Seeking Joy in 2025
And a happy new year!
The last two months of 2024 focus has eluded me. I have an ocean of ideas swirling in my head but in a tornado like spin. A total mess. Any attempt to pluck out one idea, let alone spend time with it is laughable. So, now is a time to pause, reassess, and spend some time thinking, sorting, and organizing. It’s time to declutter my mind, prioritize and simplify. At the very least give the storm time to settle.
This past year I’ve applied to all kinds of open calls1 and residencies and with every new call there was a new focus to fulfill each application’s requirements. In many ways this was useful learning experiment. I’ve spent the year cringing at and rewriting my artist statement and bio, wondering about my short CV, and realizing that I need to show up and make work. Doing the work of making art is a requirement for my functioning in this life and if I call myself an artist doesn’t that imply that I create things? As the year is ending I do not need too much time reflecting to know I’m not satisfied with the outcomes. The searching for and playing along with themed open calls makes for a chaotic distraction from building a body of work that is true to me at the present. I’m pretty sure I am less happy with my artist statement then where I started, and of the number of things I applied to I managed to slip into one or two opportunities and feel lucky to be included in those! This past December I have been tired, out of focus, and confused. Instead of trotting along on a hamster wheel that some unknown entity or algorithm determined necessary I’m getting off. Whatever kind of prescriptive advice I’ve cobbled together is not working for me, so as long as things aren’t working out they might as well not work out on my terms. The time is now for me to rethink, reprioritize, and do a little metaphysical kon mari so in this new year I can focus on what matters and what sparks joy. Speaking of joy, ‘Joy’ is my word for the new year! A contrast to the dystopian future sounding and unstable looking 2025 new year we’ve entered. In 2025, I am committing to finding or creating moments of joy daily. I suppose this is a resolution only unlike most resolutions this one seems likely to last.
Happy New Year!!! And may you notice, embrace, and share many joys this year!
*Open calls are a slippery idea. I once heard an artist speak who said they were surprised to learn a certain curator loved their work. He asked where this curator had seen his work and it was via a few different open calls the artist had applied and for which he was not chosen nor given any feedback. Perhaps at some point his work was included in a show organized by this curator but I have doubts. So what really is gained? When you are submitting along with thousands of others what are the odds your work is noticed, or even looked at? I’m suspicious that open calls, even so called blind open calls, select work based on the jurors’ already established relationships with selected artists. A reminder that relationships are how all things in life function.