
refuge
in
the
liminal
space
of
the
open-‐ended,
non-‐explicit
refusal
that
leaves
Bartleby’s
interlocutors
and
Wesley’s
audience
equally
confused.
Paradoxically,
of
course,
Wesley,
portraying
himself
in
the
process
of
procrastination,
is
making
art.
As
the
artist,
and
not
solely
the
character
in
the
video,
he
created
an
artwork.
The
procrastination
is
translated
into
a
performance;
the
protagonist
transcends
his
state
of
potentiality
and
realizes
it
into
a
state
of
actuality
–
unlike
Bartleby,
who
remains
forever
in
the
pure
state
of
unrealized
potential.
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
shows
how
the
non-‐work
becomes
the
work
–
an
artwork
was
produced.
When
the
protagonist
transcends
from
“um”
into
“om”,
he
seems
to
cut
himself
loose
from
Western
expectations
of
productivity:
“um”
loses
its
character
as
a
halting
stumble,
but
also
as
a
stepping-‐stone.
There
is
nothing
to
arrive
at,
because
there
is
nothing.
Yet
contrary
to
this
impression,
Wesley’s
meditative
depiction
of
non-‐productivity,
non-‐doing,
and
the
refusal
of
work
is
a
work
of
art
itself;
one
that
can
be
viewed
online,
exhibited
–
and
sold.
Watching
the
11
minutes
and
28
seconds
of
his
procrastination,
of
his
emphatic
and
perhaps
religiously
zealous
refusal
to
do
what
is
more
important
or
meaningful
–
as
implied
in
the
concept
of
procrastination
–,
we
actually
were
watching
an
artist
at
work.
Ultimately,
Wesley
has
not
refused
to
produce.
In
this
respect,
he
is
nothing
like
the
artist
who
insists
on
being
an
artist
without
producing
art:
such
an
attempt
to
resist
16
the
expectation
of
productivity
is
notably
described
by
Josef
Strau
in
his
essay
“The
Non-‐Productive
Attitude.”
18
Strau’s
refusal
is
not
procrastination
but
a
statement
and,
as
he
puts
it,
an
attitude.
And
even
at
this
level,
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem
refuses
to
cooperate:
the
viewer
is
not
granted
the
spectacle
of
the
vexed
creative
genius
in
the
stereotypical
studio.
Rather,
the
moment
of
artistic
creation
is
depicted
as
the
apex
of
boredom
and
creative
barrenness.
This
is
the
final
level
of
subversion
of
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem:
the
self-‐reflective
irony
of
an
artist
at
“work”,
representing
what
is
constitutive
of
a
“work
of
art”.
19
We
are
aware
that
anything
goes,
anything
can
be
work
or
a
work,
even
the
epitomized
non-‐work
procrastination
pushed
to
its
emphatic,
meditative
extreme,
becomes
a
poem.
And
thus,
our
minds
are
put
to
rest
–
productivity,
eventually,
was
not
refused;
and
we,
the
viewers,
do
not
have
to
question
that
we
ourselves,
when
we
were
watching
Wesley
procrastinate,
invested
our
time
wisely
–
we
were
consuming
art
and
therefore
pursuing
a
socially
accepted,
culturally
valuable
activity.
18
Josef
Strau,
“The
Non-‐Productive
Attitude”,
2006,
The
Production
Line
of
Happiness
(Whitechapel,
2014),
95-‐97
(with
a
vivid
description
of
the
art
scene
in
1980’s
Cologne).
I
am
grateful
to
A.L.
Steiner
for
this
reference.
19
In
a
similar
vein,
Frances
Stark
reflects
on
the
role
of
procrastination
in
her
work
“My
Best
Thing”
(2011)
–
which
is
the
work:
“Maybe
art
is
an
opposite
of
working,
in
the
sense
that
it
is
a
form
of
resistance
to
productivity”
(Mark
Godfrey
quoting
from
“My
Best
Thing”;
id.,
“Twenty-‐First
Century
Art”
in
Jennifer
Papararo
and
Kitty
Scott
(eds.),
Frances
Stark.
