Artist Support Collective? 

From: James Leaf
Subject: Re: artist support collective?
Date: December 12, 2016 at 11:44:14 AM EST

Hi, I'm James, I don't really know any one yet except Mimi, but these are my immediate thoughts:

Thomas Mann wrote something like "Culture has abandoned the cult and has thus made a cult out of itself."

By culture he is in the context is referring to music, literature, painting, sculpture, music, theatre etc.  He is referring to the notion that art at different times was measured  by how it served a greater sacred idea that was itself much greater than art:  Sophocles wrote devotionally for the cult of Dionysus or Apollo in service of his city, the Great Renaissance painters were often serving the cult of The Virgin or a Saint, Phidias and the Athenians built the Parthenon to honor the cult of Athena.  Bach is writing music that is venerational to the "cult" of Jesus, his birth and his death that means the forgiveness and redemption of mankind.  And on and on, from Tibetan sculpture of warning demons to Islamic calligraphy.

As artists to today, I believe many of us are stuck with the idea of "I must be an artist, I am doing this on my own, this is my vocation and career, this is my calling, I must do this shit to prove I am what I say I am."  This allows us to fall into a trap where we begin to consider ourselves and what we create as commodity.  It's an alienating capitalist pressure I think we can all feel.

When the stakes really rise in a nation though none of the matters very much.  

What matters is the daily struggle to not fall into isolation, alienation, haughtiness, recklessness pride or despair.  And if we can do that we may be able to help or even stand up and fight for other people who may need our help.  The daily struggle is to offer succor to one another as human beings, and to do the right thing, the courageous thing however we can.  That is the primary struggle, and art, I believe is an incredible byproduct of that struggle to possess personal freedom everyday and live without fear.

I believe the climate in America has changed and we are moving towards a best and worst of times situation.  Those who revere naked power, and who want a "strong" man over democracy, are feeling emboldened.  So too are the mediocre, the bullies and the bigots.  

Those of us who believe in democracy must fight back daily and art is one weapon among many---though art is a million things besides a weapon. 

George Orwell, an author more and more important in a potentially proto-fascist environment, wrote that good novels couldn't be written by people who were afraid.  So we have to face the world we live in firstly as citizens of the world and citizens of a nation, and secondly as artists.

It is memorable that on the tomb of Aeschylus, the supposed father of all playwrights, there is no mention of any of his great tragedies.  It says merely that he fought at Marathon, and that the Persians there knew his worth in battle.  He was most proud of having fought for his democracy against an invading autocracy.  The Oresteia is secondary.  

I'm glad I was able to write seven pages of my novel the other day, I'm glad I'm reviewing my lines for a play that opens in six nights, but I'm more glad that I was able to find a bit of guts and yell back and risk a fist fight with a thuggish guy screaming about the "Jew bastards, and the dykes and the faggots"  in the West Village, a circumstance which in a proto-fascist environment will happen with more and more frequency and will include attacks on hosts of people deemed outsiders; Mexicans, Muslims, women unwilling to play a submissive and subservient role.      

So I think my total point is the identity struggle about being an artist is a distraction and is unhelpful, the important thing is to try and find personal freedom and fight for freedom to think explore imagine without fear, and to help those in need and express solidarity with the righteous.  If that can be won, you will create.  I personally believe that if you can find that freedom from fear, an ability to play, the Gods or the force or the universe will do the work THROUGH YOU to make what must be made, and when we do get to create real art that is perhaps the most intoxicating and wonderful experiences we can know.

Lastly I'd just like to close with a story that may or may not be factually true (the metaphor is what I'm aiming at) about a Russian city invaded by the Germans in WWII.  The Russian Commander gave an order to the Red Air force to bomb the outskirts of his own city.  After immense slaughter the siege was repulsed and the German army driven back.  When asked why he had bombed his own city, his answer, in English was: "Rubble is easier to defend."

