Organizing Regrets and Organizing the Present

Ugh. Have a lot to do on the list this weekend. One thing that has totally gotten out of hand is all of my photo archives in the computer.
They are a total mess.

Sometimes, when I have to send someone an image or put together a package to submit for a grant, the pics are here and there - the best one from this section gets accidentally cut and pasted instead of copy pasted, then I can't find it later....

JPG labels re-done to each projects specifications and so a list of these images: L_Lutz_image1_2008_24x36 means absolutely nothing to me now.

Folders get titled with something vague a couple of years ago, like "Random Abstracts".....hahahaha!
I have to laugh, it is just so lame!!!

I am a professional!! This is an obvious indication that I have pokers in many fires. And that I have made a ton of work over the last 4 years and it is time to edit, folks.

Regretably, over the years I have edited too much.
So I say to you, when you look at the thing you are about to throw away, be it an actual piece of art or an archived photo and you are feeling overwhelmed and frustrated or feel pressure to purge -- DO NOT throw the thing away at that moment.
Sleep on it for one more day.

We all go through creative phases, so in 2020, when you realize that in 2000 you threw away an assemblage from a solo show in 1990 -- ask yourself,

"What does the piece really means to you in the context of your history in making art and in the context of where you see your future going."
Think of why you made the work...was it an experiment, was it a departure for a particular reason, and what were the reasons for the departure?
Is is just too big to store now? Is it damaged and worth fixing?
....Did someone you love tell you it was not your best work?
...Did someone critique you and your artistic intentions when you made it -- were those critiques in your best interest - were they valid?

Then decide to throw the piece away or not.
I will tell you right now, I really regret taking apart about 4 sculpture a while ago...somewhere in my bins in the garage I have some photographs. (and hopefully the negatives!!!)

Also, when I lived in Silver Lake, we got mice in the garage and they did squish into a 1/2 inch gap of a bin and ate 3 assemblages. So when I moved I threw them away.....really a bad move, because in hind-sight they are actually quite important now. Oh well, not to cry over spilled milk.

So, for now, I am organizing the images and folders I have in the computer, and later I will be looking for the old-school photos in storage and get those transferred. Not too long ago I rephotographed some work from 1991 - 1998....interesting. There are many more to do still...so not all is lost.

Image organization also includes the "Art Notes and Diagrams" Folder - with images previously put in a folder called "Home" which has studio pics in there, not organized....~sigh~