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Radical Boy Manifesto: Identity is Folly
The Artist looks inward as much as the artist looks outward. In fact, many of us explore the inner world much more than the outer world. The Artist must distinguish himself from those who do art. People who ‘do art’ do it for a hobby, for therapy, for interest. They don’t commit to it. It’s a part of their life. It is not their life. That’s okay, but committing to Art is not so much about whether or not the Artist views himself as a professional so much as it is about seeing Art as his vocation. Vocation in the old sense of the word, as in, that which you are called by God to do in this world.
I don’t want to distract everyone with a God reference, here, though it is probably too late. My point is simply that “vocation” is about contributing to something bigger than yourself, something that you were put on this Earth to do, even if the purpose your work serves is not exactly comprehensible to you.
With me so far?
Vocation.
Is Art yours?
If it is, then it’s the work that matters — not you. The Artist wastes time looking into himself and looking for himself. Looking for a way to express his true, unfiltered self. The whole notion of purity and essentiality and perfection and “the ideal” are folly. They are all myths. They certainly do not exist within Man. We are, inside, a mess. We are many things.
“Do I contradict myself?
“Very well, then I contradict myself.
“I am large, I contain multitudes. ” –Walt Whitman. Song of Myself.
It was not just Our Bard who contradicted himself because he was large and contained multitudes. We all do, if only we’ll admit it. We are what we become, but if Art is a man’s vocation then he does not matter. The work matters. He must do the work. He must follow the work. He must build on the work. That’s what his Art is. The work.
His identity as an Artist will be shaped by the work and so it is the work that must lead him. Asking himself whether or not the work reflects some essential “self” is a waste of time and may just kill his artistic mojo. This must not come to pass. If art is his vocation then the world needs him to do that work. The world cannot afford for the Artist to waste time worrying about whether or not he is being true to himself. The work does not need to reflect him. The work needs to get done. If anything, him should reflect the work.
So how do you know if Art is your vocation? You don’t. When it comes to vocations, a person must simply try and hope he gets it right. There is some chance he will “just know” he’s doing the right thing, but the world cannot afford to wait until you “just know.” The world has work it needs him to do now.
He can search and search and worry and worry and think and think, but he is not getting anything done if he does that. Instead, if he follows his talents and the work he did well in his formative years and starts doing something, then there is some chance he is doing that which the world needs him to do. If he does nothing, he certainly is not doing what the world needs him to do.
Identity is folly. If you search for yourself you won’t find anything. A person is simply what they accomplish in this life, and he won’t accomplish anything if he continually asks himself who it is he’d like to be or ought to be or [excelling two lungs full of pot smoke] “really are, like, inside, maaaaan.” At best, that quest will only waste time that the Artist should have spent on the work. At worst, he will deny the world of the work it needs, that it has been waiting for — until right now.
Radical Boy Manifesto