My
Best
Thing
(Koenig
Books:
London,
UK,
2012)
39,
62).
17
Bibliography:
Agamben,
Giorgio;
Heller-‐Roazen,
Daniel
(ed.,
introd.,
and
translator),
Potentialities:
Collected
Essays
in
Philosophy.
Stanford,
CA:
Stanford
University
Press,
1999.
Deleuze,
Gilles.
Essays,
Critical
and
Clinical,
Tr.
Daniel
W.
Smith
and
Michael
A.
Greco,
University
of
Minnesota
Press,
Minneapolis,
1997.
Erard,
Michael.
Um…
Slips,
Stumbles,
and
Verbal
Blunders,
and
What
They
Mean.
New
York:
Pantheon
Books,
2007.
Melville,
Herman.
Bartleby,
the
Scrivener:
A
Story
of
Wall-‐Street,
accessed,
April
20,
2015,
http://www.gutenberg.org/cache/epub/11231/pg11231.html
Papararo,
Jennifer
and
Kitty
Scott
(eds.),
Frances
Stark
-‐
My
Best
Thing.
London,
UK:
Koenig
Books,
2012.
Rancière,
Jacques.
The
Flesh
of
Words,
Stanford:
Stanford
University
Press,
2004.
Steel,
Piers.
The
Nature
of
Procrastination:
A
Meta-‐Analytic
and
Theoretical
Review
of
Quintessential
Self-‐Regulatory
Failure.
University
of
Calgary:
Alberta,
2007.
Strau,
Josef,
“The
Non-‐Productive
Attitude”,
2006,
The
Production
Line
of
Happiness,
Whitechapel,
2014.
18
Appendix
Transcription:
Eric
Wesley,
Procrastination
Meditation
Poem,
2012
Ummmmmm,
Ahhhhmmmmm,
Ummm,
Ummma,
Ummma,
Ahhhhummm,
Ummmmmm,
Urrmmmm,
Ommmm,
hmmmmm,
Ummmm,
AhUmmmm,
Ummmm,
Hmmmm,
Ummmm,
hummm,
hmmmm,
hmmmmm,
hmmmmmm,
hmmmmm,
Ummm,
hmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmm,
Ahh,
mmmm,
Ahhh,
mmmmm,
mmmmmm,mmmm,
Ummm,
Ummmm,
Yaummmm,
Ummm,
Umm,
Ummmm,
Uuuuuummmmmm,
Uuuuuuummmmm,
Um,
Ummmm,
Ah,
Um,
Um,
Um,
Um,
Um,
Aaaaah,
Aaaaaahummmmm,
Ah,
Umm,
Aaaah,
um,
aaaaa,
aaaaa,
Aaaaaaaaahhhhh,
ahhhhhh,
aaa
(cough
cough),
ahh
(clears
throat),
ahhhhmmmm,
um,
ahhhhmmm,
ummmmmma,
ummmmmma,
ahhhhmmmm,
ahhhhhmmmmmm,
arrrrmmmmm,
ummmm,
Um,
um,
um,
um,
uuummm,
Um,
ummm,
uuummm,
ummmm,
ummmm,
ummmm,
ummmm,
ummmm,
ummm,
ummmm,
ummmmm,
ahhhhmmmm,
aaaaammmm,
Mmmmm,
mmmm,
mmmm,
mmmmm,
mmmmmmm,
mmmmmmm,
mmmmmmm,
mmmmmm,
mmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmm,
mmmm,
mmmm.,
mmmm,
mmmm,
mmmmm,
mmmmmm,
mmmmmmmm,
ummmmmm,
ummmmm,
ummm,
ummm,
ummm,
umm,
umm,
UUUUUmmmmm,
UUUUmmmm,
UUUUmmmm,
UUUUmmmmm,
Ummmm,
Um,
Aaaaaummmmm,
Ummmmm,
Ummmmm,
Ummmmmu,
Ummmm,
aaaaummmmmm,
aaaaaummmmm,
aaaaaummmmm,
aaaaummmmm,
aaaaaummmmmm,
Oooo,
Ummmm,
ummmmm,
ummmmmmmm,
ummmmmmm,
ummmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmm,mmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmm,
mmmmmmmmmmmm,
19
Ooooohmmmmm,
ooooooohmmmm,
ooooooh,mmmm,
ooooohmmmmmmm,
ummmmm
Um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
um,
Aaaaaaujuuuuummmm,
aaaaaaaauuuuuuuuummmmmmmmmmmmmm,
aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaoooooommmmmma,
ooooooooouuuuuuuuuuummmmmmm,
ooooooaooooaaoooooaauuuummmmm,
uuuuuummmmmmmm
Ummm,
uuuuuummmmmm,
uuuummmmmm,
ummmmmmmm,
ummmmmmmmmm,
ummmmmmmmmmmmm,
uuuuuummm,
uuummmm,
uuuummmm.
