“Rivers know this: there is no hurry. We shall get there some day.” -A.A. Milne
Much is said about enjoying the journey. This can be a difficult task to achieve in our results-driven society. Many of us feel compelled to simply deliver, get to the endpoint of a thing and call it complete. Give yourself permission to slow down. To stand in the moment and bear witness to your progress as it happens. In this way, you will begin to understand your own ways of working, your strengths, the places where you need to put in more work. You will begin to see the journey for itself.
Eric Fleischauer spoke to us in October when he discussed the way the pandemic has affected his work. The last few years have fractured his ability to mentally process the way he used to. A professor at the School of the Art Institute of Chicago, he was teaching a full load when lockdown began and found himself forced to move immediately to online teaching. This took over more of his free time than teaching did previously as he worked to navigate the switch. This, unfortunately, negatively impacted his personal artistic practice. In terms of his art, Fleischauer is working on multiple projects. One, a large project he has been working on for some time, involves his purchase of a used police body camera from which he pulled hundreds of videos filmed by the Anaheim police department. To hear more about this and other work, listen to the complete interview.
Ben Balcom has found the pandemic deeply challenging. A number of his projects were interrupted at the beginning of lockdown, though he says in many ways he feels very lucky in his personal sphere. The maintenance of creative energy and projects has been challenging for him as a filmmaker whose practice revolves around working with others. To make himself useful, he has become involved in activism and protests as part of Milwaukee’s Democratic Socialist Association well as some online activities. To hear more about Balcom’s work and how the pandemic has changed the way he operates, listen to the complete interview.
A Few Words to Keep in your Pocket:
Slow down.
Interviews are available on iTunes as podcasts, and for Android please click here. All weekly essay pieces in a shareable format are here. The full archive of interviews is here.
Books to Read
What are you reading? Add your titles to our reading list here. Ian Weaver is reading In the Wake: On Blackness and Being by Christina Sharpe. Valuing by Christopher Kondrich is available through University of Georgia Press.
Deadlines:
Belfast Photo Festival is holding open submissions. All who submit their work will benefit from submission review by industry professionals as well as opportunities for immediate exposure. There are multiple prizes available as part of the festival as follows:
Spotlight Award – £2,000 (e.s.t $2,712 / €2,321)
Aesthetica Editorial Award – Full editorial presentation in an upcoming printed/digital issue of Aesthetica international art and culture magazine
Years Free RPS Membership – Free membership for one year to the prestigious Royal Photographic Society
Abridged Editorial Award – Presentation in a special Festival issue of Abridged Magazine
For more information and to submit your work, visit the website. Deadline for submissions is February 4.
Brainard Carey is an author, artist and educator. He is the director of Praxis for Aesthetics. He has written six books for artists; Making it in the Art World, New Markets for Artists, The Art World Demystified, Fund Your Dreams Like a Creative Genius, Sell Online Like a Creative Genius, and Succeed with Social Media Like a Creative Genius. His book, Making it in the Art World, is available now with bonus content here.
Thank you, Brainard, for this topic and words for our pockets, “slow down.”
Much needed advice for me!!
I just have to take a few minutes to thank you with all my heart! My name is Nicholle, 44 from California, and because of receiving an email from you,(to be honest, I sign up for so many things in my quest I’m not sure how I came across you in the first place!)and subsequently perusing your site that I have Finally found out what I am. I am an Artist. I am not someone who paints or writes or takes photographs…it’s not a hobby, or a job, it is a way of living and the ability to see beauty in all. For so very long I have been searching for myself, and you have helped me realize that by embracing the things that bring me joy life rewards me at every turn. You have inspired me to create a class to teach art to the homeless. I myself was homeless for 4 years after leaving an abusive marriage and I know how hard it can be to feel any sense of pride when most people are doing their best to ignore your existence. I want to be able to help them create beauty and be reminded that they too have something to contribute, that they matter. So thank you, hopefully soon I will be able to send you some photos of our creations!