Me on top of the mountain for the sunrise this morning. Not alone.
The artist way has always been a lonely path. There is this idea that you need to toil away in deep solitude to find the gems of insight that are then laboriously lugged to the surface. It is a very individualistic idea. It connects to the concept of steady linear development of the self or of a body of artistic work.
It is bull shit really. Look at the great Artists of this old way of doing art: Picasso, Van Goh, Degas and more. Picasso was a terrible guy. Most of the others go insane. Their art and lives are plagued by loneliness, ego and co-dependence..
Sure they made great paintings– but at the vast neglect of the canvas of life.
Frankly, it’s all a symptom of the over idealization of the masculine that I alluded to in my last post. This over indulgence of one type of masculine creativity over the feminine. Truly, a balanced life can’t be created with an exclusively masculine system of power based on control, analysis and logical, linear thinking, nor can it be achieved or executed with a strategic plan. What about love, intimacy, connection, belonging, creativity, self-expression, aliveness, meaningful community, purpose within the collective, and belonging? These would be the principles of the long neglected and all but discarded feminine. Do any of those concepts connect to what you know about Picasso? Van Goh? Nope.
There is a big shift going on in the way we do art. I see it in the work and new cooperation consciousness of my fellow artists. There are some amazingly exciting collaborative projects beginning out there. Art that inspires others to be artists, to create together, to use our differences to make beauty. Art that downplays the individual and puts everyone on equal creative footing. It is beautiful!
Yep. Toiling all alone as an illustrious artist it is silly. So much better to do things together. As a team, collective, community. To do things co-creatively. There this lots of place for being an individual, but you go about it knowing the depth of your interconnectedness, and that you cant do things on your own.
My artistic practice has been a reflection of this development of my own consciousness. All I can say is… Hurray! As my good friends know, I began trying to do it all alone. Then, I graduated to leading through employment. Then through charm and charisma. In all these modes, I was still really lone wolfing it. The ego-driven individualistic way was so deeply ingrained in me and western culture.
But now… The times are a changin’! As Sheryl Crow sings ‘I am leaving Las Vegas!”
More on co-creation to follow…
