Expression, Acceptance and the Unnoticed Artist

Feelings, sensations, observations occur natural to all living beings. But it’s only us, the sapiens with a built-in feature to explain and express what we feel, or what we observe: our point of views, the pictures we imagine, the notes we take, in our head. There are ways to ‘let it out’. One way is to communicate about it, talk about it, to be vocal about it, to literally put it in words. We talk about a specific phenomenon which could be as random as the moon on a dark night or as specific as the “SuperMoon” on a particular day.

We are likely to talk about it if we feel something about it, something special, it could be anger, or sadness, or happiness, or excitement. One would talk and be over it. But, sometimes, to some individuals it won’t be about just a mere talk. So, there are other ways to explain and express. A poet would write it out, a painter would imagine it, and put their feelings on a canvas filled with patterned brush strokes, a musician would perceive and play a few notes and call it a melody while vlogger would just simply vlog it. The artist: any artist is a very sensitive being, the sensitivity an artist puts into creating art is quite sensational in its nature. So, it’s safe to say that the job of an artist is simply to express, in different forms, through different mediums. 

To feel “wanted” is another built in feature present in us sapiens. Everyone is more likely to be among people where one is more wanted, and not most. After expression, what an artist craves: is a praise, an applause, or just a simple ‘wah wah’. So, the artist(s) struggles to put blood, sweat, tears, money and time in their art. An artist would get demotivated if he/she is not getting the due/undue attention. They would do anything to avoid such a situation.

Attention is what an artist lives for, and acceptance is what an artist could die for. Ignorance is bliss, but only for the fool. Never for the artist. The phenomenon is quite observable that a struggling/starting artist(s) never gets enough attention from their friends and family: specially in the South Asian region. And when they ‘blow up’ everyone usually wants a share in their glory. But not many artists get famous, not all get their well-deserved recognition, some get lost in the process. The process is a game of belief/disbelief, hope/despair.

“You have to keep breaking your heart in order to open it first”

-Rumi

Many musicians get unheard before making it, many painters get unnoticed before making it, many poets are unread before making it. An artist desires applause, but is more likely to get lost. There is rather a clear sky, than a cloud with a silver lining for an artist in Pakistan. Your people don’t support you, many are against you, even your fellow artists hate you. Expression and attention, ideally should go hand in hand. But sadly, most of the artists are left handicapped with not enough appraisal from the audience. Not trying to be an enabler here, but the audience should extend a hand to the artist and be the driving force. Think about it, a world without art. There was a quote that once surfaced on social media which goes as ‘Earth without Art would just be “EH” and that won’t make any sense.’

However, social media has revolutionized the scene for the artist as well as for art. It’s less hectic for artists these days, to get the approval that they seek and the support that they need. To the audience: your artist friend needs your support when they are struggling and not when they are successful. If you never had extended a hand when they struggled, do not complain if they get famous and ignore you, and to the artist: you are appreciated! 

“Your biggest supporter is an unknown person, and your biggest hater is someone you personally know”