I think my brain finally woke up...

....or I guess a more accurate analogy would be that it finally climbed out of bed and shook off its 'whoa is me, art is complicated' pity party mindset. I've been reading and watching some inspirational pieces* that i feel have been giving me a more relatable perspective of what it's like to be a contemporary artist. In the true sense of the meaning contemporary-belong to or occurring in the present- as opposed to some of the "contemporary" art we had learned about in school this same time last year which focused on post 60s art but covered very little of the last 5-10 years. Although the art we talked about was all still interesting and important in the history and discourse of art, it does little to help our positions as artists now. I'm more concerned about what the current ideas are already in play that we should be considering, and questioning in our own work to move us forward in the next progressive step.

Art movements start before they reach mainstream recognition. That's why you can't try to make art that looks like what is currently popular. I mean, you could, but then you'd be a poser. You're not creating it for the same reasons and with the same background and intentions as those who have been making it. You have to bring your own twist if you're gonna jump into the conversation that's currently happening because it's been happening for awhile now already. Your other option, start your own conversation. About something new. There is a reason why we aren't still painting the same things that the renaissance painters were painting. Art progresses in order to survive, much like technology. We must move forward. It is the nature of art and creativity. The same ideas over and over become dull and boring. What's the point? If everything was the same all the time we might as well be rocks. And thank whatever-higher-energy-you-chose-to-believe-in, we're not rocks. We breath. We move. We think. We move forward. We question. We discover. We move forward again. We analyze. We retaliate. We move even further.


You have two options:
You can go with the flow.... (is this really an option?)
or question the system...
"Wait."
"Is this working?"
"Is this working for me?"
"What is really happening here?"
"How can I change it?"

Are you a rock or a hammer?
Art is a hammer. As artists, we are always questioning the current state of things. What we're specifically questioning and how we go about questioning and whether we pose possible solutions or leave it up to the viewer, these are the things that change artist to artist and movement to movement. Sometimes these questions appear as subtle statements, small whispers that may pass over the heads of the majority but reveal themselves to a clever few (Most pop art). Or they creep their way into your daily life so sly you almost don't realize in until you do a double take (subversive street art). And then there are the ones that say exactly what they mean to with a bold and unwavering confidence (activist art).

Another thing to consider is that you can't think about art history as a linear timeline. Especially since post-modern art. Multiple schools of thought can occur at the same time, over lapping and interweaving each other. The Tate Artist Timeline by Sara Fanelli is a great illustration of that.

*The things that I mentioned I have been reading/watching...
Letters to a Young Artist
Beautiful Losers