I struggle with our narrative that it’s “successful” art only if you sell it. Art can’t be me knitting jumpers and growing vegetables for the family and cooking meals for my recipe club if it doesn’t make me money.
Struggle with this because all of this brings me joy and often doing this for the PURSUIT of money often takes the joy away from it as it becomes another job.
I think about this a lot and have seen my relationship to art and money/external success evolve over time. A lot of the tension lies in the rags to riches narrative we celebrate. It couples the notions of art and financial success with years of suffering through a meaningless day job (or better yet, unemployment ). It also creates a value structure around how you utilize your craft to earn money, leading to criticisms of selling out.
How about we start celebrating the diversity of narratives in which art is created and (maybe) reached external measures of success?
I think, after being in Brainstorm Road for a year, and having this conversation with others and myself, I’m against the idea of a struggling artist. I had to delve into what narratives I’ve been exposed to in life around this idea that art is on one side of the spectrum where art and money have been put at opposite ends. When I mentioned this to Dom in one of the breakout rooms he suggested a great book called ‘Real Artists Don’t Starve’. I’m reading it now and backs this assertion.
This resonates so much. The story well tell ourselves are just that. Stories.
We can change them anytime we like.
What if we all grew up being told that artists and writers and creators were highly valued and it was great to pursue because the money would show up and not to worry about it?
I struggle with our narrative that it’s “successful” art only if you sell it. Art can’t be me knitting jumpers and growing vegetables for the family and cooking meals for my recipe club if it doesn’t make me money.
Struggle with this because all of this brings me joy and often doing this for the PURSUIT of money often takes the joy away from it as it becomes another job.
I want to go back to the barter system.
I will trade you handwritten drafts for jars of homemade sauce. (open to your counter offer)
I think about this a lot and have seen my relationship to art and money/external success evolve over time. A lot of the tension lies in the rags to riches narrative we celebrate. It couples the notions of art and financial success with years of suffering through a meaningless day job (or better yet, unemployment ). It also creates a value structure around how you utilize your craft to earn money, leading to criticisms of selling out.
How about we start celebrating the diversity of narratives in which art is created and (maybe) reached external measures of success?
👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼👏🏼
All 👏🏼of👏🏼this👏🏼
What’s one way we can rewrite this narrative and celebrate differently
Thanks friend. This provided a lot of encouragement this week.
I think, after being in Brainstorm Road for a year, and having this conversation with others and myself, I’m against the idea of a struggling artist. I had to delve into what narratives I’ve been exposed to in life around this idea that art is on one side of the spectrum where art and money have been put at opposite ends. When I mentioned this to Dom in one of the breakout rooms he suggested a great book called ‘Real Artists Don’t Starve’. I’m reading it now and backs this assertion.
This resonates so much. The story well tell ourselves are just that. Stories.
We can change them anytime we like.
What if we all grew up being told that artists and writers and creators were highly valued and it was great to pursue because the money would show up and not to worry about it?
Thank you. This is thought provoking.