Dirk Johan Koene / ArticlesArticles

I am too late in writing this text. Many well-formed thoughts on how the artist should relate to the time in which they live have, after a brief stay in my consciousness, departed with the Noorderzon again. Unfortunately for you, dear reader. Nevertheless, I have been wise enough to capture silhouettes of the ghostly stream of thought on paper; hopefully enough to captivate.

That brings me to the versatility of what I think about the subject, my thoughts on the pitfalls of creating art in the present day, and what the artist's role is concerning their own cultural identity. I am afraid I will not be conducting scientific research in the upcoming rules. Anyway, then I would have become a scientist.

In a more poetic mood, I wrote the following:

“The artist must not be caught up in the limitations of contemporary ideas. The left-right thinking that the media consumption of the modern person so heavily depicts describes only one battleground of countless others. It takes a remarkable arrogance to believe that what happens here in the prosperous West is the only thing that matters.”

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Creating cross-border art is difficult. That's why so few succeed. But it is possible; it lies in the inverse, the eternal paradox. Turn inward, and eagerly bring the pearls of your mind to the surface. Show them to the outside world with all the consequences that entails. Sharpen, sharpen, sharpen yourself! Give them the only thing you truly have to offer.”

Delighting in quoting yourself without consequences. But for the writing exercise you're now reading, it serves as a good starting point. I don't mean to say that you shouldn't engage with contemporary ideas or movements, but that you shouldn't be caught by them. The left-right thinking is an example of this: yes, the left-right axis is a valid interpretation of, in this case, society as a derivative of reality. But if this is the only lens through which an artist views the world, their art quickly becomes propaganda. The whole problem with reality is that it cannot be fully captured. Things that are completely logical along one axis create, along another axis, an extraordinary absurdity. 

Statements like “everything is politics” are therefore such a stab in the back for all artists who want to place their work above the political battleground. It draws people who want to fly back to the ground, often motivated by envy. Furthermore, this viewpoint is nested in the here-and-now, and I do not mean that as a compliment. The trendy left-right perspective is implicitly rooted in the idea that what is happening in the Western world at this moment is the most important in history. And this is exactly why so many fall into that trap: it’s as sweet as honey, gives meaning to someone’s existence, and grants modest artists revolutionary pretensions. In short, extremely tempting but let’s be honest: it’s an ontological mud bath.

But, as with most temptations, it pays to resist them. Because although some perspectives praise you with social capital, identity, and ego, philosophers rightly say that the destruction of these last ones brings us closer to the Truth. And art is based on truth; it is an expression of it. That is why it is so important not to get stuck on preconceived ways of thinking but to fight these within yourself! Even the ideas that provide comfort and certainty about yourself should be questioned. Sacrificing your psychic constellations reveals new ones — these enable you to create new art.

Whenever this chatter enters the realm of the observable, it is often art created without pretensions of the artist’s ego that goes further than the artist could have imagined. Even in the creative process itself, the artist should not think, but act on intuition. Intuition, the feeling that a work can (or must!) be made, and accepting the outcome of that. Exactly there, at that moment, the artist can escape the zeitgeist. And here comes the paradox again: by not wanting to create “great art”, but through love for art, craftsmanship, and existence even if it is ugly, the space arises that is necessary to work in eternity.

To conclude, a cigar from my own box:

"Our friend, Vincent van Gogh, was one of those. I think that his work, based solely on spiritual strength, has prevented more capitalists, penny-pinchers, oil barons, and seal clubbers than many explicitly activist artists. This is because the beauty he evokes from his tormented mind appeals to everyone. And besides him, many others: every artist who can realign people with the World.
Some cynicism is to be expected here: art, an elitist practice par excellence, is repeatedly hijacked by rich cultural barbarians who prefer to stash it away in a warehouse in Switzerland as a safety net for their money rather than let it speak for an audience. Well, yes - there are numerous insincere people in the world, doomed to a cynical existence and possessed by some demon.
But that's why we must create art that appeals to people capable of being moved – sincerity emerging from the dust and excrement of society. Then you step into a tradition that goes back to the misty origins of humanity."