Art is not just for the artist to create

We have been living in a society that like to put every one of us into a box and give us a tittle. We have been expected to have a task, a role to play. Educate our selves, get a job, build a career, retire. The less questions you asked, the better 😉 But something is changing. Now we ask questions. The lines of the roles we play are getting blurred. The new job market values people with multiple talents, problem solvers, those of us who ask the hard questions. Starting your company is now seen as a viable career option even at a young age.

Also the same thing is happening in the arts. Being an artists used to be considered as a hobby, apart of few lucky individuals, who became the superstars. Now we have whole underground of successful artists only known in their niche market and making a living out of it. I have friend in Germany, who resigned their very successful day job in a pharmaceutical company, and now they are playing well over hundred shows a year all around Germany. I have similar friends in Czech republic, Estonia, Belgium, Denmark, Sweden, USA and Canada and of course here in Ireland. It is becoming a global phenomenon. And it’s not just the people hoping to quit their day jobs, many people do music as a part time job.

Now we see the art and creative process as not only limited to the arts. In the past few decades we started to view chefs as artists, architects, graphic designers, landscape gardeners… And now we have a startup culture, where we see the company creation as creative art. And I for not am not surprised. We used to have a structure how new business was got off the ground, but now as most of us work on a global market, you need to get inventive and creative how you run your company.

And here’s the thing, we have gone a full circle and the exactly same thing applies in the arts and music business. You need to be creative how you conduct the business side of your career. Many of us musicians could benefit from looking into the way some of the new startups run their business. And also understand how the listener is part of the process. You know that magical concert you’ve been to? It would not be as magical if the audience were not there, willing to participate in the moment.

But we can take all of this even further. Just because you might feel your job is not “creative”, try to see the creativity in everything else you do, whether it is cooking a meal at the end of the day, decorating your house, some of us see even how we dress as an artistic creation and a reflection of something we want to portray. Most of all, accept the fact something you create is artistic expression, even if you do not see your self as an artist. Art is all around us, even in the most simplest everyday tasks. Art is not just for the artist to create.

J.P.

The author J.P. Kallio is a singer songwriter
To get EIGHT of his songs for free go HERE