I think that's what a lot of us do in our lives as artists, metaphorically, I know I've done it many times.  We bomb our own city, which means we sabotage and bomb ourselves because rubble is easier to defend.  If our life feels predictable frustrating and boring or if we are depressed or uncreative, well we know nobody is going to try to take that away from us.  It's much harder to defend a gorgeous palace or a temple, than charred rubble   The feeling of elation, joy or ecstasy from which the greatest work is made is far more precarious than the feeling of being low, unproductive, watching tv, eating junk etc.

So "Rubble is easier to defend" is a good strategy if you are literally trying to turn back legions of enemies, but it's a very bad strategy emotionally/spiritually, and is something I am trying to avoid.

I'm trying to let myself feel really good, feel joyful even, allow myself to be kind and to create, even though I know that  "they" can take that away way more easily than "they" can take away my depression, my dark taciturn habits, my lack of imagination, my self pity...my rubble.

Thank you to all of you I don't know yet, and thank you for reading what may have been a rather scattershot screed.

Good luck in life and in your art, Good courage and many blessings from Brooklyn,

                                        James

"(S)He who seeks life and freedom, must win each, each day anew." 
 -Goethe  

On Dec 10, 2016 11:27 PM, "Naomi Goodman" wrote:

Dear artists of all kinds:

Some of you I've asked about whether you're interested in getting this email. Others I have taken the liberty to include without asking because I'm pretty sure you'd be interested.  If I am wrong about that, I hope you can forgive me and I will remove you from the thread if you like, no questions asked.

Some of you may think or say, "I'm not a real artist." All of you I include because you're on an artistic journey of your own (whether it be professional, personal, recreational, in school, on the stage, in a classroom, written in a garrett somewhere...anything really), and I value your insight as fellow humans.  

Be warned - long email ahead.  I promise there's a point.

I'm writing you because I could use your help and I wonder if you could use mine.   
I had a lesson the other day and my teacher brought out all of these scores she recommends I learn this winter.  She was talking about Bach's St. Matthew Passion and conducting recitative and I was getting all excited and writing a million things down - and yet something was bothering me.  What am I going to do when I stop caring?

For as long as I can remember, it goes like this - I get super excited about things, I'm going to the practice room and reading and making progress and really into it, and then one day...I wake up and don't care.  Worse than that, suddenly Bach is uninspiring and everything about what I'm doing is stupid and useless.  

This usually happens after I have made progress.  I go out of my way to avoid the practice room.  If I force myself, I mostly spend my time tearing everything I'm doing apart and getting discouraged and exhausted.  I know that's unproductive but I have yet to learn how to control it.  And then I wonder how the fuck I can be an artist if I can't control it. 

I think I've figured out by now that it's not that I don't care - I think I'm afraid, of failure or maybe progress, so I just shut it all down.  Then eventually, I feel like practicing again, so I start again. The whole process is distressing.  It's especially distressing to have such sudden feelings of apathy toward something you know you care about.

So, how could I use your help? 

I think it would help if, whenever you feel up to it, any or all of you would check in (write/text/send telepathic messages) and say, "Hey! Did you practice today?" or "how was practicing today?" or "You and Bach working things out, or still on the rocks?" I think it would encourage me and make me feel less isolated. And if you think it might be helpful, I would be more than happy to similarly check in with any of you (let me know what I should ask you).

I would also love to hear about your own experiences, whenever the spirit moves.  What did you work on today? What went well? What are you struggling with? Who/what do you listen to besides the voices in your head? 

Feel free to ignore entirely, answer any or all of the above, reply only to me, reply all, share with your own friends.  Write whenever you want, however often or never you want (yes, that is the English I want).  

We can take you off the thread if you don't want to get emails/don't like art, love, rainbows, or baby animals/just aren't up for this type of sharing right now/are otherwise uncomfortable.  I just had this idea and wanted to throw it out there.  Thank you for listening.

Love to all, 

Naomi/Mimi/magical bird creature/however you know me