Brainwashed

 In Seth Gordin's article, Brainwashed: Seven Ways To Reinvent Yourself, he discusses how when we were first born we were forced into being compliant people. If we stepped out of the lines we were forced back in. If we showed any sense of creativity we were frowned upon. Gordin feels that the world used to need compliant workers but now not so much. Once the job markets start to fail and many people begin to be out of work, people start to giving up. Gordin talks about how we don't have to be like that anymore because there is more freedom now if you are up for the challenge. Gordin believes that if you have the time and the intellect to get your ideas out there than you have the ability to reinvent yourself.

Gordin than goes on to discuss the seven layers in which one can reinvent themselves; Connect, Be Generous, Make Art, Acknowledge The Lizard, Ship, Fail, and Learn. Acknowledging The Lizard in simple terms means, acknowledging the resistance in our minds and ignoring it. In more complex terms, the lizard is the prehistoric brainstem that we all must listen to. It is the part of our brain that worries and gets angry so as a result it shuts off the artistic ideas that come into our heads. This shutdown is considered resistance and because resistance thinks its rules us, resistance always wins. Artists have learned that this is the only barrier between their art and the real world so they have realized that they have to acknowledge it to ignore it and move on. 

A second layer that "spoke to me" was Make Art. This layer is about how making art is an original gift. It is a human ability to make a different. Art does not always have to be something physical like a painting or photograph but instead, it can be interacting with others so that you have a platform to create something new. Art is creating the uncreated. Art doesn't follow rules or instructions but it connects people to one another. Art always feels risky because it is always risky. It can get laughed at and made fun of but that's all a part of it. When an artist takes these risks, is when they are truly an artist and can be rewarded.   

These two layers can help me with this blog that I am creating in several ways. Acknowledging the resistance in my head and ignoring will help me move forward in my creative process and my work for this blog. If I can't ignore the resistance than I can never move along on this project that could last a life time. Making art completely applies to my blog because every time I post something, I am taking a risk and making my own art. I know that people read my blog but I put myself out on the line and hope that my art can inspire my viewers and is not too risky. If it is too risky, well that's the risk I take as an artist, especially in the industry I am about to enter into.  These exercises make me a better artist because if I just made art but never took a chance and showed it to an audience, well than would it really be considered art? These exercises allow me to take a risk, get feedback, and help me connect with other students who may share similar ideas with me.