(Note: this is not intended to be a political topic.)
In the last few days I’ve been struggling to make sense of current events, for myself, my family and friends, my country and the world. And it’s been difficult. But escaping the news on forums like this one has reminded me that there is at least one thing to look forward to: the inspiration to create, not just musicians but for artists in general.
I’ve noticed throughout my life that most great art is born from strife and conflict, with the creative act being a reaction and a means to come to terms with struggle, whether it be internal, external or both. I know a lot of creative people who care deeply about the current state of things, and at least one upside of our collective disillusionment, despair and angst will be an attempt to reconcile these emotions with creating new works. Those are going to be amazing and something to look forward to.
Much great art is made from bad stuff going on but sometimes this sort of argument gets to the point where we seem to wish for the badness so we get to enjoy the art.
Some of my favourite records are when artists have gone through some totally horrible things and written in response. But morally, I’d probably prefer them to be happier people with less great records. Or when an artist stops drinking and releases worse music, is that better or worse for the world?
It’s like saying you’re glad for slavery because of the blues. Maybe without the slavery we’d have had an even better genre stemming from the traditional influences? Even without, I think it’s safe to say the world would be better with less slavery even if it led to less blues.
Cinema in soviet occupied europe (where I was born) is often a lot better than what came after the Russians left. But I think I’d prefer if my family didn’t go through such an awful invasion.
From those horrible things, something a bit lighter from the wonderful Taylor Swift Tiny Desk concert where she said that interviewers would keep asking her if she could write break up songs if she was happy. She then talks about panicking now she’s happy but then watching films, chatting to friends, and writing a fictitious break up song from all that material. What’s funny is that this fictitious break up song she wrote (Death by a thousand cuts) is probably her best. So remember fiction and history exists so we don’t have to suffer all the time to make good art.
A bunch of my friends’ lives (and the lives of millions of strangers) are going to get worse over the next four years. Thinking about that “inspiring good art” feels awful.
But if we’re going to have bad times, it would be nice to have art that tells us, “No, you’re not crazy for thinking the world is bad, and we should make it better.” To have art that makes you feel like you are not alone
I am totally up for good Art born from all Sorts of feelings of despair or political situations. Problem is, and also on this forum. What for if it can‘t inspire or provoke diskussion or Communication? Is it just for consumption then. It is so often now that poeple express despair and in the same moment say they won‘t talk about politics anymore. Not here, not in their safe space, not where they and „Art“ meet. But again…why if it can‘t provoke us talking? Isn‘t pure hedonism and consumption what brought us here in the first place? There are Topics on Games, Movies…I don‘t just want to point out my Favorit movies. I want to know why one is affected by one or the other and if the topic is political shurly I want to get into it. I know that Mods also want to keep the Forum „clean“ but if people don‘t start to find ways of talking about stuff in their respected communites then society will drift further apart. Just my two cents. I am not angry at any political party. Just want to talk. And make Art too. That would be my way dealing with despair.
That’s exactly my point, which I’m sure could have been articulated better. I would never have wished (or even expected!) for these events to have transpired… but they already have, so one of the best things we can do is to create in order to push back against injustice and hate.
An excellent point. But, would she have been able to write such a good fake breakup song if for not writing a dozen real ones first?
Gary Numan has similarly said that he has been quite content in his personal life for the last decade, so in order to inspire himself he writes from the point of view of a post-apocalyptic sci-fi character (who he reinvents for every album) in order to continue creating the kind of music that he wants to make.
If nothing else, the making and experiencing others’ art keeps us going.
Do keep connected to art, don’t worry about the art being “inspired”, connected and with community is key.
It’s the experiential and humanity that’s the best of us. Not Great People or Vitally Important works, but the days and moments that may not live forever because they weren’t universally lauded by academia or a media that gives any shits about anything but markets.
We’ve just had 14 years of complete cunts in charge through a pandemic, at least two recessions, countless elderly and disabled people left to die, a surge in Nazism reinvigorated by powerful figures in government/media and the spectre of WW3 encroaching. But I’m yet to be convinced that art and culture have benefitted at all from any of this nonsense, nonsense that seems to be continuing largely unabated under the next lot of chumps we put in charge.
Now I could catastrophise all day about it, or I could be grateful that, despite all of that, I still live in a (mostly) safe country and to a standard that most can only dream of. Where I see people getting fucked over, I’ll fight it if I can, but I’m not going to act like it’s the end of the world because some other cunt thinks they’re running things for a while.
Always stressing about the bigger picture leads to despair. Get out and do good in the community around you, because that’s the community that matters.
There’s a balance of healthy models about what’s going on and not main charactering ourselves into revolutionary figures that must suffer the most moment to moment by taking grevious psychic damage to inflate Facebook’s ad revenue and screaming at people who get off on being humiliated.
Your community probably needs you more and more, walking around the area definitely helps illuminate need, and hey, i’m already doing that with my dog*
*I did that with a former cat, but no longer fully urban and none of my current ones like going out in a bag/backpack…
Eric Clapton actually said this once. It’s part of why Robert Cray doesn’t talk to him anymore. I mean, I know the guy is a tool but can you even imagine thinking this and then deciding to say it out loud?
As the idea of philanthropy has shifted from classist conceptions of institutional Art and Culture to “AI billionaires funding politicians who pinky swear to protect us from imaginary AI while deregulating industry”, best of luck on the government investment while we’re at it.
Hear, hear! When my anxiety grows, getting on with sound, and track design has been a productive out for me. So, bright side, I’ll be doing a lot of that in the next, hopefully, 4 years.
