by Robert Ciesla

Created on: September 28, 2009

It's a big universe and a pretty big planet, but we are here mostly to be entertained, if the corporations are to believe. One can't hope to escape the endless surge of audiovisual stimuli based on lowest common denominating. Once this was great news to the budding artist, but on the age of the internet all this means is getting taken for granted in ever-growing increments.

Unfortunate as it is, we have whole generations of pop-culture bottom-feeders lined up and ready to be disillusioned. The digital revolution made every art form simply too available from the artist's viewpoint. For every paid work of art there are thousands of free ones just waiting on the other side of the URL. For every custom made on-line portfolio there's a bunch of "new and revolutionary" communities, each dying to have your desperation harvested into their ad revenue (do not sign up).

To the man on the street you may be just another producer of one-click content, lost somewhere in the vast macrocosm of an already packed industry. To the production circles you are probably either a minor threat or a mental commodity ripe for exploitation. Expect heavy resistance. Then ignore it.

As an artist, you will encounter a unique form of hostility, the kind that's not triggered by your gender, your ethnic background, or your income. Let's face it, as a creative you do have special needs. Not only do you want to be accepted as the person who you are, but you'll yearn for someone to recognize your art which is your soul's direct extension. Some truly dislike your immaterial capabilities and want to see you dig a ditch or unleash a barrage of babies out of your pelvis. And just give up. Like they knew what it is you'd lose.

Sacrifices will need to be made by every aspiring artist, but someone, somewhere will appreciate that poem of yours at 5 am at the wrist-slicing table. While there's nothing wrong with waitering, we do have psyches to feed, too. While there's nothing wrong with having kids, what will all these future generations examine with their souls while all their limbs are resting? I dare say not everyone has an equal amount of poetry in them.

For a good sample of the entertainment business community, try applying to an art school. Without many exceptions, on the panel you will find three people or a combination of them. Say hello to The Cynic, The Quiet One, and The A-Hole. Yes, there is a distinction between the Cynic and the A-Hole. Some of the most screwed up, nastiest, hungovery people find their way into the this game. Camaradarie among artists is a myth. There is no such thing. If you are one with a collaborative nature, you will eventually notice even your shipmates will turn heel.

Yet I can't stress the importance of Jimi Hendrix or Wordsworth during a troubled adolescence. We are blessed to have the fruit of the artist giving us these new perspectives, these different ways of thinking, mostly at our convenience.

As soon as you pick up the camera / brush / guitar, you are most definitely on your own. But damn it, it needs to be done. Expect silver linings from every no-thanks and even go-to-hell. Expect learning to fly. Expect deep fulfillment. By you, for you, and for the sake of all those who care.

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