Actor and activist Paul Robeson said, "Artists are the gatekeepers of truth. We are civilization’s radical voice." Artists yearn to share their unique vision with the world, a world that historically has never embraced the artists’ vision. How does the artist, society’s gatekeeper of truth and radical voice, not just survive but thrive in such a world?
There are a plethora of impediments facing the 21st-century artist: censorship, politics, and religion. None of those obstacles has created the minefield that capitalism has. Capitalism’s tentacles have either strangled the artists’ authenticity or forced them to compromise their creative vision.
And now, capitalism is changing. Forget Laissez Faire Capitalism, we now have Crony Capitalism and Oligarchic capitalism. Conscious Capitalism and Psychedelic Capitalism.
Capitalism isn't the only institution that's splintering. Governmental and political systems are in crisis, scrambling inside campaign agendas. Educational institutions are questioning free speech and protests, some of the very principles they were built upon! The criminal justice system has not been able to integrate the Black Lives Matter movement. Military institutions are divided within, loyalties no longer so crystal clear.
The illusion of capitalism benefiting its participants has been shattered alongside every other institution in crumbles. Vanessa Machado de Oliveira examines these crises nicely in her book Hospicing Modernity, Facing Humanity's Wrongs.
This leaves artists in a precarious position. Few artists have ever thrived in Capitalism. Andy Warhol comes to mind. His diaries paint a picture of a sensitive soul with a complex relationship to commerce. He is a perfect example of an artist who commodified vulnerability as an art. Warhol strikes a remarkable balance between art and business, even if he was unstable emotionally. He walked that line.
And that is what artists do. They walk the line.
On one side, artists pamper their right brain functioning in order to channel the sacred muses. I see this as the feminine-dominant side, not to say that there is no masculine here. The Yin, or divine feminine principle is one of nurturing. Matriarchal.
On the other side, artists often struggle with the left brain, the business side of art-making. Sales, spreadsheets, investor relations, contract negotiation, etc. I see this side as a predominantly masculine energy, where of course the feminine resides as well. The Yang, or divine masculine principle is much more aggressive. Patriarchal.
In many ways, the artist’s story of Capitalism is that of the exploited. In modern times, however, amidst the continued injustices that are occurring every day in the Arts Industries across discipline, the exploited now have platforms to speak and be heard. More than ever before there are smaller factions of community, communal spaces, and sacred ceremonies uniting artists in unprecedented ways.
Today you can make your own story of Capitalism and set it to work for you. If competition rubs you the wrong way, you can create your own sideways, adjacent co-op that supports and promotes instead of squashes the inefficient. While the traditional non-profit model struggles with fundraising and DEI, more people than ever are finding ways to run their own businesses.
I found a lovely retirement job (in my 40s) bartending at a dive bar in Honolulu. It gives me the freedom to co-create with the elements I’m entangled with on this sacred land. I still coach virtually which provides an extra revenue stream. And I get to offer free artist development musings at my bar. (If you mention this blog at the bar, I’ll buy your first drink.*) Take that Capitalism!
Of course, if I’m honest, I have no idea where I'm going. And that is another silver lining in today’s Capitalism…I don’t really have to. I find it hard to take the institutions that are imploding around me seriously. So I chose #AnotherWay. I balance my spending with my income, adjusting it for slower months, and vice versa. All things in balance. I’ve mastered living paycheck to paycheck. Isn't that the Artist’s life that so many give up when choosing the stability of "real work" over pursuing their artistic dreams?
As I get older I've started to look critically at the systems that are supposed to support us in our "golden years." Government benefits like social security seem pretty unpredictable these days. Many people continue to face challenges with disappearing retirement plans and Medicare benefits remain at risk whenever Congress delays passing a budget—something that’s becoming a regular occurrence. If I opt out, am I worse off? Either way, there is no promise of a secure future anymore anyway. Not now that we know how fast a pandemic can cripple our illusion of stability.
When I relocated to the Hawaiian Islands, it was a small gesture toward exiting these systems. I had to move to a blue dot in the middle of the ocean - the most isolated inhabited place on Earth - just to remember how to breathe again and be present. Here I am able to quell the deafening "ought tos," "shoulds," and "but whys." I am only just starting to see a path I can call my own. My #AnotherWay is still within the system but in balance with my creative spirit and artistic development.
My story of Capitalism is complicated. Competition being the fuel of market economies doesn’t bode well for the artists, like me, who don’t summon inspiration on call. The artist in me needs space and time for the creative process. I need communal witnessing to slow down, process, listen, and be heard. In the Southern Baptist tradition I would ask for an "Amen." This is how authentic, sustainable stories are made.
We all know it's about the journey and not the destination, right? So why is "civilized" culture so preoccupied with deliverables? It seems like there are countless artists waiting in the wings for that finished product before they feel comfortable sharing themselves with the world. Or they hide behind the "art" of a social media profile. When did art become a cloak for invisibility? The work will never be done. We are all in development and development never ends.
I take comfort in knowing that this is an evolutionary process which is bigger than my little life. My journey to sustainable creativity is part of a larger whole. Evolutionary processes can be painful in the grand scheme of things. Our planet has had five mass extinction events in the development of life on Earth!
The Arts have endured centuries of persecution. Throughout history, art and artists have often faced censorship, suppression, and punishment under regimes, religions, and political systems that saw their work as threatening or subversive. Not to mention Capitalism’s most notorious function, exploitation. ChatGPT (October 6 Version. OpenAI, 2024) helped me write this paragraph, does that mean I'm putting an artist out of work?
Still, survivors create and art lives on…
Change, ecologically speaking, is always for the larger good. Within a single generation, anole lizards on the Caribbean islands of Turks and Caicos evolved bigger and stickier toe pads following Hurricanes Irma and Maria. This evolutionary adaptation to changing climates is life surviving as it always has. So why do we resist change when it comes to our systems and institutions?
Several indigenous leaders have started speaking up in support of the natural world. This revolutionary time has been prophesied by First Peoples around the world. The Eagle and The Condor Prophecy, of which there are several versions dating back centuries, predicts a time of liminality, in which there will be a mutual need for balance between nature and technology. #ArtsMeetsBiz.
I think it would be a mistake to claim that there is any one-size-fits-all solution to failing systems. The purpose of liminality is to exist between, fall into the cracks. Walk toward the discomfort and create something authentic from there. Transform your economic woes by re-writing your story of Capitalism. All things in balance.
Emileena hosted a workshop about re-writing the Artist's Story of Capitalism on 10/26/2024 in NYC. She is writing a book on artist development called ANOTHER WAY.
Original Artwork by Dave Law, freelance visual artist and illustrator. For more, please visit www.davelawart.com.
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