Part 2 of a very overdue rant, then I’ll get back to my usual rainbows and butterflies. Deal?
Today I wanna talk to artists, and specifically you artists who are in this particular mysterious “artist community” that is, for some reason I have never figured out, always at war with something.
Right now, your common enemy is AI. I’ve also watched wars about what counts as real art. The war of selling out vs starving. The war of what is craft vs fine art. The war of what mediums are superior to others. The war of gatekeeping. And even the war of who gets to call themselves an artist at all.
WHEW.
I don’t wanna dive into any of those things today, not even AI. Rather, I wanna talk more about this particular “artist community” so many of you declare yourselves a part of.
And I want to ask you this, honestly… Why do so many of you always need to be at war for something?
And why is it that you think being broke is somehow a good and noble thing that makes you more worthy of calling yourself an artist?
Why is it that for so many of you in this community, everything everyone else is doing that you’re not doing is the wrongway to do it?
Why is it that you feel like being an artist gives you some sort of indisputable pedestal you can keep yourself on to somehow feel better than others?
You’re an artist. Big fucking whoop. I’m an artist, in many different mediums. I am a very successful one, too. Big fucking whoop. That doesn’t make me better than any other human. And being an artist doesn’t make you better than others, either.
In my opinion, what makes anyone a good human, is not thinking they’re better than other humans.
I’ve thought a lot about this group of people, the artists always at war group, and I want to say some things to you. If this sinks in for even a few of you, they’re things worth saying…
- Stop sabotaging yourself with “stay broke” energy. There is nothing wrong with making money or even lots of it being very good at something you put your heart and soul into.
- Stop finding things to be at war about. Just do your art and find peace. Or find a way to turn your anger or sadness into art. Just stop fighting the whole world all the time. That’s chaos. That’s toxicity.
- Stop finding reasons to blame the rest of the world for you being broke. It’s nobody’s fault but your own. You either don’t have the skill yet or you don’t have the business grit. It’s not big business’ fault. It’s not AI’s fault. It’s not other artists’ fault. And the faster you can learn this, the happier and more successful you’re going to be.
- Stop finding ways that you’re superior to others, especially other artists. I don’t care how good you are, there are people way better, way more dedicated, and way more advanced than you at whatever you’re doing. That doesn’t take away from what you’re doing and how far you’ve come, so give your fellow artists the same respect.
- Stop thinking being an artist makes you special. It’s just another outlet. It’s just another job. Take your passion and do good with it. Be kind with it. Be humble about it.
- Stop listening to the other crabs in the artist basket that are happy to always pull you back into the basket. For some strange reasons, so many artists want no artists to succeed. Flip those artists the bird and succeed anyway.
AI isn’t killing art. It’s changing it. Just as everything in history has changed art. Fight it all you want. You won’t win. You’ll just be miserable and broke, and that’s a promise.
Fill your belly with food or keep trying to fill it with anti-change ego. The choice is yours. Personally, I enjoy AI greatly and find that it has ways of enhancing so many of my artistic endeavors.
Anyways, that’s my rant. Take it or leave it. Back to our new series tomorrow.
