Sunday, September 25, 2005

the business of artistry

Greetings. Summer in the southern hemisphere is really starting to kick in with the short skirts, shirts, and the like being pulled out from the back of wardrobes. It's a beautiful thing, but sadly, haven't been part of the process up till now. Living in two extremes trying to find balance between living life (with all its luxuries) and being an artist. This weekend has been spent working on a presentation - I'm off to Cape Town for the day tomorrow to pitch for a project. I have often been asked how I find balance between management consulting and creative writing - I still search for the answer. I took a job in attempt to create a solid foundation, which I wasn't getting when I was freelancing as a writer, and have found that, while it provides me with the funds to promote and develop my art, it also takes time away from that. Guess we all have to live with the consequences of the choices we make.
Anyway, in a twist, on Tuesday morning I am giving a talk at a business school in Joburg to a group of suits on 'The Role of Art in Empowering the Nation'. Great opportunity to hustle some funding from those with the funds but I am having difficulty laying out my thoughts. One of the things I have always believed is that, as artists, we are great at being artists and totally hopeless at the 'business of being an artist'. The quest for purity and 'realness' in the Arts has resulted in a never-ending cycle of artists constantly getting screwed. For decades, we have heard stories of artists dying in poverty while their managers, etc, reap the financial benefit. Well, the way I see it, this generation of artists has been exposed to these stories so much, the only reason you get screwed is out of your neglect.
Isn't it time that we learned the business to ensure that we are never hoodwinked by those in the 'know'? It is about time we learned from history and took the necessary steps to ensure that it does not repeat itself. If we don't, we will continue to exist as society's martyrs, tapping into the suffering of humanity, while lining the pockets of those with the foresight and skills required to turn those insights into money.
So what am I going to talk about on Tuesday? How artists must learn the language of corporates and how corporates must learn the language of artists to ensure that we can find a middle ground that will benefit all. It touches us all in different ways and it is important that we all honour those who create.
more words, scribbled ..... i share my notes because, while they may not be well-written (pre-edit), they do carry my truth before logic comes in to mold it grammatically, sequentially, logically ..... before they are prepped for page or stage ....
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
distant souls trapped in a mindless cage
our humanity cloaked by the surreal bars
we are plural, yet live a singular distortion
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
i, you, we breathe lies
and bury our truth in fiction
how strange!
comfort is an umcomfortable reminder of what we see
in moments of silence
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
drifting, floating, dreaming, hoping, drowning
but never living
empty inanimate vessels
dressed in the emperor's clothes
crying wolf when it is ourselves
we should fear most
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
robotic, automated, mechanical
androids
zombies manacled by a past
wiped clean by history
hobbled by legs that don't bend at the knees
shackled by the lumps in our throats
our voices rendered mute
by broken and forgotten dreams
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
tired, lifeless, lethargic, inert
and still believe the future is in our hands
our aged, crooked hands
destiny supposedly lies in these hands
we are too blind to see
that the path to that destiny
is overcoming this reality
i am, you are, we are
i am, you are, we are
Copyright © Kojo Baffoe 2005
Let me get back to the grind. easy runnings

1 comment:

Anonymous said...

'distant souls trapped in a mindless cage
our humanity cloaked by the surreal bars
we are plural, yet live a singular distortion'

Wonderful 'mind' imagery.