Final Intervention: Sunlight
This intervention was mainly inspired by Yoko Ono's 1964 artist book titled "Grapefruit", which is filled with artistic instructions for the reader. These artistic acts can be in the form of music, creating art, connecting with people, going out into nature, and simply acting in submission to the pressed ink. Even rejecting the instructions read can be an act of art in itself. Overall, this gives the reader an experience while reading, exploring many forms of art. As stated by Ono in Grapefruit, "Art is my life and my life is art" (Ono, 1964, Grapefruit). As artists, art is our life, whether we like it or not- quite literally, you view everything differently, you'll break down what's in front of you into shapes, color theory, even boxes.
Having been an artist who has suffered from major burnout, even creating a series called "Drinks for thought" where I mixed beverages, one of my many ways of self-care, with writings that I learned through time, conversations, friends, and moments alone. Sharing them with my fellow classmates, artists, who need to be reminded of these things as much as I did.
I digress, I understand burnout and even stating by the Bisket Staff in article "Artist Burnout: And how to navigate it" they express one of the main causes to burn out for artist is the pressure to produce, "Artist burnout doesn’t emerge in a vacuum; it’s often the culmination of various interconnected pressures that permeate the artistic landscape" (para.12). The Internet runs the world, one of the many platforms where artists can spread their work. Most are inspiring, but some posts are like “influencers”. Publishing the finishes but not the progress, the speed paints but not the actual thumbnails, or the fourteen-year-old Russian kids who can draw better than you ever will, and are self-taught.
The pressure to succeed is on. It's frustrating, especially if you've been drawing forever, but to create art is not instant gratification, and that's something that those find hard to grasp today, like art directors who don't draw or commissioners.
It was my goal to challenge all of that, challenge capitalism and the forced pressure of production, instant gratification, the inaccessibility with something that was very accessible and resisting: The sun, feelings, and being present in your body and mind for a minute.
No production, releasing the stress, simply existing without needing to prove it. I had done this many times and found that it helps you recoup in a time of stress. With the emphasis on aiding your community, I started to encourage my friends to do this with me. In times where they were stressed or overwhelmed from work or creation, I had them stand in the sunlight with me, ask the sun for courage if they pleased, and ground themselves using the wrath of the sunlight, not having to prove their existence with labored work. Rebellion or resistance doesn't always have to look like protest and such, sometimes it's simply stopping and taking care of yourself with grounding techniques that reconnect you to the world around you, outside of jobs, grades, titles, or expectations. People deserve to simply exist. The utopia we all deserve
Sources:
The articles that inspired me:
https://www.charlotteiscreative.com/artist-burnout-the-creative-void-and-how-to-navigate-it/
https://katepm.substack.com/p/sensory-instructions-from-yoko-ono
https://prismreports.org/2020/11/23/sometimes-silence-is-resistance/
https://www.patheos.com/blogs/beneaththemoon/2019/05/sun-magic/
https://sunshinerituals.com/blogs/news/the-importance-of-sun-exposure-and-grounding-as-daily-ritual?srsltid=AfmBOooE0jg2_82IoIRd7YQcDWiqehrfLu2R5G1_MVnvwdPSjN2y9wFK
Class text:
https://ml.virose.pt/blogs/texts_14/wp-content/uploads/2019/06/Grapefruit.pdf
https://www.newyorker.com/magazine/2022/06/20/yoko-onos-art-of-defiance
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