As I have remarked before, I have resolved to simply continue as an artist. Now that I have admitted I am one, that is.
This necessitates a switching of perspectives from being a failed artist to being a failing one.
Recently I have spoken to and seen some other friends who have been trying for decades to be an artist, so I thought it was time for some deeper reflections on that - what it means and where do we go from here?
theory
If you’re going to be all hierarchical about this, I have a theory that the ‘best’ artists are only marginally gooder than all the others and sometimes not even so. But what about Marvin Gaye I hear you simper? Okay, well Marvin had an advantage of being part of a well established scene and infrastructure - I believe Berry Gordy himself modelled it as a production line - this was Detroit after all. But anyway, Gaye was indeed great, but given the same circumstances there are many that would come arbitrarily close to that greatness (is my assertion)
me
in my own artistic life the things that have held me back are:
- lack of confidence for too long (I think fixed now, thanks london and the scene!)
- lack of time and energy due to work (capitalism) (this is kinda fixed due to now not giving a toss as how little money I have)
- stubborness, a refusal to buy into a scene and ‘ride the wave’. This is very effective, and now I’m part of a scene where there are no rules - yay!)
success
how do we define success? For me it’s two main possibilities:
- making music (or insert your creative format here) that I’m happy with
- making a living from doing that
the first one I have achieved, although luckily there is a lot more I want to do in terms of possibilities and development - collaborations, different styles, techniques, moods, formats.
The second one, definitely not, although it might not be that far off? I don’t need that much money - a few hundred fans buying music and coming to performances would be enough? However much I love my won music its hard to say how easy it would be to make it more widely known, given how stretched the attention economy is these days.
Anyway, time will tell on that, as I said at the top, the main objective is to continue.
I also said I was going to talk about others experiences, what went right/wrong for them?
others
One of my friends emphasises how much work she has put into her artistic endeavours. Which is great, but also we have to consider - what kind of energy does that put across? If the act of producing something is a slog and a grind, is that what will be transmitted in the final work? I would say yes.
Which feels less appealing, do people want to enjoy something lighter or more spontaneous?
energy
The artist Heavy Lifting has taught us that thinking in terms of energy not quality is the way forward.
The energy that you transmit in your work is the most crucial thing! So you have to start with how you feel and put as much of that into authentic expression as you can.
The technology can have an impact for sure, but it mustn’t get in the way.
Marvin Gaye
Coming back to Marvin - what he achieved as an artist was indeed that - a powerful expression of emotion - a direct transmission of energy.
Now
Now that you have everything you need to become an artist, go ahead!
Well, it’s not quite that simple - you’ll need time and space to nuture and sustain your energies - something that having a full-time job makes very difficult alas.
I don’t know what we can do about that.
Yet.