What Now?
illustration by Greg Chinn for Outer Voice
What Does Art Look Like After… All This?
I was hoping you’d tell me.
Despite the urgings of select politicians, most CEOs and capital-storming cosplaytriots, it doesn’t look like we’re going to be returning to “normal” any time soon. And that’s a good thing.
Sure, there was plenty that was wonderful about the old normal. We could hug each other, go to concerts, suffer from considerably fewer bizarre zombie dreams.
But it’s true that much was really abnormal about the old normal. Rapacious capitalism, inequality cast in the greatest contrast since perhaps the “end” of slavery, minimizing of the arts and the role of the artist.
Here are two certainties:
Whatever we find on the other side of this is going to be vastly different.
It’s our responsibility to shape that different thing.
NO NEW NORMAL
Before any of us can build a path to a new practice, we have to examine what’s going to be different and what’s going to stay the same.
What will be different?
Performances. Concerts, plays and festivals will have to change. At least for the next few years.
Galleries, Exhibits & Museums. Where do we go to see art? How many can go at a time?
Touring. Not only will venue performance rules be different. Air travel, hotels and road travel will be affected.
Audience Priorities. Our audiences have been emotionally and financially affected by this crisis. They’re reevaluating how they want to spend their money and how they want to engage with what inspires them.
What will be the same?
Human Needs. Love, compassion, equality. The need to be heard. The need to feel connected. These things will always be there. They’re what drive our work. They’re what our audiences crave.
Need for a Compass. Our audiences are looking for someone to guide them through moments of fear, anger and anxiety. They’re looking for a voice that shouts what their inner voice has been afraid to give language to. They’re looking for a companion, a compass and a north star to travel with them through life.
A NEW KIND OF AI
A Forbes article titled AI and the Death of Exploration argues that the customization of playlists, advertising and content thanks to our robot overlords Alexa, Netflix, Facebook and the like, has severely limited our interest in and capacity for seeking out and finding stuff for ourselves.
How about a new kind AI for our audiences? Artist Intelligence? Artists are natural champions for curiosity. How can we first examine ourselves and then reach our audiences? How can we and our audiences co-create new repositories of art that aren’t dictated by Spotify or Apple, by Amazon or Google?
LISTEN FIRST
Our audiences’ lives have changed as much as ours. Let’s find out what they need. What are they looking for? How do they want to engage with us? Are they afraid to go to concerts, but sick of Zoom performances? Do they hate looking at art online, but love holding a physical thing in their hands? Let’s find out.
Once we know what our audiences want and how they want to engage with it, we can learn how to deliver it to them. This doesn’t have to change what we make or why we make it, just how we deliver it.
CONTROL THE CONTROLLABLES
Embracing uncertainty and being comfortable with ambiguity are key traits to resilience. If we as creatives want a say in the creation of a new normal, we have to get a handle on ourselves first.
We need to become professionals at self-examination. We need to get comfortable sitting in silence. We need to make peace with the fact that we’re not really in control of much at all.
What are we in control of? What we make and how we interact with our people. We’re in control of our voice. We need to build trust with our audiences. We need to be consistent with our voice.
We need to accept that everything is different now.
The days of lamenting the loss of print journalism, record sales and attention spans are over. Embrace the fact that everything has changed.
Embrace the fact that what you do now has the potential to impact the entire world.
Look forward.
Create bravely.
Create with compassion.
Create for a world community.
Need help defining your voice or reaching your audience? Give me a shout. I offer consulting and services for all kinds of individual artists and arts organizations.