Oaaaaummm,
oaaummm,
Ummmm,
ummmm.
Ummmmm,
aaaahm,mmmm,
mmmm
yummmm
ummmm
ummmm,
ooooommmmm
ooooom
aaammm
ummm
Wuuuum,
ummm,
ummm,
ummmmmm,
uuuuuummmmm,
Aaaaammmm,
aaaaaaammmm,
Aaaam,
aaaam
aaaammm
ummmmm,
ummmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmm
u
Aaaaammmmm
ummmmmm
ujmmmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmmmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmmmmmm
ummmmmmmmmm
ummmmmmmmmm
Ummmmm
ummmm
ummmmmm
ummmm
ummmmmm
ummmmmmm
ummmmmmm
ummmmmmmmm
ummmmm
ummmmmmm
aaamammmmmm
aaammmmmmm
ummmmm
aaaa
ummmmm
aaa
aummmmmmm
aummmmmm
ummmmmm
ummmmmm
Aaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaammmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm
Aaaaaaaaaammmmmm
Mmmmmmmma
Asset Metadata
Creator
Riley, Alana (author)
Core Title
Accomplishing nothing: procrastination meditation poem
Contributor
Electronically uploaded by the author
(provenance)
School
Roski School of Art and Design
Degree
Master of Fine Arts
Degree Program
Fine Arts
Publication Date
07/29/2015
Defense Date
05/13/2015
Publisher
University of Southern California
(original),
University of Southern California. Libraries
(digital)
Tag
Bartleby,Eric Wesley,Herman Melville,OAI-PMH Harvest,Public speaking,self-help,TED,Toastmasters,um,YouTube
Format
application/pdf
(imt)
Language
English
Advisor
Steiner, A.L. (
committee chair
), Wedell, Noura (
committee member
), White, Charles H. (
committee member
)
Creator Email
alana.riley@gmail.com,alanaril@usc.edu
Permanent Link (DOI)
https://doi.org/10.25549/usctheses-c3-612620
Unique identifier
UC11303586
Identifier
etd-RileyAlana-3661.pdf (filename),usctheses-c3-612620 (legacy record id)
Legacy Identifier
etd-RileyAlana-3661.pdf
Dmrecord
612620
Document Type
Thesis
Format
application/pdf (imt)
Rights
Riley, Alana
Type
texts
Source
University of Southern California
(contributing entity),
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses
(collection)
Access Conditions
The author retains rights to his/her dissertation, thesis or other graduate work according to U.S. copyright law. Electronic access is being provided by the USC Libraries in agreement with the a...
Repository Name
University of Southern California Digital Library
Repository Location
USC Digital Library, University of Southern California, University Park Campus MC 2810, 3434 South Grand Avenue, 2nd Floor, Los Angeles, California 90089-2810, USA
Abstract (if available)
Abstract
Through an in-depth interpretation of Eric Wesley’s video “Procrastination Meditation Poem” (2012), my aim is to examine the signification of the verbal blunder “um”, and to propose it as a site of potentiality, refusal and enlightenment.
Tags
Bartleby
Eric Wesley
Herman Melville
self-help
TED
Toastmasters
um
Linked assets
University of Southern California Dissertations and Theses