Читать книгу First Aid for the Artist's Soul - Christina Barandun - Страница 12

I would like to dispel a myth that haunts the art world and is often cited as an argument for why a certain amount of damaging pressure must be borne: In order to be successful, an artist must suffer.

Anyone who works creatively in any way knows exactly how detrimental existential fears or the worry of not being able to pay the rent can be to creativity. If an artist is able to suppress these fears and still be creative, we find that it is his mental achievement to be successful despite adverse circumstances. There are countless others, though, who perished due to this suffering, who were inhibited to such a degree that they didn’t even have a chance, and were never able to unfurl their inner creativity. These would-be artists are not given much attention in our society.³

Of course, an artist must and should meet challenges, and as long as they are of an invigorating kind in a protected environment, creative people will open up with great pleasure. The idea that our talents and abilities as artists can only unfold when we wallow and suffer in melancholy, despair and gloom is simply wrong, and destroys the artist as a source of creativity rather than bringing him to maturity. This type of experience allows him to mature only if he possesses a great amount of mental fortitude.

Recent research on motivation and creativity shows just how unhelpful anxiety and depression are. Despite its dependence on a flexible, playful way of thinking, creative work still needs to be undertaken with an orderly and structured mindset, which is antithetical to a mindset paralysed by fears, or made sluggish through exhaustion.

When a conductor or director calls out a singer or actor for a lack of commitment using insults and contemptuous remarks, it is not a sign of skill but simply of poor leadership and a lack of insight into human nature. There will, of course, be members of the chorus, ensemble or orchestra who don’t seem to contribute much to the success of the whole production, but behind this lies another structural problem. Each of these artists will have trained as a soloist, so their current position makes them feel unchallenged and unappreciated. Their lack of effort can’t be remedied with pressure and insults on an artistic level, as they already feel they are without dignity. Dealing with a lack of motivation is a typical leadership issue that requires social skills and a basic knowledge of organisational psychology – skills that up to now have been little developed in the artistic area of theatres.

And yes: Watch out when you choose a profession! An artist’s life is a life of extremes. Increasingly it requires techniques of protection, like a mountain climber taking ropes and carabiners with him to protect life and limb. If we want to preserve artistic creativity in society, and safeguard the arts in general, we need to pay attention to this need for protection. Why shouldn’t it be possible to create a balanced artistic working practice, so that the mental health of our artists is maintained without their multifaceted brilliance being lost?

Suffering is no guarantee for success, and if the hoped-for success doesn’t materialise, an artist should at least still have his health.