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regarding survival : questions 1-3
Made it to both the Discrete Series event and the Myopic event over the weekend: writeups will hopefully appear sometime this week.
But first I want to try to tackle some of the Oliveros questions:
As an artist, how have you survived?
I should preface my answer here by saying that I don't comfortably self-identify as an "artist." I'm more comfortable with thinking of myself as "a person who makes art," or, even better, as "a person who writes" (or draws, or organizes sound, or whatever). This may be a case of the narcissism of small differences, but the idea that capital-A Art is something made by capital-A Artists has always been anathema to me.
But in any case. As a person who makes stuff, time is really the key necessity. Consequently, I've tried organize my life to maximize the amount of time I have for making things, which means trying to avoid the 40-50 hour work week, which means having to live pretty frugally. I could list a bunch of small sacrifices here but I want to avoid the martyr's litany. Suffice it to say I've kept my vices affordable.
What is your current situation?
Like many writers, my current situation involves an uneasy relationship with academia. I currently exist at the low rung of the adjunct lecturer, which means bad pay and low job security (both of these things have been partially mitigated by the fact that I've integrated myself into a special program at the university which is moderately well-funded, although whether this program is permanent or ephemeral one remains to be seen).
I continuously grapple with the question of how much energy I should expend on advancing in academia—I hate the "publish or perish" mentality. Unlike many artists, I have been unable to conceptualize of the scrabbling for tokens of "achievement" as an extension of my creative process. Additionally, advancement in academia is likely to require relocation, which would mean severing (or at least diluting) the relationships between me and my collaborators and intimates in Chicago, not to mention my relationship with the city itself as a substantial source of creative inspiration.
What information or services would help you continue to survive?
In terms of financial survival? More arts funding is an obvious answer. Also better information on the funding that's already out there (the Internet has helped—I would not have gotten my grant last year if not for the easy availablity of the information through the Internet).
Better public funding of universities, so that to choose the adjunct path is not to choose to make quite as many sacrifices.
Cheaper groceries. Cheaper and more expensive public transportation. Cheaper technology. More access to expensive technologies (perhaps in the form of technological co-ops).
Separate from the things that might contribute to my financial survival are the things that might contribute to my creative survival: that is, things that might help to further inspire and stimulate me and other artists, such as:
More short-term arts colonies and retreats.
More quality reading series. More events like Oakland's house readings. More events that combine the local and the out-of-town like Nomads and Residents. More cross-disciplinary events: more bills that combine both experimental music and experimental writing (or experimental dance, or experimental puppetry, or whatever). Better coverage of performances.
More parties where people get together with the specific goal of reading/making poems or playing/making music.
Less apprehension in general about collaboration.
An Underground Railroad of crashpads and performance spaces in communication with one another, enabling interested artists to quickly throw together independent roadtrip-style tours. (I'd like to be able to say "I'm going to Milwaukee in July—I wonder who can I get in touch with about doing a reading there?" and be able to get an answer.)
More people setting up online PDF/MP3 distros. Better coverage of the PDF/MP3 "scene."
More independent reviews. The New York Times Book Review, if not irrevocably corrupted, is essentially irrelevant to the tribal culture of poetry, and Rain Taxi can only cover a fraction of what's out there.
More temporary autonomous zones.
I'll do the other six questions later. Labels: personal |
