Recently I had a friend imply that my artist interviews have “poor formatting,” after telling me to take out a joke I had included in the interview. Here I thought that not only was I the one giving the interview but that it should be fun and entertaining not static and uninteresting. I am guessing however, that he is not the only one who feels this way and that is why some of the artists I have requested to allow me to interview them have not responded.
It got me to start thinking about artists that put on a facade for their patrons and why they do that. I think artists should be more comfortable in their skin than most people. What is the purpose of being creative if not to freely express oneself? To pretend that you are a high class “boojwazi” artist living the high class life when you are clearly not, is it worth the sale? At that point, to me anyways, it seems like you are selling a product of the idea of luxury instead of a craft that comes from your authentic soul.
I do not see this as being a personal attack yet more of an attack on all artists. As creatives from the start we rely on our fellow artists to help spread our work around via word of mouth much like a bird spreads spring flower seeds (albeit in a cleaner format). I interviewed you and your followers might end up booking at my work, my followers will look at your work, and hopefully that will result in even more followers. Maybe I am talking about 2 different things here, the artist public identity versus lack of integrity in building relationships with
This comes the day after I began reading “Crush It! Why Now Is The TIme to Cash In On Your Passion.” The author, Gary Vaynerchuk discusses why artists should be authentic to not just themselves but to their audiences, for the audience can “sniff out a poser from a mile away.” While our second to last election might be proof that not everyone has their olfactory senses in tip top shape, I do think that most people are well aware of it. I do suppose showmanship is a big part of any sales, but at the cost of being inauthentic just seems like a cop out to me. Am I alone in this thought?