Letters to A Young Artist

Yesterday I think I ticked off my brother. He's graduating from college in a few weeks, and I sent him a commencement speech by Anne Lamott. I was thinking it seemed like really good advice. He was upset because he went to school to learn to be a writer, and this speech essentially says, "it's really hard to get published and make money at what you do." I felt very sorry to make him anxious. I forgot how it feels to be looking out at the future through the rapidly approaching lens of what to do with you life, and how will I make money, and is this degree worth what I'm going to be paying for it over the next 5 to 10 years?

Which brings me to my little green book of prayer. It's called "Letters to a Young Artist". It's full of letters from established artists written in response to a letter sent by a fictional young artist. The letter itself isn't included- you only figure out what it must have said by what the artists write back. It's an unsettling and comforting read at the exact same time- a good kick in the head.

I like this quote from Lawrence Weiner,

 "THE QUESTIONS OF MAKING A LIVING ARE THE SAME EXISTENTIAL QUESTIONS ALL MEMBERS OF SOCIETY HAVE. THE ADVANTAGE OF THE ARTIST IS THAT THE USE OF THEIR PRODUCT IS NOT DEPENDANT ON BEING IN ACCORD WITH THE POWERS THAT BE."



LAWRENCE WEINER
SCATTERED MATTER BROUGHT TO AN ASCERTAINABLE DENSITY WITH THE WEIGHT OF THE WORLD CUSPED, 2007



I've been sitting with that quote a lot lately. To me he's saying, "dude. Everyone worries about being paid. Everyone. But at least you aren't stuck, because you already live outside the rulebook." This is a great point. There's nothing inherently special in picking a field you do for love with bad pay. So do teachers and guidance counselors, nonprofit program coordinators and veterinary technicians. What is special, is that a guidance counselor can't guide without being inside a system that provides them with people to guide. Artists aren't bound by that. We get to provide our product outside the frames of society, we get to provide it even if no one wants it, no one knows they need it. We can put it on a wall in a alley, or in a house or on the ground itself. Freeing.

I hope my brother knows that if he's never published, if he struggles his whole life to make rent, his words still matter, still have meaning. Also I hope he gets a great job that he loves and forgives his sister for being oblivious.

Photo source: Marian Goodman Gallery