SM-ART

Over the last seven years the intellect of artists has becoming increasingly apparent to me.  Now let me preface that with "true artists".  I'm talking about people who create from their very core, heart and soul.  True artists create because if they don't they will explode.  Passionate people with messages, muses, inspirations and emotions.  People who have owned the main art they were born with and then went on to find the other mediums they had the talent to work with that also successfully conveyed their thoughts and feelings.

Musicians, chefs and visual artists tend to also be mathematically adept.  Many will also be interested in history but that subject is also common in all art.  Creators, no matter how inspired, will research their subject and use that history to better flesh out their work.  Of course writers and actors possess a passion for language.  Music, acrobatics, dance, architecture and fine arts include a variety of sciences.  So it's pretty safe to say that true artists are pretty nerdy.  In fact if you look back at your K-12 days, the arts kids and the  smart kids tended to all sit together at the lunch table.  In fact a good number of us were both.

"But Kath' what about currently popular musicians or actors who, in interviews, come off sounding dumber than a box of rocks?"  I say, these are not artists.  These are manufactured products of large corporations.  People who have enough knowledge to read words off a page or follow a producer's directions.  Everything else is left to editors and engineers to clean it up for public consumption.  As far as visual art?  Most of what is in the mainstream is the product of a computer with templates and other people's art.  It's slick. It's bright.  But there is not substance or emotion there.  There is no intellect required.  It's just a higher level of "paint by numbers".

Today a friend of a friend posted a link to a Youtube video that really makes the point of this post.  The young man being interviewed has been called a lot of names.  He has been considered "just another stupid rocker boy" and a lot of other things that he even mentions in this interview.  He is a true artist because he's never let any of that stop him from sharing his emotions.  He has tapped into his other talents.  He has braved some really tough times to make art and share it.  He has been rewarded for his efforts.  He's also been blessed with the ability to speak eloquently about his vision and his journey.  Watch and I think you will agree

Fourculture Magazine

Fourculture Magazine:

Here is a brand new arts zine that features members of "the tribe" from around the U.S. and Europe.  This mag' covers the four pillars of art and takes you outside the box of current mediocrity.  The stories are intriguing and show sides of artists not usually represented in interviews or features.  Fourculture writers like to get inside the hearts and heads of creators.

Yes, I'm a little biased about the publications as it is a new outlet for my writing and a new place for me to introduce the world to some of the special people that cross my path. In the debut issue you will find an interview with Hans Haveron about his mural at Facebook and some of the work he does for the DoArt Foundation.  Then there's a feature on Calling All Astronauts which even I learned from.  I was assigned this article and went in cold.  Since then I've spent time on Twitter getting to know Dave and his musical inspirations and feelings about the state of the industry.

Please check it out.  Leave comments.  Subscribe.  Next month I have a feature on AlexanderDcD who is now one of the most complex street artists I've connected with.

Open publication - Free publishing - More alternative

'via Blog this'

Success vs Sellout - hanging on to idealism and integrity

A cup of coffee and a shower got the brain moving into this train of thought...if an artist reaches the point of “success” will it always result in “sellout”.  Can idealism and true creativity survive a record deal, business venture or publishing contract.

In the circles I run in, probably the best known cry of “sellout” gets thrown at Green Day.  These Bay Area punk rockers started with their altruistic mission to share the angst of the young to the point where the kids would sing along.  Billy Joe and his cohorts created musical art that broke the rules.  They felt the simple design atheistic of three or four chords, a solid bass line and a drum track that was the heartbeat of a patient suffering from a severe panic attack and worked it into really good songs.  In the beginning success was getting a gig in a small club and having ten people turn out.  Success was those ten people sharing the emotional experience of Green Day’s musical art.  The boys went home, after calming their adrenalin high with the beer they got paid in, and relived the moment over and over, allowing it to feed the muses.  

Everything seemed to genuine and organic through album after album.  The artistic integrity prevailed until...American Idiot.  Now it wasn’t that Green Day didn’t have any radio hits to that point.  Gods only know how many high school graduations had to suffer through “Good Riddance” (Time Of Your Life)?  But...it was still music for the sake of recreating emotions and sharing them with an audience.  American Idiot, initially, was a grander creation.  I’m not saying that it was the band's vision for it to become a massive pop-rock record that would produce multiple singles, massive videos, arena tours and a shit-ton of merch.  I want to believe it was created from the heart.  And maybe Billy did have thoughts in the back of his head about the eventual Broadway musical and that it would be art for art’s sake with nothing to do with the major bank it would all bring in.  But it is obvious that somewhere along they way, American Idiot became a cash cow and the follow up album was just a rehash/sequel.  

