Compulsory Art: The Movement
I created an art movement.
We are a small but dedicated 1 followers.
And we are (I am) terrified.
I’m not humble, I’m a coward.
I’m writers-blocked for days, on the simplest text.
I want to write a simple, page-long invitation to my art.
Material to print and share with strangers.
All my first draft attempts feel wrong; off.
The only possible reason. I’m being dishonest.
But how?
My constipated drafts present a guy who tries to establish himself as a fresh, delicious artist in the beautiful city of Cologne.
They invite the readers to share my art with people who, they suspect, may love it.
Okay, nice. What’s wrong with that?
It’s technically true.
Fair story, decent call to action.
It’s technically true,
but still dishonest.
My honest initiation sounds too delusional to take seriously,
even by myself.
None of the following capture
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I created an art movement, and it's terrifying
I'm not humble,
I am a coward.
The fear
that I am a delusional coward,
paralyzes me into one.
I've been writing-blocked for days.
I want to write a simple page-long invitation to my art, to print and share with strangers.
Blessed with an ease of spitting out first drafts, this is one of the times I am really stumped.
Why? Because my text is being dishonest.
My constipated drafts talk about a guy trying to establish himself as an artist in this beautiful city.
It invites the readers to share my art with people who they think may love it.
Cool. What's wrong with that?
It's technically true. Fair story, decent prompt.
Well, it is technically true but still dishonest.
My honest motivation sounds too delusional to take seriously, even by myself.
None of the following capture my honest vision & reason for doing what I'm doing:
- Get visitors to my art gallery.
- Sell art.
- Improve people's lives.
- Run a successful business.
- Deradicalize all flavors of extremists.
- Collaborate with wonderful people.
- Minimize child obesity.
- Build good infrastructure.
- Earn love and respect.
Are they honest goals?
Very much so.
I am broke, alone, and practically useless to most people on the planet.
Of course I want to change that.
But the reason I keep making the art I make, obsessively,
the reason I struggle with starting a profitable business with it,
seemingly out of the blue given, is because, somehow,
I may have stumbled upon, or invented, a new, extremely valuable art movement.
What I call 'good art',
and its most valuable branch 'compulsory art'.
What is compulsory art?
Art that piece by piece, and in aggregate, grounds & aligns people,
more effectively than just beautiful art.
It's grippier, and it digs deep.
It is created and served with that explicit goal.
It calibrates our moral compass.
It aligns us mentally, emotionally, physically even.
“shoulders straight, bitch”
A large percentage of people exposed to it,
experience positive effects akin to effects of:
Good stories
religious experiences
friendship
good therapy
Compulsory art makes us better at being humans. It acts on us in ways we are aware of, and in ways we are not.
How? Compulsory art radiates explicit and implicit meaning.
What is explicit meaning?
Explicit meaning is obvious, easy to appreciate, maybe superficial. For example, healthy reminders 'drink some water', 'reset your posture' , 'do your gratitude', 'work good', ‘stay strong’.
Explicit prompts, inspirational, witty slogans, to-do lists.
Material we don't really deem art, alone, but is nice to receive and share, more than nice, it’s healthy.
What about implicit meaning?
A beautiful concert. A walk in the woods.
Beauty, aromas, rituals, a long hug, a poem or a story that brings you to tears even if you can't really explain why.
Evergreen fairytales, good movies, religious stories.
What is revolutionary with my art, and I do feel deeply uncomfortable admitting this degree of arrogant conviction
is not its effect,
but the means of delivering that valuable effect.
Let’s take a stunning oil painting of a landscape. We can appreciate it without having done our homework. Great paintings and photos tap onto the implicit, the deep beauty.
We don't need to dig into analysis and interpretation to just appreciate, admire, and feel grateful for, but when we do, their beauty, their effect, their benefit may grow by orders of magnitude.7 XXXXXXXXX
Activism-tainted art, like Banksy's, gets more explicit, actionable, motivational. Its aesthetic value is less obvious.
Compulsory art triggers taps on both the explicit and the implicit ends of the meaning spectrum, and all over within, using text and image in ways that complement each other.
Compulsory art, is both silly and deep, exactly where you need it, like great stories, comedy, and life herself.
Compulsory art is visually pleasant and meaningful poetry, where the literal and the aesthetic complement each other to create an effect much more potent by the simultaneous presentation of, say, a poem and a picture that helps contextualize it.
Words and visuals are one.
You can not have compulsory art without words.
The words alone don't cut it either.
You need it all. You actually need this.
That's my whole fucking point, you understand me?
We need this art so, so, so much.
No still art I have seen does the whole thing, in such a wholesome, unmistakable, and wholesome way, none until...
holy fucking obnoxious bullshit cunt delusional loser me
me? like literally I and only I can do and do do that?
C'mon, what are the odds?
No wonder speaking my truth feels so humiliatingly uncomfortable and stupid and unworthy of your attention
but if I so little as believe it may actually be true,
I can't live in peace doing anything but try my best to find out.
Fuck around and find out, they say. Well,
if I find out I'm a delusional loser,
your life won't be any worse.
I just have to learn with the
humbling lesson, and move on
totally doable.
But if, however small the probability is, find out my art is being or can be what I suspect it may be
holy fucking fuck, you are welcome
My best art pieces look similar to each other, and at first glance.
For most people who look at them for a few seconds, each of them is either hit or miss.
They say 'oh, I get it',
or 'hmm, I don't get it',
because that's what we do when we see something
We either get it or not, we quick think.
Especially words. When we see words. What do they mean?
Sike!
We always absorb and embody much more than we think we get.
This is the foundation of marketing, storytelling, propaganda.
We understand that much better with music.
Fairytales, biblical stories, good fiction, and good comedy operate in the whole spectrum of meaning.
The lure you in with giggles, gossip, sex, and familiar structures, and imbew deep truths about the tragedy of human existence, suffering, loving, regretting, celebrating vicariously through the tales of the protagonists.
When people get confused about weather they understand my art or not, I interrupt them.
Hey, don't worry about what it means,do you LIKE it?
They often respond 'I can't tell if I like it before I understand what it means'.
Fair enough. But also. Sure you can.
Pretend you don't need to understand it, because it's true.
Each of my best pieces implies multiple stories, some of which we can't put into words, some we hate or fear, some are pure wisdom.
My best art, with regular exposure, gradually creates a terrifyingly cleaner and cleaner mirror above our useful moral hypocrisies and compromises.
It's humiliating to look upward and confront it, but that reminds us that never daring to look up is admission of cowardice.
It's either the sharp, useful pain, we are gifted an opportunity to confront, or the dull pain of incompetence we hate to be reminded of.
My best art operates the same way really good literature or comedy do.
But my art is always there.
On your wall, on your shelf, on your tattoo I advise against. Measuring you, teasing you, inviting you, 24/7.
It never stops.
You can not switch it off. Unless you do, in which case you have to live with the tactile admission that you are a spineless coward.
_ _ _
Thank you for your attention.
Antony
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e-mail: antony.good.art[at]gmail.com