The beautiful part of adult life is knowing when to get off the speeding train despite the agility requirements. Rough and tumbling my way through sometimes disappointing consequences as I began to re-invent the institution part of Micro Museum from our new/old location made me artfully inarticulate. Complexities never present themselves all at once, instead they seep out like soggy shoes under pressure. It became clear with each institutional step, even the smallest ones, that artistic psychological strength can not compete with communal emotional gravity. It cannot be overstated to the degree that systemic patriarchy impacts unevenly and in unfortunate ways on all forms of life, especially creative life. If there was ever a time for a creative re-imagining - it is now.
The good news is embracing life long learning is a good way to start re-imaginging another kind of future.
My own method for overcoming various setbacks or disappointment is learning more about how other artists survived or blazed trials. It was truly enchanted watching a 2008 movie directed by Arne Glimcher called "Picasso and Braque Go to the Movies". The movie's premise explored the concept that these 2 deep friends were influenced by the cutting edge films of their day with the Lumière brothers' speeding train film that sent audience members scurrying for their safety or films made about the American dance sensation Loie Fuller and Georges Méliès, the special effects pioneer on display in his "Trip to the Moon" film. The overall theme captivated my imagination since there is already so much scholarship about Cubism and this idea seemed like a new twist. I was particularly curious about all the copy cat dancers who imitated Loie Fuller's iconic dance "Serpentine". I wonder if Fuller was flattered or furious by the imitators at the time. I too, was inspired by Fuller and made a dance work called "Metamorphosis". It was performed by 3 dancers from my small dance company (Laziza Electrique Dance Co. LED co) during the 1990/2000s . Good times! (Thank you Judy Fowler, Teresa Adams and Susanna Meledez). Who knew this movie would be a treat to revisit my extreme Loie-love? Now these dance works live as a video archive floating in digital clouds but for now here is a photo image of Teresa Adams in "Metamorphosis".
Another source of inspiration in my quest for higher learning about artist survival came to me from the Museum of Modern Art's "Making Space: Women Artists and Postwar Abstraction". This masterful exhibit featured approx 100 works by "heavy hitters' in the art world 1945-1968, like Lee Krasner, Helen Frankenthaler, Joan Mitchell, Agnes Martin, Lee Bontecou, Louise Bourgeois, Eva Hesse and was organized by Starr Figura, Sarah Hermanson Meister and Hillary Reder. The walls seemed to sing with beauty, ingenuity and re-defining what was possible. One can never have too much imagination, perhaps theirs will rub off on everyone who visits. Wouldn't that be something?
While fast moving adult life fluctuates from baffling to volatile from playful to illogical from supportive to courageous; it is a never-ending source of wonder. I guess if there is a trick to surviving, it is "don't dream it, be it." I know, I know.... the immortal words from Rocky Horror's Dr. Frank-n-furter via composer Richard O'Brien. I simply could not agree more.