These are loose thoughts about the future: crazy ideas I'm mulling over, changes I wish to manifest, and interesting things I've noticed.
My creative values
In the pursuit of a definite, intentional creative identity, I find myself drawn to these values for my work:
- Enrich, don’t just distract
- Have a fearless point of view
- Embrace darkness, but inspire growth
Audience
I want to make work for kind people.
That’s too broad for any kind of real market positioning, but it’s a start. If an audience is a set of people you invite into your creative life, I don’t want to invite toxic, entitled, mean-spirited people. I want to invite kind people, who:
- Understand the value of the arts
- Find new ideas more interesting than dangerous
- Feel in community with me and with each other
Independence
I’d like to reach a point where I’m no longer beholden to an employer in order to live. That’s not just a luxury: I think it’s actually becoming a necessity in order for me to have the kind of lifestyle, and build the kind of identity, that I want to have.
Assumptions
We tend to assume the corporate career will be successful (financial stability) while the artistic career will be a failure (financial risk). Why do we make those assumptions? What does it take to disprove those assumptions?
Making space for art
It feels like the way forward is less about figuring out how to make money by making art, and more about how to make money while leaving space for art.