Another one of my works (a collage) was featured on the radar! I am honored, and humbled by the support. It comes at a good time, to be honest. I recently finished a gig that took me completely away from being able to make my own work for about five months. It sounds like a high class problem (oh no poor artist can’t make his art!), and it is, but it really did a number on me. But it was also a blessing in disguise: I needed the forced pause.
For a couple years now I’ve been a little put out by the art world, the hustle of New York, the bullshit, the grind, the eye rolls (sometimes my own), the ease of becoming complacent in one’s practice, the cynicism (sometimes my own), the politics of the gallery and market systems, the challenge of staying both “relevant” and fiscally solvent, and in general my focus has shifted in the last year and a half as I met the love of my life, got engaged, and married. Combine that with a continued exposure to so much new work from thousands of artists swirling around in the air in New York and beyond, and it’s easy to see how hard it is to do ANYTHING related to making art. Let alone rising above, and trusting the little voices in my head that are urging me to always go further than I think is possible. To leap, trusting the net will appear. To not compromise for the sake of convenience. To be a fucking real artist.
On the other hand I see a handful of people fitting the mold with seeming ease. They are comfortable (at least on the surface) with their success or their position or their lot. I have the blessing and curse of being the type of person who is never satisfied with what I’m doing, or have done. I have no idea what my career looks like right now, but I know that I won’t MAKE it look like anything to explicitly gain favor with galleries, curators, institutions, museums, or even my peers. Rather I will continue to make the work I have to make, for YOU. Which leads me back to my point: THANK YOU! Even though I question the relevancy/value of almost everything I do, none of it would be possible without you, and your support over the minutes/hours/days/weeks/months/years. And to that end, I am planning on getting back into the more digital participatory realm with virtual performances that require audience interaction. I have no idea what exactly this will look like, but I hope you’ll join me. You’ll know when. It’ll be fun. And weird, but not in an annoying way.
Ok. It’s time. And it’s about time. Now. :)