WILLFUL IGNORANCE WILL MAKE YOU POPULAR!
The greatest question today’s artists should be asking themselves is not “Am I any good?” No. They should be asking “What am I about?” What I mean by this, is the landslide of ill-conceived practices that so many new “creators” live by. Just yesterday, a celebrated article on Medium stumbled to my inbox, chock full of horseshit advice like this — “There are many people who call themselves writers, but instead of writing they’re editing, perfecting, reading and re-reading. And I’m sure they’d laugh at me calling myself a writer. And I’ll let them. They’ll laugh, I’ll write. Works for me.”
This a perfect example of the age we live in. Witness the wildly inaccurate statement and the paper-thin facade of rebellion and indignance that somehow makes this smell “right” to some. Why? Becausewe are living in a world where opinions are far more compelling than facts. This is not just how elections are won, how ineligible judges find seats on the supreme court — it is also how the lazy egotist climbs to the top of their social mountain. This individual’s “brave” goal is not great writing, or even good writing. Their goal is just popularity- plain old, generic, homecoming queen popularity. There is an epidemic running wild in the arts (and the world at large), and the attention of curators (as well as the news media) is won time and again by these bold narcissists. They have a sole agenda — to develop their personal brand, bolstered by the reckless indifference of their audiences.
SIGH.
Willful ignorance is clearly in the drinking water.
And yes, I am furious about this. You might mistake this anger and disappointment for jealousy. That would be dead wrong. I am not jealous of these one-trick-pony media darlings. In fact, I have a certain amount of pity for them. They are missing out on the real thing!The attention they garner is as hollow as their stories and the platforms devalue themselves as a result of this. When was the last time you found yourself browsing Youtube, looking for quality storytelling?
For so many self-described artists the emphasis has migrated away from crafting humble work that originates from their humanity, inspired by the complexities of the world that they bear witness to. This all gets flushed down the toilet and is replaced with a singular, hectic, 24/7 focus on collecting likes and follows, claps, upvotes and subscribers. This shift has brought us to consider “making something in a weekend” and calling it “done and good enough to post” instead of seeing it as a valuable learning experience that can be built on. The emphasis on urgently posting every single creative crap you take in public as opposed to a quality over quantity approach is becoming the norm. Self-restraint is now seen as weakness, an obstacle to overcome. The cocktail napkin sketch is hashtagged as a masterpiece and the actual painting never happens.
Here is another “must read” quote from that writing expert on Medium, sharing the true secretto becoming a great writer. “Focus on getting your words out. Building an audience, finding a following….” followed by “Instead of spending two hours fixing something you’ve already written, just publish it and move onto the next piece.”
The entire concept of having “something to write about” is absent from this entire equation. Just put an irresistible clickbait headline on your scribbles, and if there are typos, clumsy grammar, weak metaphors — fuck you man! My writing is just fine. “My opinion is all that matters.”
I hear that a lot these days — do you hear it too? “My opinion is all that matters.”Are people really trying to steal opinions, and turn them into balloon animals in the middle of the night? Where does this hysterical, self-protective fear come from? The truth is, vulnerability is crucial to being able to create sincere work.Asking tough questions and thrashing them out with other creators is not a battle to be won or lost — it either bears fruit or is a waste of time, but at no point is anyone’s opinion in danger. This willful ignorance, this self-blinding, this sticking the fingers in the ears and going “lalalalala” is a great way to stagnate and learn nothing, detouring any critical process. Without that all important critical process, the sketch, the song demo — without that glorious regrouping, that rediscovery, that fresh perspective — the work is going to be stale, shallow, formulaic and stillborn. And yes, quite possibly popular as hell. If these scammers were asked the simple question “What do you write about” and “What kind of person are you?” the sole answers would be “me” and “popular.”
Look — there is always an element of ego-gratification intertwined with putting your work out into the world. Applause is something every single person craves and enjoys. What I am try to hash out here is the difference between applause that is earned as opposed to applause that is a result of gaming the system.
When that Medium essay RIDICULED the writing and editorial practices of centuries of great writing — when this is presented to me as “recommended advice” I don’t know how to keep myself from sticking my head out the window and yelling like a madman. I imagine impressionable young artists looking for advice and believing this is the “right” way to be working. Opinions are actually fairly useless, unless they are based on fact, experience and a critical process. I am not saying we need to get the opinion police to beat this silliness down. I am saying that these opinions are as dangerous as a President that tells a bald-faced lie and calls it the truth.Think of how many people this President has ridiculed, and the fallout. That is why I am so worked up about this.
Obviously, the “opinion over fact” crowd, the “notoriety over substance” crowd is not going anywhere. We need to find a way to co-exist with this phenomenon or we will throw our computers out the window every other day. Some of today’s creators actually have something to say, and the world desperately needs that.
****************************************************************
I want to invite you to join me in a conversation/movement/initiative called AUDACIOUS REDEMPTION. Sign up for the newsletter, visit my brand spanking new website and let me know what you think. I am on a mission to help the struggling mid-career artist. www.audaciousredemption.com
