Art. Industry. Purpose?

Is there a difference between art and industry? It would be a lie to say that I haven’t been privy to recent social media debates as I am sure many of you have been. ‘Should we move this to streaming?…but how many people will pay for it?’ ‘Should we be listening to these broadcasts?…who is it giving back to financially?’ It seems like there is a ton of conversation about how we fuel this thing called “art” as an industry, and not how we fuel it as creation. It’s interesting to think of these two things as separate isn’t it? I suppose that one doesn’t exist without the other but it must be clear, that goes only one way. Industry dies with the fall of creation. Big statement I know, but it’s the unspoken reality. For every small mention of this truth there are pages upon pages of information arguing for the future of industry. What we are going to do to “create” is never devoid of how we will do it to sustain, not the creation, but industry. Now to negate the air of self-righteousness. I am not going to sit here and argue that I believe art should be only for arts sake, and that creativity should be completely free to operate without the bonds of industry because I don’t believe that. Of course I want to make money, of course I want people to believe in art to a degree that there will be financial renumeration attached to the art that is inevitably created. That doesn’t mean that these two pillars that make what we do, should be attached at the hip. I want to focus solely on art for a second. Art devoid of industry. 

I find myself in the unfortunate place I believe a lot of young artists have found themselves in. Speaking perhaps only for the young artists as that’s all I know and I won’t pretend to know anything else. The ones just finding their way, just leaving school, maybe just picking up that first breakout gig, how are we supposed to feel in this? For us, all art may be is industry. I don’t know when this came about but it seems that the only measure of the art you create at a young age, is how it is sustaining you financially. What your other young colleagues see as success in art is, how many gigs you got that year, what program(s) you’re in or will be in, and how many big names in the, (here it comes again), industry, you can say would recognize you at the next wine and cheese. As a young singer who has had some sense of these steps to success over the past year, all I can see now, is failure. What I see, is that the industry has become my purpose. This isn’t inherently wrong but it doesn’t help when the industry isn’t there for you, whether due to pandemic or otherwise. There will be times when industry fails you, when you cannot see that next gig, that next performance, that next industry based success in art, and it is important that you find the thing that got you here before you even knew the industry would consume that. When you strip away the quest for pomp and circumstance surrounding your art, what is it that actually brought you to desire it? To crave it? For me, it was my high-school teacher telling me that I could be something, one of the first teachers to ever believe in me. What it is for you must be something beyond industry. I invite you to realize this as, purpose.

Purpose is your true reason for your art. If nothing else remained but your art and yourself, why would the art matter? That glimmer of hope that you have for your craft must not be confused with hope for industry, and it must not be attributed to a quest for financial or social status within that industry. What fuels you, what always has and always will, is purpose. You control that, no one else. No matter your confidence today, no matter your day job, no matter your perceived status or place in industry. Purpose is the reason for creation and remember, industry dies with the fall of creation.

With that, a few words to whoever needs to hear it. You were an artist before it made money, and you’ll be an artist when it stops making money for you. Art is your essence and the fabric of who you are for as long as you want it to be . It’s something that cannot be taken away from you, and will never leave you unwillingly. Art is the result of a desire you should never feel pressure to sustain in any way that isn’t authentic to your true self. You will never be any less than your purpose.