With new artists of all genres showing up on the radar screens lately, especially in the current pop culture environment of “cheap art”, what does it mean for them?  First and foremost, it’s easy to separate sheep and goats when it comes to people with talent who just want to make a buck.  They are picked out easily by managers, promoters, and agents.  You hear them on the radio, see them on movie posters (as graphics artists and actors), watch them stealing shows on television or choosing their sculpture from a display at Pier 1.  Could any of them be a real artist?  Yes.  Do they want to be?  Well they think they are but it really is about the dollar signs.

Then there are the people that truly do have the artist mentality and heart.  They start out with the greatest of intentions to change the world through their creations.  Today they take their royalty checks feeling the tug on their guilty conscious, telling themselves that they need to eat and as soon as the car, house, boat, etc. is paid off they will go back to creating art with substance.  They won’t but they tell themselves they will.  Does some genuine art come from this group?  Yes.  Definitely more than the previously mentioned one.

Then there are the true idealists.  They really do love the ‘payment’ they receive in the reactions of their audiences.  They smile watching us walk down the street in their clothes knowing that not only is their name on the label but they actually designed it.  Their hearts melt a little when they hear us humming one of their compositions.  Watching us ooh and ahhh as they hang upside down in the midst of an aerial ballet makes them fly higher and spin faster.  

I want to believe, as more of them enter the mainstream and share their art with larger audiences, that that idealism remains.  Coming from tribes where it has been nurtured and cultivated with added measures of concern for humanity and the planet, there is a strong ethic within them.  But it will take audiences challenging themselves to open up to this level of art rather than demanding it be brought down to a discount store level for it survive on a broader plain and for the artists to make enough money to live without selling out.  To help promote this effort, visit your local gallery, small music venue or summer stock theater.  Don’t break down and turn on Top 40 radio, patronize some big arena tour or buy a framed print at Home Goods.  Help grow a new integrity in the arts and their audiences.

Describing ‘The Tribes’

Over the past four years I’ve crossed paths with many artists. At the beginning most I knew as musicians. Over time I’ve learned that most of them also work in numerous mediums from film to clay to pen and ink. These folks also tend to gravitate towards each other and take up residence in art communities within the locations they actually reside.
Truly established U.S. tribes seem to be strongest in southern California with other outposts being in Seattle, Chicago and parts of Texas. Surprisingly, the large numbers of artists in New York City tend to keep to themselves with only small close-knit groups with a few cross-overs. Boston seems to be the same with one band of hippie/gypsies that I have been able to pick out.
The point of this blog is to be a beacon to all the tribes mainly in North America but also internationally. As more artisans come forward to identify and define themselves and their communities, the picture should become clearer and the definition more precise of modern neo-tribalism amongst artists.

Come join the circle

Peace. Shalom. Aloha. Pax.
Here is a meeting of the tribes.  You will be introduced to members, communities, troupes, and events.  There are gypsies, troubadours, mistrals, acrobats, painters, sculptors, weavers, smiths, and bards.  We come from every corner of the globe and share a love of languages of the arts.  Even though we may not speak a particular dialect, we understand it and revel in its unique beauty.
Here will be shared color, sound, texture, smell and taste.  You will find all the elements; earth, air, fire and water in this place.  You will be encouraged and inspired while sharing that encouragement and inspiration with others.  Muses will be revealed.  Young ones will be taught.
Over the next day or so, I will introduce you to three artists I interviewed a while back.  Two are members of the West Hollywood, CA (WeHo) tribe and one moves between the Wicker Park (Chicago) tribe and the New York City tribe.  Going forward there will be other conversations with all manner creators.  There might be an occasional review of a performance, gallery show or museum exhibit.  Maybe a topic for a comment discussion amongst the readers of this blog.  It will be a creative space.
Pour your favorite libation, bring your own version of a peace-pipe, pull-up a chair and join in.  If you wish to add your own tales to this tome, please contact me and we’ll schedule a chat.
The Scribe