Not my kind of thing... - Finding my secret super power
I have this phrase I like to use a fair bit, if you ask them my family can attest to this as it has become somewhat of a gentle jest every now and then, it’s ‘not my kind of thing.’ Now this may seem like a small inconsequential phrase but let me tell you a bit about why it’s important to me….
First, like any good storyteller it’s important to ‘set the scene’, I was the one at school who would befriend the new kid and be their best friend for a few weeks and then when they’d settled in they’d scarper and hang out with the ‘popular’ ones. So muggins here was left understandably bereft and feeling more than a little crap, (didn’t think of it in those terms at the time as I was just 5, but you know what I mean). This is a trend that continued in different iterations throughout my education, with a good smattering of bullying thrown in, I wore combat trousers and hoodies when everyone else was in Adidas tracksuits, to name just one of my many offences.
By the time I’d reached secondary school I’d learnt the art of a well placed swear, apparently bullies had no comprehension that a ‘boffin’ had the ability to swear and it would temporarily short circuit them. With this new found super power I tried my best to stick up for my friends, (yay me I had some friends), and anyone else in the firing line. Now don’t get me wrong, I’m pretty sure I wasn’t immune to a bit of teasing as kids are want to do and if I ever made anyone feel like crap here is a massive SORRY from me.
I don’t want you all to get out your tiny violins for me, but hey if you feel sorry for me go ahead empathy is a flippin’ marvellous thing! And that right there is my point…
I’m empathetic and proud! But in the words of Uncle Ben in Spider-Man, with great power comes great levels of exhaustion, I’m pretty sure that’s what he said right?! Being empathetic can be utterly exhausting especially in the current climate, don’t worry I see you my fellow sensitive souls, I know it can truly suck sometimes. Side note Hippy Highland Living has written a really good post about it which is definitely worth a read! But you know what, I wouldn’t trade being empathetic for the world, it’s fundamental to who I am and how I can create the art that I do.
You Deserve a Medal - Order of the Black Dog by Jess Taylor aka Loadofolbobbins
As I started to specialise and head off to university/art school I thought that although I was the only one in my friend group going, I’d have a place where us empathetic arty lot can find a bit of peace and just have time for some creative play. Nope, no, yep that didn’t happen.
It started well enough, I made some new friends but I had somehow managed to time my degree to coincide with the school ‘trying something new’ - they thought it would be a great idea for everyone to mingle at the beginning and then specialise. Writing this now it seems almost inevitable that of course all the new friends I’d made would specialise in something completely different to me or leave the course entirely, I mean seriously you couldn’t make this stuff up! So entering year 2 I was faced with people in my specialism who had been in each others’ groups, already made friends and socialised as they lived on campus and I commuted in. I did make one lovely friend with a fellow commuter and someone on another course, but it wasn’t the big arty supportive community I was so hoping for.
To be honest, it sucked for so many reasons not least of which I lost my lovely Nan just a year after my Grandad and it was the first time I’d experienced that kind of painful loss, it left me open and raw and led me to creating far more personal work. Work to this day I’m incredibly proud of and yet was met with one tutor in a crit saying to me, ‘it’s like you’ve had a personality transplant’, a comment subsequently laughed off by another after I mentioned it upset me. Decidedly lacking in any empathy they clearly thought they knew me better than they did and didn’t care to have their presumptions challenged.
The piece that illicited the 'personality transplant' comment.
Not to sound dramatic, but it took me years to get over this art degree and try and figure out what the heck I was going to do with my life, (careers advice was another non existent element of the course). I entered competitions and perhaps surprisingly if you’ve ever read any of my ‘You didn’t win this award’ posts, I won some stuff. In fact there’s a piece of mine still on display in the south bank entrance of Blackfriars station, how’s that for a personality transplant! I got into exhibitions and attended private views but they too had the decided air of ‘I don’t know who you are, therefore you must not be useful to me and I shall not even bother to find out.’ It’s sad but true that even in the creative world there is a series of clubs and cliques that feel like they have secret passwords and handshakes it’s almost impossible to crack. I didn’t want to be part of a club, they always seem to me to have an air of exclusion, I wanted to be part of a community…
Calling at… by Jess Taylor aka Loadofolbobbins on display at Blackfriars Station. I’m the one on the left the pigeon is just an avid art lover!
Fast forward to today, last weekend in fact, I was and am still part of a lovely community of artists and makers, (finally found one!), that take part in a wonderful event created by the fabulous Sophie of Ink & Bear and The Creative Incubator, the Super Seconds Festival, you may have heard me mention it once or twice in my recent ‘Maker Interviews’. While we’re all there to yes, sell our wares to the lovely creative bargain hunting public and make much needed funds, it’s about so much more than that. It’s an incredible community, in the truest sense of the word, people from all different backgrounds, disciplines, ages etc take utter pleasure in getting to know one other, championing each other and most importantly supporting each other. The diversity of styles and makers is a joy, you find people you wouldn’t have known about otherwise and discover wonderful new perspectives.
All of this is to say that how we respond to people matters, though someone’s work may not chime with me or may be ‘not my kind of thing’ if it comes from a sincere place I will always respect it and do my best to champion it to others for whom it will resonate. Art should always be about inclusion, from our earliest days with those stunning hands on cave walls saying I’m here, this is me and I exist!
‘Hands at the Cuevas de las Manos upon Río Pinturas’ by Mariano is licensed under CC BY 3.0
No one person ever gets to be the arbiter of what art is, sorry to break it to you critics and art market! Art is subjective, there are no definitive opinions, just a wonderful mess of individual responses which could be from millions of people or just one and they’re all valid. In spite of what many a hate rag and pressure group may have you think, I do believe our ability to empathise as both individuals and a society has started to grow and flourish, I mean why do you think they’re working quite so hard to make us hate each other! They know this is what’s happening and they’re terrified of losing their power, so like with any bullies they will shout as loud as they can to make you feel alone, weird and different. But take it from me you’re not, you’re just like me, we may be occasionally wonderfully weird and joyously different, (the best people are), but it’s not a weakness it’s our super power and together we can just tell them all to F*** OFF!
If you’d like to see a bit more about Super Seconds Festival you can still pop over to the site and perhaps even pick yourself a lovely bargain as lots of makers are keeping their sales running until the end of the week. You can still nab a few bargains from me too here.