I graduated art school about a decade ago. Most of the artists I went to school with are no longer practicing the craft. I’m one of three artists still putting pen to paper. I’d say we are a rarity. Mostly, people give up on producing. Most of us don’t have it in us to continue on the road of rejection. If you stay on the road then it’s because you’re a sado-masochist, insane or consumed with passion (or all of the above). Recently, I saw a girl I knew from art school who just got a big commercial contract. She designed, modeled and presented for a very cool shoe company. I actually wear this brand of shoe on the regular, and I have for about ten years (pretty much upon moving to NYC).
I sent an email out to two friends from art school. I attached a screen shot revealing the artist and her work. The response was the same as mine in sentiment. One of my friends sent me this via email: “Always remember what Fred said once: You may be the most talented person in the world, but the world of arts is like high school, all it [sic] matters is on whose's [sic] table you sit at the cafeteria. She's been sitting at the right table for a while now.”
It gave me a chuckle, because I remembered the teacher who said this. He was not my favorite, far from pleasant and overall bitter about life. He did get it though. He was actually in the art business along with teaching about it. He knew the art business was actually high-end retail. There is art, there is the artist, there is the practice and then there is the business. Art can be discussed from a myriad of angles. Success in the field of the business is still elusive, but there is a key component. We need to fulfill the demand of the market with a logical supply. Branding for an artist is crucial in the market. Branding is also tied directly with the perceived identity; Identity encompasses ideology, and if you don’t line up with the mainstream then you better forget about going commercial. The girl who got the deal with the shoe company got the contract based upon the marketability of her brand.
I feel like I get it. I feel like I understand much of the base reality. I feel like I can see through the machine, and understand that much of the world is smoke and mirrors. I worked at one of the hottest art galleries in NYC for about two months… until I was let go for my laziness (only I didn’t realize that I was fired). I actually figured it out about five years after the fact. They were nice about it; I had no idea I was dropped like a bad habit. I did learn some things from stepping behind the curtain when I worked at the gallery.
Groupthink is the best route to commercial success. Groupthink is not the only way to commercial success though. If you think differently then chances are others think like you; and if others think like you then somebody has to build the supply for an unmet demand. So, if you build it then they will come.
Youtube and the Internet at large are there for D.I.Y. hustlers. As much as I feel alone at points I realize that I’m not. I am constantly reminded that the world is diverse. We can have an abundance mindset or a scarcity mindset (as I learned from Mike Cernovich). I have an abundance mindset. I know that I may not score the same deal with the shoe company. It doesn’t mean I won’t score something else. My kneejerk reaction, like my friends, was from a scarcity mindset. My reframing of the situation is actually tied into my art process. I perceive reality and reconfigure it to appeal to others and myself in a new way. That is what an artist does. We take the banal, the standard, the boilerplate and we reimagine the outcome.
I also have a grateful mindset. I’m grateful to my friends, enemies and strangers who grapple with my content. Sometimes the haters bum me out when they don’t understand a cartoon like one from my “#metoo” series. I mean how couldn’t they find them hilarious… the one with Tom chasing Jerry with a giant boner was great! We all find our way if we see doors to open. If we walk around with a blindfold then we’re doomed to bump into walls. I see doors; I see portals; I see possibilities. I see more tasty content for y’all in the near future.