Seth Godin’s new book, Linchpin, is a grand dare. He dares us to be artists. He exclaims we ARE artists. In that respect, he is bringing the ubiquity of art to a brand new audience.
When I got my advance copy there was a note inside. It seemed written for me. It suggested I bookmark page 101, the chapter on resistance. Of course, I turned right to it. If you are a long time fan of Godin’s, its message isn’t really new. But it is honed. Steven Pressfield talks about the resistance in his book the “War of Art“, a book Godin references.
Seth’s overarching message is to blaze a trail. Make things happen. Take a risk. Get into trouble. Go out on a limb. All things artists do everyday. His thesis, that we are all artists rings true to the idealist in love with an alternative to current trends. A subterfuge to the sheep mentality. Do not go quietly into the night. Do something. Ship it. Do it again. Don’t follow a map. Explore. Invent. Create something different.
Marina Abramovic is a performance artist with a long history of endurance performance art. She is having a retrospective at the Museum of Modern Art in New York In March. Mentioning her in the same article with Seth Godin is not such a stretch. Seth’s premise, that we are all artists, was originally proclaimed by avantguard artist, Joseph Beuys in the 1970’s and his work was among the most influential of any single artist in the 20th century. Abramovic met him early in her career and “Beuys helped me get invitations to perform in Europe because he liked me and thought me crazy”. (Yablonsky, Artnews, Dec 2009) Abramovic says “Going to the studio everyday is a really bad habit-it’s like being an employee,” she says “You have to live life. And from life comes ideas.” (Belcove, W, Jan, 2010)
These two events, Seth’s book and Abramovic’s furtherance upon the road of creation and discovery, point to a direction for making, doing, and thinking which I find very useful. It is basically to have serious courage; don’t be afraid to believe in something and make it happen. Over and over and over again.
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by Ana on February 2, 2010
Also I follow Seth Godin. And artists usually always accept the risks and a lifetime of sacrifice and uncertainty and we are dedicated to research and go new ways we do not know where we’re going to take instead of taking the easy way. Patience is our most developed quality, in order that I agree with him and say he does not say anything we do not already know from experience.
by Mary Anne Davis on February 2, 2010
I completely agree, Ana. We make our own map, our own reality. I like that, yes, patience is something we acquire in time. Thank you for stopping by.
by Marco Raaphorst on February 13, 2010
I am reading it and so far love it