Wednesday, August 12, 2009

On Being an Artist/Artistic Freedom

An artist should have free reign on what they create. In whatever medium they choose to create it. Written, drawn, painted, photographed, filmed, etc. I would not say that the written word is my only creative forum, just my most prolific. That doesn't mean I won't take a canvas and create some visual art through drawing, or pick up my camera or video camera. There should be no rules or regulations.

Sometimes your art may not be what people want to read or see. It might offend their sensibilities or it may not be what they expect from you. Their ego, which seeks to confine the world to that which we know and feel comfortable, may want you to create some other type of thing to fit in with the way they see you or what they'd prefer, but this is constricting to the artist. I wish for my art to liberate me as an artist and if we're lucky it might inspire the audience - oftentimes it's not about the person experiencing the art, but the experience of creating the art. The catharsis of expressing an emotion or an idea, to me, should be the reason the art is created. Beyond that point, no artist can be certain what the audience will interpret. Who knows if the person at the other end will see what the artist meant for them to see, but this is the risk we take as artists.

There is no emotion, or experience or perspective that is off limits to the artist. Anger and frustration, as atypical as they might be in the face of my usual buoyant personality, are very inspiring states of mind that fire me up with passion and give me great artistic fodder. I relish a good rage as much if not more than those who rush to calm and soothe me. "What's wrong? Why are you so mad?" Would you be surprised if I said that it feels great to be upset and angry, to be passionate about my feelings, even if they are dark and destructive? Let it be and soon the anger will run it's course and diffuse itself.

What silenced my pen long ago was something that I blamed on the inability to say and do exactly what I wanted to. My reasoning was that if there was a chance that my words would upset others and they would take offense to it, then I would not write, not because I felt guilty but because I refused to be censored. In a passive aggressive way I was lashing out at my audience for judging my art, for imposing expectations on my work. "Poems should rhyme." "Why are you so angry?" "That's...uh...different."

If expressing feelings hurts others you can imagine how much they might poison the artist holding them inside when they don't express them, but the self-conscious artist then takes heed to that person's hurt feelings or sensibilities and changes what was written to appease the hurt person. This is where we become untrue to our own artistic integrity. I do not write to impress you, to make you happy with me. I write because I am. and these things must be said. If you are offended by them it may be because you are taking things too personally, and this is the audience's demon, not the artist. The artist looks to exorcise his demons by expressing his feelings (Of course this is in regard to art and poetry, not personal attacks of the tabloid or gossip variety - one would understand if the person who those things are written about would feel offended).

"it all begins with letters, words and verses
the time you put into it equals what the worth is
and if you nonchalantly disregard your purpose
you’ll be blocked and it’s effect on you is recursive
Take it from me – I’m in the process of admonishing my guilt
for pilfering the pen and pad so bad the pages had to wilt
Who would I be, see if I never had been plagued by
thoughts that cross my mind but don't have the time to stay"
(Emcee Intellekt, a UF alumni, written when he was just 19)

1 comment:

  1. "what silenced my pen..."

    i'm glad you're writing again. my favorite memories of our friendship involve listening to you read your poems in literary club. the way they are written is beautiful, but when you speak they become something different entirely.

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