With the amount of time I have spent judging myself, before letting multiple other people judge me, has really made me question myself. I have 5 different resumes so I have 5 different detailed career descriptions of myself. My most important resume by far is my professional dance CV. It includes the utmost important "ARTIST STATEMENT". Because being a dance artist means I need to include a tiny biography that consists of three sentences that are so full of ridiculous adjectives, you have to read it out loud at the speed of a sloth to even begin to process what the hell I am even saying. What I have learned by reading every one else's artist statements is that the more stupid you feel after reading one than the better the artist.
I was recently told that the way I write is like the way I talk, and apparently that is unacceptable, because when you're an artist you shouldn't sound like yourself. I often give my resumes or writings to a peer to edit my grammar because I tend to be a comma nazi. When in doubt, comma it out is my motto. 99% of the time my trusted peer will then edit everything including changing my sentences and the way the sentences are laid out. Which is totally fine when I have a run on sentence, but literally changing my voice in my writing is what I am worried about. My recent thoughts have been regarding what makes an artist an artist and when do you stop taking other peoples advice.
I am typically a very simple person. I like to get to the point instead of beating around the bush, which is what I find a lot in artist statements. I think it is ridiculous to write a whole paragraph on something you can say in one sentence. Why waste all that time and space when you could be filling it with more words that are saying different things. I also like to write the way that I talk, it makes me feel personable like I am a real human being talking. Unfortunately, I have been told a few times that I need to write more eloquently, i.e. not like a human being.
As a person and as an artist, I want to be myself and I do not want to mesh myself into the same casing as every other artist. I believe artists are special people and we all have special abilities, that's what makes an artist an artist! Being an artist you have to often fight for yourself and defend your intentions, so does this include fighting for my writing intentions. Do I need to submit myself to changing my voice or do I fight to defend it? I am choosing to defend it.
Now, I am completely aware that I need a decent amount of grammar skills, which is why I always have someone edit my stuff. Except this blog post. I am purposely not getting this post edited because I want it to be completely authentic and in its original state. And this is my intention as an artist for this post.
