Artist Myth #9d: Artists are Flakes

Myth Nine: Artists are flakes
My first business plan consisted of one-sentence scribbled on a napkin from the bagel shop where I had just quit. With that napkin, I set off to make my living as a painter at the Portland Saturday market (the country’s largest outdoor art market).

My decision to “go for it” had come in the middle of the night during an anxiety-filled-sweat-soaked panic when I suddenly seemed to realize how shallow my life had become. For eight hours a day, my life consisted of little more than listening to a buzzer and watching a red light flash on and off instructing me to put trays of round bread in an oven and then take them back out. When I reached through the darkness for the napkin and a pen, my focus was simply to make enough money each month from my artwork to never have to work a 9 to 5 job again.

My straightforward mission would not fail me because I had left myself with little room to fail - The napkin said so. A year later, I found myself with more money, more freedom, and more happiness than I had ever had in my life.

Moral: Those things which constitute flakiness – not being on time, not being organized, not having a focus, not following a plan - never need to exist on such a black and white palette in order to work. Sometimes the way that will work best for you is a watered down version of what works for everyone else.

Artist Myth #9b: Artists are Flakes

Myth Nine: Artists are flakes
If you think having a good sense of business is akin to putting on a suit and tie and “selling out” think again.

The rock band GWAR meets regularly with a financial officer to go over the specifics of their own business plan which now includes, after renting for many years, buying their own studio space where they’ll be able produce video, own a music label, have health insurance, and keep creating their renowned sculpture and stage shows. As GWAR’s Dave Brockie told me during his interview, “With this plan, at the end of the day, we’re underground Gods with the most dangerous, most authentic artistic movement ever created.”

Dave Brockie is a musician and performance artist who is best known for his portrayal of Oderus in the American thrash metal/punk rock band GWAR which he helped found. The band, which has appeared on The Jerry Springer Show, The Joan Rivers Show, and Viva la Bam is best known for their elaborate Sci-Fi horror costumes and graphic, politically and satirically-inspired stage performances that include spraying their audiences with imitation fluids. Brockie lives in Richmond, VA. www.gwar.net.