Written by Princess' Dad
You may have heard many of the following sentences as an individual working in the creative industry (or at least attempting to real hard):
“Let’s work together; I will make sure that you gain exposure from this.”
“Why do you cost so much? Anyone can do what you’re doing.”
“We can’t pay you. But this is for the exposure of the local art scene. You’ll
definitely get paid after.”
The list goes on and on and these are just a few things you might hear when trying to seek a career in art in Brunei. You will hear many variants of it, and at some points, you will give in, simply because things are just not moving the way you want it to, and you actually do need the exposure.
Don’t get me wrong, exposure is great. You’re getting your music out there, your fan base is growing, and more opportunities are heading your way. However, thread too lightly in this journey, and people might start taking you for granted as an artist. The worst thing you could ever do to yourself is to sell yourself short.
An Overview of Society With Regards to Art as an Occupation
The generation before ours did not exactly come from an environment similar to our own. The general consensus on what defines life here would be to go to school (finishing it is optional), get a job, get married, have children and die. Now that’s actually not necessarily a bad thing. In fact if anything, most people have these goals in our time, slotted somewhere down the timeline of their lives. Way back then, it was either you make it, or you don’t. You couldn’t really expect much, being from a small country, unknown to most of the world. What more your music being isolated in said country, with no outlet to the global market. So it’s pretty normal not to have high hopes. I believe that mind-set was passed on from generation to generation.
Fast-forward to today - the rise in technological advancements, and the world is practically everyone’s oyster. The possibility of expressing ourselves more freely and openly through art with platforms such as Instagram, Facebook and Twitter is immeasurable. Instead of presenting our work to a physical audience, we have reached a time when our audience doesn’t have to be right in front of us to appreciate our work.
However, the intimacy of physically being in the presence of art will never deter, especially when it comes to performing arts, such as dance. I like to think that art is best consumed when being in the presence of the actual subject matter, such as being in an art gallery, or a concert. These things just feel better when you’re right there in the moment. I do think that what people are forgetting is that there are other people behind these things that we call art, and a lot of time and effort has been invested into the creation of these things, like how everything else does. And just like how some of us dream to be astronauts, government officials, CEOs etc., some of us dream to take artistry as a profession. Brunei is not exactly the best place for that.
There is definitely a demand for art here in Brunei. There is also definitely an audience. There is, however, a lack of value for art. And when something lacks value, why pay for it am I right? Especially when we are raised by a generation that came from a time when music is 9.9 out of 10 times a miss, the culture of nurturing an artistic environment is out of the question. With that said, let’s take a closer look at why art here lacks value.
From The Standpoint of The Artist: It Does Not generate Income
Let’s say you made the world’s first washing machine. You tried to market the f**k out of it, and you tried to earn a living from this thing you truly believed in. However, before you even had a chance to begin this journey, people are already saying it won’t make money, and this news is passed on from one person to another. Naturally, you give up on your washing machine, and nobody will ever make another washing machine because it has become the norm to believe that these so called washing machines simply do not work and never will.
The problem here is we put ourselves in this hole of believing that the concept of art as a profession simply will not work here because we have been groomed to believe that there is no value. I have always firmly believed that trying is better than failing, so why disbelieve in a possibility of something before even trying it? Be an individual. Don’t be sheep. Think for yourself.
That’s not to say advice should not be taken. Understand that advise, even ill ones may come in handy. My parents once repeatedly advised me that diving into the non-existent music industry here in Brunei would be a losing battle. And I’m not going to lie to you; it does feel like a losing battle. But that never stopped me from trying. I haven’t quit trying, and neither should you. We are the few who values the art scene, and if our generation can harbor a culture of value for art, it might give our children the option of being a proper artist in the future.
That leads me to my next point...
From The Standpoint of The Consumer: Why Should I Pay For This?
Not everyone is gifted the same way a lot of us are. Some of us can get degrees and a proper job, but some of us work on a whole other spectrum. There are people who may not be gifted academically or corporately, or even socially. And sometimes these people are gifted in a different way. Somehow, some way, they can tap into the deep emotional spectrums of the human psyche and translate it into heart-wrenching pieces that we as the consumer take in, and make sense of the world that we are so ever confused within.
One of art’s many concepts is translating a feeling into a piece of media that we as consumers consume for the better or worse, depending on the message. Have you ever had a bad day, and just had to look at your go-to painting, or listen to your go-to playlist? Imagine if these things weren’t available. Do you know why it’s available? There is a demand for it. There is a return for it. You can’t really expect a person to continue producing art when they’re much too busy working a primary job to pay their bills. I’ve seen a lot of great artists here come and go, simply because the passion is not equivalent to putting food on the table.
Artists work for everyone. The keyword here is work. Support the artists you appreciate. They don’t have the benefits that would come part and parcel with other jobs, especially jobs in more corporate sectors. However, with that said, the last person I want to sound like is Lars Ulrich. So I’d like to point out that thanks to technology and digital platforms such as Spotify, Deezer… etc; artists are granted income for their work without the consumer having to spend a single dime to listen to artists that they like. A simple stream of the artists you support can go a long way.
So I suppose a majority of my argument actually points to...
*drum roll*
Other artists.
You’ll see what I mean when we talk about....
I Scratch Your Back, and You Scratch Mine (But Mostly Mine)
Okay so you are an artist. You have goals set and there are many things that you want to do. Some of the projects you want to do may involve other artists and their skills as well. However, the unfortunate thing here is, you kinda want it done without costs.
You want photos taken but you don’t want to pay for the photographer who has spent his many hours and money perfecting his/ her art.
You want models but you are not willing to pay for their efforts in perfecting their craft (trust me, I have model friends, it’s not as easy as it looks).
You want dancers but you don’t want to pay them for the hours they put in contributing to your vision.
You want bands, but you don’t want to pay for the logistical efforts that these acts put into your event.
I’ll be honest here. We earn a majority of our income for our live shows from expats. What does that say about our attitude towards art? I’ll leave that for you to think about.
Now I understand that value comes with appreciation of each other’s art, and I don’t want to sound like a money-grubbing businessman feeding you propaganda. All I’m saying is, the promise of exposure in an already near-dead industry locally is worth very little if you’re asking things for free. The next best thing you can do is financially support the act that you believe would be great in your project so they can continue practicing their craft. Help each other unselfishly.
If you can’t pay for a service, don’t ask for the service. It’s the basics of how anything works. UNLESS OF COURSE, this has to do with a charity or towards a cause that would benefit the greater good, then go crazy. Charity is always a good thing. Even if it’s not money, compensation with anything else will go a long way. Just don’t pull out the exposure card. F**k that.
Conclusion: Don’t Be An Ass.
I have always believed that the basic guide to any kind of success is to be nice. That’s it. Be nice and understanding to other people. You have your needs and wants, and surprise, surprise, everyone does too.
Basically, we need to grow a proper culture, to build an actual industry. The word “Art Industry” gets thrown around left, right and center here in Brunei. All I can ever think of is; what industry? No one here has an actual occupation that says: Professional Painter here. And if there were, 9 out of 10 times, they were already born with enough money to support themselves. Having no sales is no problem. We’re in Brunei, trust me on this one.
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