03.01.2024
Resolution(s):
2024 is the year of making. I want to push myself into creation on a more concrete level, not just philosophical, not just conceptual, not just “clean”. I want to get my hands dirty, with the chemicals from printmaking, with ink from writing, with dirt from shooting in all sorts of settings. I want to claim my artist-status by doing. Enough with the wishful thinking, with the future tense, with the self-consciousness. I am not fearless, I am terrified but I am also fierce. I give myself only one task: BE PRESENT.
Practical resolutions:
POST WORK – at least once a week- even if it’s ugly, inappropriate, unfinished, out of line.
GO OUT – you live in one of the most lively cities in the world. Exhibitions, concerts, movies, happenings, dance halls, restaurants, gatherings…you choose, but GO OUT.
TALK TO STRANGERS – take time to observe and interact with the world. I used to do this a lot in film school and for adult reasons I unconsciously stopped. This is also work.
DO, MAKE, FAIL – I spend so much time thinking that I end up doing very little. It takes me a long time to take the first step into making. When I finally take it, things happen and take me to unexpected results. I need to train myself to keep walking. The more steps, the easier the effort.
EMBRACE ACCIDENTS – things won’t go as I planned, as I wish, as I foresee. Don’t stir the wheel at every bump and follow Maya.
FOLLOW THE PLAN and stay flexible! This complements the “embrace accidents” point. Making a plan is fundamental to build something. It will also make it clearer when the accidents occur and it will be easier to embrace them.
BE KIND – this is possibly the hardest resolution to honour, when it comes to myself. I tend to set impossible goals for myself and then inevitably crash when I don’t achieve them in the given time. It’s a delicate balance: I believe it’s healthy and constructive to always aim a little higher than your abilities; it’s dangerous and toxic to think I can do it all without failing.
These are great resolutions for art, thanks for sharing them!