Thanks for sharing this, David. Among the many great quotes from Severance, this one comes to mind: “The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.” - Ms. Cobel (quoting Lumon Founder, Kier Eagan).
“AI and 3D printers are fun to play with, but are we basically teaching our kids; don’t spend years learning a skill when you can skip to the fun part at the touch of a button?”
I want to shout this over a megaphone until I go hoarse. Or dance around it pointing and screaming “THIS!!!!! THIIIIISSSSSSSSSS” until they lock me away. Or both.
Compromising by subscribing to your newsletter and restacking. Cheers!
Yes! I needed this today. I’m actively laying the foundations for art to be my next career. I work in a high-pressure corporate / tech role and know that I don’t want to be in this world forever. And it is truly exhausting being in this phase where I’m spending almost every minute outside of my 9-5 building the dream, but I know that it’s all an investment worth making. I feel like a sapling that is weathering a few storms at the moment, but I know that if I keep going eventually my efforts will bear some fruit 🌱🍎 Thanks David ✌️
"They don’t want you to care because every rebellion starts with art." That fires me up to keep going! Thank you. Also, your whole article is the story of my life! xo
The ‘They’ that you refer to is ‘Us’. We hold the constructs together the moment we buy into those negative ideas about ourselves. Aren’t we hilarious? 😆
David — my heartfelt thanks for writing this. Art as a career was already looked down when I was of college age in the 90s and yet that was my chosen destiny. Life and technology later took me in different directions but I still feel and find my true self in art. Sometimes you wake up and in light of current events near and far you feel overwhelmed and think "what's the use of it all?". That happened to me today. And yet — even in the midst of war horrors, Picasso found fuel for his expression and made the Guernica probably as a cathartic act. Art is how we find, heal, reflect upon our human condition — the pretense of delegating it all to machines is just an elaborate negation of our own selves.
This is absolutely accurate, I think it's really interesting to consider how much our chosen career path actually fits into (or clashes with) the forces that mold our society.... Then when we notice the clash, we start to notice those forces, and then it just all starts to unravel. I have SO MANY conversations with people where they respond to every social injustice, every narrowing of our options (not just for artists - for absolutely everyone except the hyper-wealthy) with excuses they disguise as 'common sense'. 'Instagram is stealing your work to feed the AI bots? Well we all knew from the start they had access to our pictures, and we all accepted it! You signed on for that when you started to use the app. It's your fault!' This was a conversation with a close friend just the other day. When I said 'well, a lot of us are actually starting to leave because of it' she scoffed with 'Bah where are you going to go? EVERYONE is there. You have no choice.'
It really made me wonder. This is my friend. She has no vested interest in Instagram screwing me over. Why is this her reaction? I think it's because if you tell yourself the game is already lost, that nobody has a choice, that a dreary 9-5 is THE ONLY REASONABLE OPTION, you don't have to do the hard work of, like, figuring out the world.
I agree fully with you that we are made to believe it is impossible to create and do art, because art IS what brings change, and the people in power don't want change. They need for things to stay the same, because they are not willing to give up the power they have.
I think one of the reasons AI is so widely used now is 1) money and power; and 2) to further limit the impact independent thinkers (AKA artists) have.
Once we start to believe that our thinking and our ideas don't matter any more, I think our world will be very uninspired and progress will not occur any more.
Damn, this is good. I been trying really hard to do something creative when I get home from work, rather it be my art or my writing. When you mentioned how schools downplayed art, you're completely right. When I was in high school they focused on the sports (like most do), to the point that we didn't even have an art club. There was no place for the creative students to go. They got one class and that was it. It always made me sad to think about. I hope it's gotten better there since then.
This essay really got to me. Thinking of art as rebellion is definitely the way I need to start going about it!
One of the greatest surprises for me: in the practice of expressing my pain, I found healing. In expressing my fear and insecurity, I found courage.
Every rebellion starts with art. Love it.
Thanks for sharing this, David. Among the many great quotes from Severance, this one comes to mind: “The surest way to tame a prisoner is to let him believe he’s free.” - Ms. Cobel (quoting Lumon Founder, Kier Eagan).
*Chills* 😬
“AI and 3D printers are fun to play with, but are we basically teaching our kids; don’t spend years learning a skill when you can skip to the fun part at the touch of a button?”
