--: Hey! It's been a while! Uh, yeah, I started up a blog and then totally forgot about it. Ok I didn't "forget" about it entirely, but it's something that was on a lesser tier of importance, until now. I'm gonna try to write monthly, anything I want, whatever's on my mind. And today what's on my mind is art.
FYI: (This is going to be a long ramble. I'm mostly talking unfiltered, unorganized. These thoughts have been in my processor for a long while.)
(Source: Daft Punk)
Why did Thomas from Daft Punk leave the industry? I've talked to a few friends who all say the same thing, "I hope they didn't break up for negative reasons." The entertainment industry is full of people who hate each other but will work together for a certain amount of time...until someone snaps. No, I don't think it's that. To my understanding, Thomas and Guy, the two robots who make it onto my daily playlist, pursued music because that was their passion. They mixed and made music because they had that creative drive, not because of the promise of fame or money. Granted, it certainly worked in their favor (while other artists have a tougher time finding that financial success) but their original intent is still there.
I think Thomas left because he was tired of the constant fame, the pressure to beat your previous release. He wanted to just make music for the sake of making art, without the pressure of releasing it for the masses.
(Source: Alien Covenant)
Let's talk Prometheus and Alien Covenant. Now...yes, I believe these are bad movies to a degree. They're visually incredible and I enjoy the acting of Michael Fassbender (he might be in my top faves list), but I have some questions as an Alien franchise fan, along with as a filmmaker. These movies are pretty bad: the writing, the weird shifts in tones, who green-lit this? Then I heard that Ridley Scott (who directed my faves such as Alien 1979 and Blade Runner 1982) wanted to make a B-movie horror flick with A-movie material. Huh...yeah that does sound pretty fun! Why not? I mean...maybe, don't dabble with a franchise and just make your own Alien-like movie that's not alien. I'm getting off topic. Prometheus and Alien Covenant explore certain themes of creation that I actually dig, conceptually. I think the execution was missed a bit and I personally don't count these two movies as part of the "Alien" timeline (what is at this point), but I can see the potential here, and I think it should be explored (just, differently). I admire Ridley Scott trying to explore different themes here. It does feel a bit more like a Blade Runner theme, especially with the presence of androids, but I'm on board. The masses don't seem to agree, and I can partially see why.
(Source: What is 2d animation. M.Faheem Abid. YES GROUP OF COLLEGES)
I think there's always this constant need to validate yourself through your art. While yes, it's great to be able to post your most recent commission/art piece/music/film for the masses to see and to buy, to count the numbers and reach passed your previous sales, but I feel as an artist that this can damage the reason why you pursued art to begin with. I have two close friends of mine, we'll call them TV and Jae, and they both have pursued art as a hobby and dabbled into it as a career. TV illustrates amazing digital paintings but doesn't get too much attention online. He's been drawing and painting since he was a kid and kept with it; that's incredible! Recently, he thought about turning this into a career, or at least upping the amount of paintings he makes to reach a certain upload count per month as a hobby. But with the lack of attention he's received over the past couple of years, it's hard to keep going. I feel that...
Jae grew up surrounded by music. He's even played a few instruments between guitar and drums; hell he got really good with drumming. But he never got himself into a band and instead pursued careers that would make him more money. We recently had a conversation about how he hates his job but it gets him some decent income; we used to talk about how he can run his own company or pursue a career in managing musicians, but nothing came of this. It's a lot of unpaid work and years of patience before something hits. Oof, that would intimidate me.
But why do we discourage ourselves when we face these challenges, when we don't get the numbers we want or when our goals take too much time to accomplish? Are we truly making art for ourselves or are we romanticizing the idea of being a successful artist with tons of followers, views, etc. Are we trying too hard to validate ourselves? Hard to say, I think these questions open up a can of worms that vary depending on the person. For myself? I can definitely get lost in the numbers; I can definitely feel a bit discouraged to make full render pieces when hardly anyone sees it, but I try incredibly hard to make sure what I'm drawing/making a movie base on/listening to, is purely for my own expression and enjoyment. I believe if you pursue art for yourself, to express yourself, you're home.
(Source: Charles Hilton, Twitter @pallette_warfare. April 7th 2021)
My buddy Phil (let's call him Phil) and I talked about how being a filmmaker takes a certain amount of obsession to keep going. We just HAVE to tell stories. (And now I'm reminded of a Martin Scorsese Master Class commercial talking about how if you must tell stories, you're a filmmaker, and if you want to make money as a filmmaker, you're in the wrong business). There's something in us that just takes control over what we do, see and feel and we just have to take whatever feeling is inside of us and express it. We love creating because we must. "If love is the answer, you're home." Perhaps Thomas was talking about his love of creating music, or perhaps his home. Or perhaps I've missed the beat entirely. Either way, I think that's the beautiful thing of art, high art, low art, comics, films, music, illustrations, stories; it's an opportunity to express and reflect upon ourselves (and this reflects our place in time). I feel that self expression is important and pursue what truly makes you feel excited and happy. Perhaps it's a bit selfish to think this way at first, but if you can help and serve yourself, you can then help and serve others.
Anyways, that's my ramble about art. If you're still reading this, hey thanks! Uh, sorry for all of the misspells and error in grammar. I'm mostly word vomiting onto the page with this post. But if you did get something out of this, I hope you found something out of this. I hope you're pursuing art for yourself. It could be doodles in your school journal, picking up a guitar every now and then and strumming those strings, making lewd fanart of your husbondo (I'm not judging), dancing to the rhythm, or simply appreciating what others are creating.
There's a youtube channel called Make. Art. Now. by Josh Yo, and while I haven't seen every single video of his, he's become a new inspiration of mine to just make art and challenge the norm. Be bold, express yourself. :--