What’s makes an artist genuine?
I am actively working on no longer giving people the benefit of the doubt.
It can be so easy for me to be pushed or pulled off balance extending respect too quickly to others.
Recently I was on a social media platform having a conversation about authenticity and integrity, One of the audience members went to my website and came back with a question.
“Do you use AI to assist you in any of your artwork?“
To which I responded…
“yes I do it’s about 40% of the artwork on my website itself, but most of what I sell is all created by me alone. I just enjoy playing with the AI generator and also enjoy sharing it.
Based on that information he claimed I was being hypocritical in my authenticity. That I wasn’t a true artist. Using AI Art generation at all is immoral, And I admit, I felt wounded.
Am I a poser? Am I full of crap? Or am I just pretending to be an artist and I pale in comparison to the true artists? Am I a phony?!?
Now imposter syndrome is a thing and I’ll admit it was most likely playing a part for me in the situation. I worry about that every day, and I know there are plenty of others who share that worry for themselves.
After thinking about it long and hard, and probably longer than I actually needed to, I came to a realization. This person judging me didn’t care anything about my feelings. You see I informed the person that their words wounded me, and I did so as kindly as possible so that they wouldn’t think I was attempting to fight or wound them in return.
They responded by telling me that they’d be happy to help me with my website sometime like they’d be doing me a kindness.
But what they did not do was address the wounding, and that was the key point to me. They were informed that their actions led to a wounding of my ego and chose to completely disregard that. I recognize that a wounding of my ego is a me problem and that it would be up to me to re-balance my mind and body. I know that the individual who said the harsh words isn’t responsible for my feelings. I also know that people with empathy care about how others feel after they give advice or cast judgment.
Having come to that understanding I am going to completely disregard their opinion on whether or not I am a genuine artist. And I will be much more mindful of those who believe they’re entitled to do so without empathy.
If you have an opinion but do not show genuine empathy, I have no interest in your opinion, and won’t respect it either.
I am an artist. Not a perfect artist. Not in any way measurably better than anyone else. Because, to me, that’s not what art is about. Art is about expressing yourself in creative ways, And at its true heart, art cannot be owned, only shared.
So for all of you pretentious entitled arrogant insecure artists out there who take shots at other artists I’ll say this. Your opinion doesn’t matter to me, and I decide what matters to me. If I believed you actually cared about me then things might be different.
And for all you artists out there looking for ways to genuinely express yourself, not steal or lie or cheat, but honestly express yourself. For all of you I say don’t give up, and don’t stop. Keep searching for ways to peacefully express yourself, and let the haters hate.
Live and let asshole
Stay mindful
Chris