I want to shout this over a megaphone until I go hoarse. Or dance around it pointing and screaming “THIS!!!!! THIIIIISSSSSSSSSS” until they lock me away. Or both.
Compromising by subscribing to your newsletter and restacking. Cheers!
Linking arms, Danielle! 🙌🏻🙌🏻
Aww thanks Danielle :)
Yes! I needed this today. I’m actively laying the foundations for art to be my next career. I work in a high-pressure corporate / tech role and know that I don’t want to be in this world forever. And it is truly exhausting being in this phase where I’m spending almost every minute outside of my 9-5 building the dream, but I know that it’s all an investment worth making. I feel like a sapling that is weathering a few storms at the moment, but I know that if I keep going eventually my efforts will bear some fruit 🌱🍎 Thanks David ✌️
Go, Courtney, GO!!! 🙌🏻❤️🔥
Thank you Bree!! ❤️❤️❤️
"They don’t want you to care because every rebellion starts with art." That fires me up to keep going! Thank you. Also, your whole article is the story of my life! xo
The ‘They’ that you refer to is ‘Us’. We hold the constructs together the moment we buy into those negative ideas about ourselves. Aren’t we hilarious? 😆
Yes, ridiculous!
David — my heartfelt thanks for writing this. Art as a career was already looked down when I was of college age in the 90s and yet that was my chosen destiny. Life and technology later took me in different directions but I still feel and find my true self in art. Sometimes you wake up and in light of current events near and far you feel overwhelmed and think "what's the use of it all?". That happened to me today. And yet — even in the midst of war horrors, Picasso found fuel for his expression and made the Guernica probably as a cathartic act. Art is how we find, heal, reflect upon our human condition — the pretense of delegating it all to machines is just an elaborate negation of our own selves.
This is absolutely accurate, I think it's really interesting to consider how much our chosen career path actually fits into (or clashes with) the forces that mold our society.... Then when we notice the clash, we start to notice those forces, and then it just all starts to unravel. I have SO MANY conversations with people where they respond to every social injustice, every narrowing of our options (not just for artists - for absolutely everyone except the hyper-wealthy) with excuses they disguise as 'common sense'. 'Instagram is stealing your work to feed the AI bots? Well we all knew from the start they had access to our pictures, and we all accepted it! You signed on for that when you started to use the app. It's your fault!' This was a conversation with a close friend just the other day. When I said 'well, a lot of us are actually starting to leave because of it' she scoffed with 'Bah where are you going to go? EVERYONE is there. You have no choice.'
It really made me wonder. This is my friend. She has no vested interest in Instagram screwing me over. Why is this her reaction? I think it's because if you tell yourself the game is already lost, that nobody has a choice, that a dreary 9-5 is THE ONLY REASONABLE OPTION, you don't have to do the hard work of, like, figuring out the world.
I think it's because if you tell yourself the game is already lost… you don’t have to do the hard work…’ 🎯 Lidija!!
Comfort is easy, rebellion is hard. I love how you felt and shared this!
Thanks for writing this!
I agree fully with you that we are made to believe it is impossible to create and do art, because art IS what brings change, and the people in power don't want change. They need for things to stay the same, because they are not willing to give up the power they have.
I think one of the reasons AI is so widely used now is 1) money and power; and 2) to further limit the impact independent thinkers (AKA artists) have.
Once we start to believe that our thinking and our ideas don't matter any more, I think our world will be very uninspired and progress will not occur any more.
Damn, this is good. I been trying really hard to do something creative when I get home from work, rather it be my art or my writing. When you mentioned how schools downplayed art, you're completely right. When I was in high school they focused on the sports (like most do), to the point that we didn't even have an art club. There was no place for the creative students to go. They got one class and that was it. It always made me sad to think about. I hope it's gotten better there since then.
This essay really got to me. Thinking of art as rebellion is definitely the way I need to start going about it!
I was told the same thing in school. In a sense, they were right. I have never lived a profitable life, not yet. So what?
'You don’t have to do as you’re told.' Truer words have never been spoken.
Good stuff!
Wonderful reminder to be true to who you are and follow your spark 🔥
🖤