Creativity Beyond Capitalism
Maybe there is a deeper reason independent artists experience creative blocks.
Photography by Adrian Gluchowski
Kylan Stephon Hayes | Designer | Media Producer
Do you ever have creative blocks?
Of course you do. If you’re an independent artist, you’re accustomed to them. If you’ve never experienced one, keep creating and tell us how they are later. Creative blocks, annoying as they are, are mostly caused by one of two things: You’re either forcing your creativity or you’re overthinking it.
We overthink our creativity when our vision is larger than our current output. This isn’t a problem, but a call to action. The vision always grows clearer with creative action. Day by day, and action by action, we begin to overcome. This, however, is not the most common (or brutal) form of creative block.
Photography by Kylan Stephon Hayes
More commonly, creative blocks come when we attempt to force our creative output. This force comes from some form of external pressure. For some, its pressure inflicted upon themselves. It's the attempt to meet an imaginary standard that they themselves placed. Maybe that’s you. For others, it's pressure to produce enough content to fill a content-calendar. Maybe that’s you. For others, it’s the pressure to produce enough money to financially sustain themselves. Maybe that’s you.
Regardless of the reason, a central factor of creative blocks caused by force is the existence of pressure. I want to remind you that creativity is energy. It’s the translation from vision to communication expressed through a medium of choice. How can you create if you have no vision to express? Is your next idea to force a vision?
Here at The House of Verity, it’s our position that this form of creativity misses the mark of art’s original purpose. This type of art exists in a hijacked form that positions artists as mere producers of capital. It’s a form of expression that constantly pits us against our own creative process, forcing us to create at an unnatural rate; tempting us to prioritize social media engagement over expression; trapping us in a system that constantly devalues both the arts and the artists.
Make no mistake: you have a gift. You are an artist in the 21st century. You are more than a producer of capital. You are a curator of aesthetic beauty. Art is your lifestyle. It’s a way of living, not just a way of making a living. The real solution to a creative block is to practice a lifestyle of creativity beyond capitalism. Imagine what that could look like.
Blue Hour Photography produced by VRTY Arthouse
Imagine if your creative process were identical to your way of living. You receive a vision, sit on it, uncover the deeper meaning, and seek to express it through your work. It’s a lifestyle of creativity without pressure - any force will dilute the message.
Imagine being able to create what you want, when you want, and how you want without the pressure of appealing to a group of social media followers. Imagine if your sense of reward were dictated by the successful communication of your message instead of the amount of likes and clicks.
Imagine creativity without the pressure of self-sustainability. I’m not talking about childish spending habits, but the ability to create with the joy you once had as a child. Imagine being able to sustain yourself in a way that does not put pressure on your creativity.
Imagine having an endless source of inspiration from a community of creative friends. Imagine being able to bounce ideas off of one another, just for the sake of sharing the creative process. Imagine if there were no sense of competition, just community and creativity.
Imagine if your value as an artist were dictated by your distinctiveness. Rather than facing the pressure of appealing to the algorithm for reward, your ability to do something nobody else has done is your motivating factor. Imagine being able to create something unique without doubting yourself because you know the algorithm won’t like it.
Imagine completely separating creativity from the societal norms of capitalism. We’re diving into something that’s difficult to imagine in this postmodern world, but I believe questions are more important than answers. I believe that the cure to a creative block is to create like capitalism was not a factor.
Some say this is idealistic, and I’d agree. However I don’t think this world is impossible. Maybe we’re on the right track, just not right now. As artists, we are the curators of what has been and what is to come. Maybe it’s time we reconsider the ways our art is creating the future.
Let’s let the art do the talking.
