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Dear Art Lover, This is Part 2 of 5 in a series called “Opportunities”. I’ll be sharing one part each day, concluding with part 5 of 5 this Friday. You can read the previous parts and many more writings on the Newsletter Archive section of my website, here. Onto… Opportunities, Part 2 of 5: Part of the Work The most time-consuming asks are those applications which require sharing a portfolio in a non-standardized format, such as creating a 20-work PDF with a separate list of titles, dimensions, media, year. For those, I turn to adobe InDesign. The process is far slower than simply selecting work from café. At the same time - I take advantage of the chance to be in control of the graphic format of the portfolio - nothing fancy - but making sure things are aligned, the work looks good, and the presentation is professional. Any wiggle room I’m given to make my work look better, to provide the frame as well as the piece, is welcome. Yes, it takes more time… but it’s very likely that I can whip up a more attractive portfolio in a few hours than anything auto-generate by café or another mass-entry site. As I write, it occurs to me that these topics for this week might be some of the least interesting topics I could have possibly picked. Parts of why I write and share these thoughts and ideas (over email) is to de-mystify the romantic notion of the modern artist as irreverently undisciplined, obsessively creative, or impatient for inspiration. Nothing about applying to artist opportunities is why I wake up in the morning to do what I do - the applications (like any applications) are the mundane gateways to the real experiences, the actual work, the fun stuff. I do enjoy getting the application process organized, completed, and onto the next, but I don’t hang any feelings of accomplishment, success or failure on the process of going through a volume of applications across a diversity of opportunities. It’s part of the work, not the work. The application process, to me, is a perfect chance to apply the 80 / 20 logic, if there ever was one. Just in case anyone reading isn’t familiar, 80 / 20 is the concept of having an 80% excellent result (the completed application) in 20% of the time it would take to make a 100% excellent application. The other 80% of the time it would take to bring that 80% application to 100%, you could have applied to four other opportunities (on average). I would advocate for five applications in the time you have to apply to applications instead of one precious application to an opportunity you likely won’t get anyways… because for every opportunity in the art world (as I understand it) there is an overwhelming volume of entrants. If you want your 80% application to read to a jury as a 90% or 100% application… why not give yourself multiple rounds of practice, having to write and edit your artist statement twenty times over a season, instead of obsessing over word choice for hours only to have that gentle rejection email sent anyways? What I’m hoping to communicate here is a blend of optimism and realism. Before I apply, to anything, I run the thought experiment of getting it. Ok, I’ve got it. Do I really want it? How does getting this make me feel? Am I excited to ship work / buy a plane ticket / meet the organizers / compete for prizes? If I’m not excited about the opportunity itself, no matter how “prestigious” or if it “seems like a good idea…”, I won’t apply. There are far too many opportunities out there to be excited about. I am optimistic (with the help of my art consultant who advises me to “apply to things until you get them”) that there will always be amazing opportunities, and that with practice, with patience, and many repeat attempts, some of them will come my way. As some of them come my way, this creates a bit of momentum for others to float within reach as well, and so on. There’s no limit to how many times you can apply to opportunities you want. After all, this isn’t applying to college, there is an open-ended timeline. I will be applying to opportunities for life. Realistically, I expect to get into nothing I apply for. I don’t get my hopes up! I know that the biggest variable, in any of this, almost something that can be taken for granted or ignored in this fairly grayscale run-down, is the work itself. The work is what will, ultimately, speak louder on my behalf than anything I could possibly write, any accolade I could be given, than any “cool” thing I did. But, as mentioned previously, just making art and expecting great things to come your way does not work. That strategy has never worked for any artist, to my knowledge. Most of the work of being an artist, of doing your art as a career, are the similar kinds of logistical routines that accompany any kind of serious pursuit. Instead of resisting the tedium, get into the routines, the “boring” parts, and watch magical things start to happen down the line. — Thus concludes “Opportunities, Part 2 of 5: Part of the Work”, the second part of the “Opportunities” Series. You can read this and other writings on the Newsletter Archives section of my website, here. Stay tuned for tomorrow’s “Opportunities, Part 3 of 5: Creating Context” As ever, if you haven’t already, sign up for email newsletters on my website, forward this to someone you think would enjoy it, and encourage them to sign up as well. Cheers, David
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