Artists Are Never Old Enough

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Comedian Robin Ince was interviewed by Andrew Copson during a recent episode of the What I Believe podcast. He said that when he was in his twenties his fellow comedian Jo Brand told him that "you can’t really be a stand-up comedian until you are 30 because you don’t really know who you are." Robin said that he didn't take this statement very well when he was younger, but now that he is a middle-aged man he understands perfectly what Jo Brand meant. I agree, and I think that this is true for so many other things in life. My 20-year-old self, or even my 30-year-old self, had no idea of his place in the world. I felt lost and full of self-doubt and self-hatred until I was 40, and it took me living in 6 countries and working for more than 20 years in two very different industries to understand who I am and to know the role that I want to have in my community. I count myself as one of the lucky ones who got to understand this at such an early age. For some people, it takes longer.

We live in a world that sometimes feels like the upside-down world. We worship youth and try to slow the ageing process by all means, as if ageing was not inevitable or as if it were something bad. For sure, it must be linked to a fear of death which is often associated with older people but the reality is that we can die at any age and those who get to live to be old are actually the privilege ones. I for one have always wanted to be old. Perhaps because I was so unhappy when I was young and hoped that happiness would come with ageing. Or perhaps because I admired my grandfather so much and I always thought of him as the most intelligent person on the planet.

As an artist, getting old can be both the best and the most daunting thing that could ever happen to you. With age comes experience, and this experience enriches the stories that we tell through our work. But, as you get older, you also enter into the longest phase in your artistic career. The mid-career artist phase, as they call it, which can sometimes span almost your entire lifetime. It is in this ageing process that you get to know yourself, that you understand your worldview better and that you grow, not only physically, but also as a creative.

Everything that you are doing today will be part of the building blocks on which you are creating your future self. Time is not wasted, no experience is wasted when it comes to shaping who you will one day become. If you've only been in the world for a couple of decades and you feel like your work has no deeper meaning, that you have nothing to say, don't despair. That only means that you just have to live a couple of decades more. That is not to say that a young person's point of view of the world is not valid, but we can't expect to look at a 20-year-old's portfolio with the same eyes that we look at a 40-year-old's one. Both points of view are equally important but are infinitely different.

This is also not to say that anyone who has been on the world for more than 40 years has a fulfilled life and knows themselves well. But, 40 uneventful years do not equal 20 years filled with exciting adventures. For with age also comes maturity.

Dismissing someone because you consider them old is an act of self-sabotage. Before you know it, you will get to their age and you will have set an example for others to treat you the same way. We should aspire to grow older, to live more experiences and become wiser.

Avoid searching for the fountain of the eternal youth in order to live forever. Instead, grow as a human being into the skin that you inhabit with the urgency of knowing that time is running out and this is the only life we'll ever live. Maybe then, you'll start to see your work in a different light and you will be able to give your work and your life your own meaning.

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Ideas Are Ridiculous Until They Work

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For any creator who has a social-conscious, the times that we are living present an interesting conundrum. Why create something, be it physical or digital, and bring new things into the world when the problem with the environment is that the planet is already overflowed with things? My friend Aksha and I were discussing this a few days ago and we both concluded that for creatives who care about the planet the problem is at the core of our practice. How to contribute to one without affecting the other? How to successfully be a business, an artist and a human being without ruining the world?

The first time that I had a conversation about these questions was with my friend Almudena Romero, a visual artist working with a wide range of photographic processes to reflect on issues relating to identity, representation and ideology. In her work, she uses plants to reflect on the idea of using photography to leave a legacy in the current context of permanent crisis (environmental, social, economic, political and now sanitary too). Her plant-based photographs grow, develop and disappear in a constantly evolving state that questions the spaces and forms where photography exists.

I asked Almudena for advice on which archival medium to use for one of my projects, and she made me reflect on what my legacy really is. In an oversaturated planet, do I want my legacy to be an archival long-lasting collectable artwork that adds up to the pile of objects that already pollute the planet or do I want to be remembered for my contributions to the world as an artist? The answer to that question could easily lie on her ephemeral art pieces.

I presented this problem to Zula Rabikowska in a recent conversation. Zula is a documentary photographer exploring national identity, displacement and belonging. Since the pandemic started, she has been experimenting with developing film photography by only using household products from her kitchen, such as coffee, turning her darkroom into an organic and environmentally friendly practice. Zula suggested reading about Ira Lombardia, a photographer who decided not to take images for three years until she could find an answer to the same conundrum.

My mere existence and my practice have negative impacts on the world. If I use analogue photography, even if I work in a sustainable darkroom, the image is captured on a plastic film strip. If I used digital photography, the image is saved as a file that lives on thousands of server farms that are consuming massive amounts of resources around the planet. If I write on my blog, I force you as a reader to access it in one of your devices that are probably produced by a brand with a planned-obsolescence strategy and that use up all the technological resources that are one of the main parts of the problem.

I am aware that by writing this I'm not presenting an answer but rather highlighting a problem. Maybe there is no answer, but it would be interesting to hear from others their thoughts around this issue. How can I be a visual artist and pay my bills while at the same time improving the world and not contributing to damaging the environment?

The solution to the conundrum might be something that in the present we might consider ridiculous. Such as the concept of de-growth proposed by the likes of Jason Hickel. But ideas are only ridiculous until they work. Think of all the things that in the past were considered laughable and today are an everyday occurrence.

So, in the spirit of brainstorming laughable ideas: is there a way to create visual art that doesn't have a physical form or support? Something that is ephemeral, that doesn't last beyond the instant when it is experienced by the viewer and that doesn't contribute to bringing more stuff into the world. Any ideas? Or have you got any ridiculous ideas of your own? I would love to hear your thoughts.

Do you like what you just read? Subscribe to my weekly blog posts here! You may subscribe to the audio version wherever you get your podcasts.

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Patreon is a platform that enables me to offer you the content that you enjoy. Consider becoming a patron by clicking here. For less than the price of a cup of coffee a month you can support this blog and learn how I create my work. Also, 6% of my patrons' support goes to a different charity each month!