The ABORTIVE ATTEMPT cycle in database design

I’ve always said that Lichtenbergianism as an outline of the creative process is applicable to areas other than just the arts. Here’s an example using the database software FileMaker Pro.

My recent splurging on art (and subsequent logjam in getting pieces hung) forced me finally to start on a long-procrastinated project: cataloging all the art in our house.

The tornado that tore through Newnan last spring was also a motivator, since we’d need some documentation of what we lost if our house were ever destroyed. None of it would be replaceable like a TV or couch, of course, but it would be nice to be able to afford new art in its stead.

I whipped up a database for this endeavor a couple of years ago and then just did nothing about it. The honest reason? I couldn’t see how to get decent photos of everything, especially those framed works behind glass.

But on Friday I decided to follow the dictates of our Lichtenbergian Precepts and plunge in with an ABORTIVE ATTEMPT: Just take the photos and who cares how crappy they are? It will at least get the database started, and I can go back and take “nice” photos if it becomes a problem in my head.

So began the Great Hunt, locating all the pieces of art lurking around our house, part of which involved some decisions about “What is Art?” Allow me to illustrate.

Here are four lizards out of the many that I have collected.

Which ones, if any, are Art? Definitely the two on the left and the bottom: I bought them either from a gallery or from the artist himself. The large lizard to the right? Bought from a shop that specialized in world art, and it’s a signed Oaxacan carving, so I’m going to say yes.

The little neon thing? I got that in a hotel gift shop as we wandered the street of Tusayan, AZ. It was one of many identical such things, and though it’s kind of signed and it’s from Oaxaca, I’m going to go with no. I have nothing against artisans cranking out the crap for tourists — I bought it, didn’t I? — but this is hardly original in concept or execution.

Sidebar: I had to dig the pendant out of a container of jewelry that I wear at burns and in the process discovered several other pieces of jewelry that are artist-made. Again, it’s an ongoing search.

After I took photos of the 100 or so items that were too obvious to miss, I imported them into the database. As I began filling in the pertinent information, it became apparent that my proposed information fields were going to be inadequate. Rather than “purchase place,” for example, I should use “acquisition place,” since about a fourth of our collection is family heirlooms or gifts from artists.

For example, I’m pretty sure I didn’t buy the flute 83 years from now. And I know there are two L’s in ‘Guillermo.’ I still need to track down the woods it’s made of, and how much I paid for it.

I had to add the field “artist’s website” after it occurred to me that “provenance” was not actually the right place for that information.

I need to go back and add some kind of field for multiple views of 3-D art when appropriate.

Is it worth dividing up the artist’s name into first and last? Probably not.

Fortunately, FileMaker is very flexible. I can do all of the above and more without having to start over or throw anything out. Can I create a report that totals the amount that we’ve spent? Sure. Can I completely rearrange what the screen looks like? Absolutely.

And of course, all the missing data can be filled in whenever we can track down the information.

It’s all a matter of ABORTIVE ATTEMPTS —> GESTALT —> SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATION.

(One SUCCESSIVE APPROXIMATION is the realization that I should have been better about recording sources and artists as I went along. For example, the zebra-tailed lizard in the above photograph: I know I bought it in the West of the Moon Gallery in Flagstaff, AZ, but I did not record the artist’s full name, nor what I paid for it. The lizard is signed on his ventral side, L.ROSS, but I have no other record, and so far the intertubes have not been helpful in correcting my error.)