April 14, 2020

The starving artist: a culture, not a law

In Denmark, they don’t need a law that says you must wear a helmet when you ride a bicycle. Everyone in Denmark knows this so they give cyclists a bit of extra room. Drivers slow down to pass a cyclist when they see one. They know what’s needed to keep people safe and continue letting the culture thrive so laws don’t have to.

When everyone knows the rules, it’s a culture. When it’s in the culture, you don’t need laws because it’s ‘just what everybody does’. The problem with ‘just what everybody does’ is that it’s hard to change because a lot of people need to agree. “Just what everybody does” is the sort of thing that kept slaves in slavery, women from voting, and poor people poor – it keeps things the same as they always were.

In art, artists are ‘supposed to struggle’ financially and emotionally, it’s the way things have always been. It’s just what all artists do.

Lawyers are the ones who change laws, but people, people can change culture. If artists are supposed to struggle, but don’t want to, we don’t need to convince lawmakers to make the change for us. All we need to do is change what’s normal. When enough of us are doing it, it becomes the culture.

Other observations
November 5, 2024

Consistent or resistant

Is my aversion to change about my wanting to be consistent? Or, am I actually being resistant and am I losing something because of that?

October 22, 2024

Critically unacclaimed

What do reviews really tell us about the work? Does it matter who’s reviewing?

October 15, 2024

Proper technique

If I’m learning a new art form, do I focus on technical correctness first or building an emotional connection with the medium?

October 8, 2024

The importance of mess

Physical art materials are messy and inconvenient. But isn’t that the point?

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