Friday, June 3, 2011

Inside or out, is the tribe “safe”

Yes, a tribe can be a sanctuary. But it is in no way “safe”, neither within nor without.

Within the community artists are “safe” to congregate with little concern for those who disapprove of them damaging or polluting their muses. However, once the group begins either individual or collaborative works, the safety net is removed, the bulletproof vests come off and the security guards run for cover. A real work of art requires souls to be laid bare and hearts exposed. Emotions are fair game and are depicted in voice, paint, clay, and words. Others will add critique, edits and embellishments. Some may fight back defending the work in its original form. It is a free-for-all where art is birthed, cultivated, fertilized and grown in to bigger, better, more exciting, more daring.

To create requires risk and courage. It is leaps of faith where, most times, the jumper is allowed to fall, if for no other reason than to see how the impact will affect the final product.
Some creation are the result of fire, water, and wind in their most destructive forms. Other artists must be mindful of torches, filled wine glasses or large fans.

The tribe will support and defend itself and its members when it goes out into the more unsafe space outside the community. It is in the “real” world of cowards art is anything but “safe”. It is radical. It is revolutionary. It adds color to their gray spaces. It makes them hum along. It makes their feet move in other ways rather than one foot in front of the other…over and over and over again.

Art makes them question their faith. Art makes them feel something…anything. Art dares them to to be different. Artisans are not safe people.

So if you want safe? Join the flock that follows itself blindly into the corner of the pen in a rain storm only to suffocate each other. Walk in lockstep, questioning nothing. Live in a place of constant fear.
Or be brave. Thumb your nose at safety. Come into the tribe and live fearlessly.

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