The artist and the inner retreat
A call to quiet, plus this week's new releases
After recent reflections on the challenges we feel about needing to promote our work (here and here), we’ve come to better understand the pressure many of us feel.
We’re stuck between modern ways and ancient wisdom.
The modern world tells us to get out there and promote ourselves. Ancient wisdom speaks to the power of retreat. Retreat is how we discover enlightenment. We retreat from the boundaries of society to gain new ways to see.
Retreat is especially powerful for artists. In The Hero with a Thousand Faces, the famous 1949 book that introduces the “Hero’s journey” common myth shared by all cultures and societies, Joseph Campbell writes:
“Willed introversion, in fact, is one of the classic implements of creative genius and can be employed as a deliberate device. It drives the psychic energies into depth and activates the lost continent of unconscious infantile and archetypal images. The result, of course, may be a disintegration of consciousness more or less complete (neurosis, psychosis); but on the other hand, if the personality is able to absorb and integrate the new forces, there will be experienced an almost superhuman degree of self-consciousness and masterful control.”
Already this is powerful. “Willed introversion” is a “classic implement of creative genius” and “a deliberate device” for artists. Then, this:
“[Willed introversion] cannot be described, quite, as an answer to any specific call. Rather, it is a deliberate, terrific refusal to respond to anything but the deepest, highest, richest answer to the as yet unknown demand of some waiting void within: a kind of total strike, or rejection of the offered terms of life, as a result of which some power of transformation carries the problem to a plane of new magnitudes, where it is suddenly and finally resolved.”
According to Campbell and our ancient myths, it’s the artist’s duty to willfully withdraw from society for periods of time and refuse to respond to anything other than the void within. A profound thought and invitation!
In comparison, creative people today are encouraged to incessantly self-promote on social media. Afterwards many of us feel empty after “shouting into the void” and posting our stuff without getting the response we hoped. We’re compelled to fill the void of the market rather than explore the void within, as artists are meant to do. No wonder we struggle.
Creator platforms algorithmically incentivize us to create at the pace Wall Street and the market demand. This is why we’re pushed to create more and more. Not because our audiences are asking for it. Not because the world needs more of what we have to say. Because we as artists, the platforms, and their investors desire, to varying degrees, growth.
In this environment it seems unthinkable, but you can opt out of this game. “I paint with my back to the world,” the painter Agnes Martin says. She makes work not thinking about the external world, but her own.
Martin ironically says this in an interview where she shows her face, which seems like a contradiction. Except Martin tells the truth: we all need periods where we create with our back to the world and others when we share what we’re doing. There is no fixed position. We’re meant to flow back and forth.
There are times to give. There are times to receive.
There are times to be seen. There are times to recede.
There are times to be with others. There are times to be alone.
Systems wish to freeze us into predictable models of monetizable output, but our circumstances are always changing and we are too. Systems want us to do the same thing every day and week. That’s not who we actually are.
If we listen to the ancient wisdom, we can hear the call to reimagine what an artist’s retreat is. Not some elite program in a secluded forest that people like us never get into. Artist retreats as part of everyone’s personal practice. A dedicated time and metaphysical space to retreat, step back, and explore that’s accessible to all.
A personal artist retreat could look like a set time where we make space to create and experiment while also pledging to not publicly share what we’re doing. A time for creation and experimentation to connect to the void within where we outwardly remain silent. Freed from expectations, what might we make and find?
A call for retreat is not an invitation to surrender, be passive, or to hide. To retreat, one must first be engaged. When the retreat gifts us with revelations, we return to share and disseminate what we have learned. In our new retreat ritual we could all gather when the time ends, virtually or in real life, to show our discoveries and work. Not out of competition or status, but to marvel at the gifts, each different, we would all have received.
Social media experts tell us to put our faces out there like clockwork to support our creative practices. The Performance of The Artist has become the primary work of the artist. Ancient wisdom tells us otherwise. It says that yes, we need to enter public space to share our gifts and to receive in return. But being public is not a permanent state, it’s a momentary one. We as artists must sometimes show our faces, but just as often we must turn our backs to the world and listen to the void within once more.
Featured releases
木 mù and 水 shuǐ by Anonymous — 木 mù and 水 shuǐ are two art books by a studio based in Singapore and Thailand that playfully explore two of the most ubiquitous substances in our daily lives: wood and water. We cherish the thoughtful and imaginative meditations on materials we often fail to appreciate. Lovely. ($33)
Thingpower debut album — Thingpower are lifelong friends and artists Troels Abrahamsen and Peter Albrechtsen who have previously scored film projects together, and here on Metalabel are debuting their first-ever album. The music is loose and fluid, a feeling of open boundlessness. Congrats to them on their first release and we’re honored they’re dropping with us. ($35)
Highbrow Housekeeping by eyesbreakers — Here at Metalabel HQ a red phone rings on everyone’s desk when eyesbreakers publishes a new drop. Each eyesbreakers release is a stream-of-consciousness series of physical paintings wrapped together in a surreal narrative and published as a PDF. As we said about their previous Metalabel drop — another brain-banger — we don’t know what it is but we know we like it. ($6)
The Great Way Is Not Difficult For Those Who Have No Preference by The “O” Piano — This very handmade release features a .zip download of three improvised duets for alto sax and piano paired with a document of palindromes printed in Shantell Martin’s Metalabel-released Shantell Sans font. Crossover joy. (Support how you want)
Newly reissued
On Making a Living as an Artist (digital edition) by The Creative Independent —Last week’s Creative Independent drop of “On Making a Living as an Artist” sold out all 50 copies in hours, then sold out an additional 50 copies a few hours later. Not to worry. The Creative Independent has published a digital-only edition that’s free or pay what you want. Grab a copy now and stay tuned for more TCI releases on Metalabel in the future. (Support how you want)
”The Post-Individual” (open edition) by Yancey Strickler — Earlier this year I released a new essay a .zip format, publishing both the piece and the backing research and context as one package. All 250 first editions sold out, but in the month since I’ve received requests from a half-dozen people wanting to explore it more. It’s been heartening to see the piece continue to spread. Thus this open edition. (Support how you want)
Promotional principles for creative people
Last week we shared our in-progress guide of promotional principles for creative people. Already the doc has received 100+ edits and comments from readers, who will all be credited in the final publication. THANK YOU!
On August 1, we’re partnering with our friends at Creative Mornings to host a virtual working session where we’ll dive into promotional principles together. RSVP here to join the session.
We’re also inviting our community to answer this simple five-question survey about how you promote your work and feel about it. Questions include:
What feels like success when it comes to promoting your work?
What’s something that has pleasantly surprised you?
What’s something you would never do again?
Everyone who contributes will be invited to be part of the final release when we publish it on Metalabel later this summer. Share your feelings here.
Squad wanted
Finally, we’re looking at add three new people to our small, tight-knit team.
Community Liaison (full time) — We’re looking for skilled and experienced community supporter to join our NYC-based team. Your duties will include joining us in building, growing, and supporting, the network of creators, collectors, and wider ecosystem of Metalabel. A great opportunity.
Creator Liaison (liquid) — A connected and passionate curator who can bring great releases to Metalabel and support them for around 15 hours each week. Remote role with a preference for candidates in cultural hubs.
Product Engineer (full time) — A talented front-end engineer to join our Build team. Looking for at least 5-8 years of front-end experience.
Interested? Reach out at hello@metalabel.com.
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Metalabel
The wisdom here is timely. Interestingly, I think most serious artists come to value and enact the quiet working periods naturally, perhaps especially as they age.
Promotion necesitates a staff. It's ludicrous to attempt working as an artist and promoting one's work simultaneously, yet that is what the capitalistic market scenario demands as tribute to its godlike power.
At this point I let people come to me. And sometimes they do.
Thank you for the valuable reminder! "Being public is not a permanent state, it's a momentary one." This is so true, even though it can be challenging to follow because stepping away from the "public" is often seen as losing relevance. There is a fear that once you return to being public, people won't be there anymore, or that you will be overshadowed by those who do much more. Fortunately, I recently experienced a retreat-like period and found that these fears didn't materialize. This inward turn was a crucial decision for my writing, but I know that each time I make such a decision, it will always be accompanied by self-doubt. I will just have to keep reminding myself of its importance.