Why Veteran-Artists Don't Quit
Published November 22, 2022 · 11:15 · 120,791 views
About This Video
Why veteran artists don't quit: an investigation into the specific mechanism that keeps creative people working decades after the initial excitement has faded and the financial rewards have failed to materialize. Van's answer is structural: the veteran doesn't quit because the practice has become indistinguishable from the self. Quitting isn't retirement; it's amputation.
The episode draws on Van's own longevity as a filmmaker (over two decades from The Holland Tunnel in 2000 to the present channel) and the community of veteran makers he's observed. The quit decision, in Van's framing, only exists for people who maintained a separation between who they are and what they do. Veterans closed that gap long ago.
Transcript
this episode is sponsored by ecoflow ecoflow creates eco-friendly Power Solutions that allow you to have
electricity in any location no matter how remote Tom sacks wanted a power station for his boat so he didn't need
to use the engine's electricity so I called ecoflow and they sent him an ecoflow Delta Pro which is their
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using the ecoflow app on my phone sax was able to power the boat's interior lights tools and Chargers with the
ecoflow eventually he's going to use it to power an air conditioner there's a bunch of outlets on the Delta Pro and you just plug in the extension cords or
what have you his boat's got a leak of course but he's going to install a backup bilge pump pump powered by the
Delta Pro so the boat doesn't sink if the engine's battery dies
I was finally able to do a favor for sax who does so many for me and ecoflow made
me look like a big shot on this one there's a moment or you regret it all and you say never again what have I done to get myself
into this you might [Music] okay so this is the artist resentment and gratitude diagram so you have inspiration this is and this is for the pro B artist for the probationary artist the inexperienced artist
project starts with inspiration inspiration to make the thing then you have making the thing
then the probationary artist hits the wall and we all know what the wall is the
wall is like writer's block or the part in the project that you can't
figure out how to fix when he hits the wall or she hits the wall the probationary artist
quits or I need to work on my personal life but I quit oh I need as an excuse there are many reasons to quit there are many reasons to quit but that's one of them so then what happens
he or she they don't get the finished thing they get resentments they resent
quitting they resent the wall they resent the work they resent making the thing and I would argue they even resent
the inspiration okay now the veteran the veteran artist [Music] so I've got to show up right now at aquavella Gallery so we've got a second one at their Gallery doing a show of painting an exhibition in Japan a museum
show Korea making a whole series of Rocket Factory painting three projects with a rocket Factory movies for all these web store where we make bags and
t-shirts Nike crafter our brand in collaboration with Nike we have 25 people in the team in the studio in New York but we also tons of people that we
work with The Foundry Phoenix Arizona Portland Oregon and factories around the world fulfilling that project all over the world
Europe or South America or Asia or New York or in California
[Music] foreign I was talking with Sarah Hoover about this and I was like what the I was I called her a lot two nights ago with what the am I doing here this is so irresponsible because on top of
everything I'm like I'm married and I have a five-year-old son who I love spending time playing with Lego with him
and like swimming in the ocean and playing firing things where we light things on fire safely and
I'm not with them and I'm missing his two more weeks of his five-year-old life
the veteran artist so the veteran artist makes the is that is that okay let's see
I can write on this yeah makes the commitment okay
starts with preparation the veteran artist commits
prepares and that's when the veterans artist resentment
begins [Music] Man Overboard that would really sucks the veteran artist has been through this before many many times
he does not resent the wall which he knows is coming the veteran artist welcomes the wall
he does not resent the hate or humidity or the exhaustion the veteran artist resents the
distractions distractions from the trance of working with his hands
of thinking with his hands the distractions that prevent him from
working on the thing he resents the time off task that small talk burns up so small talk and meetings travel
small talk and meetings the veteran artist resents resenting the distractions
the distractions after all are for him for the veteran artist
the distractions so-called Bowie his extraordinary and fortunate five-star
first class life the distractions pay admission for the
work so more work so the veteran artist hits the old familiar wall so he works and he works and he's he sleeps and he works and he works
until he gets his breakthrough through inspiration wow
yeah well true well said he finishes the veteran finishes and the veteran Upon finishing feels a sense of gratitude gratitude for
the finished thing for the Breakthrough for the inspiration maybe not for the wall with the work but maybe not
gratitude for the resentment for the preparation and for the commitment without finishing you do not get the Gratitude
[Music] and the probationary artist is left with only resentment and the more he quits or she quits the more
resentment piles up until he or she quits for good
and doesn't make the commitment and that's it right
[Music] so I I believe as I did in the beginning of the commitment in the virtue of this I'm just pissed
off because I'm in the middle of it and talking like to you as if I never wanted to do it and that's right I regret every
minute of it I resent this and I'm pissed off but I'm not gonna give up and I think the important thing is that
this feeling does not go away it's in every project it is part of it it is a requirement and
the difference here is that both people have it just that these people finish and these people quit and
these people eventually get the Gratitude and these people have only resentment
[Music] foreign [Music] [Laughter] [Music] [Music] [Music] for sponsoring this video click the link in the description to get yourself a Delta Pro or to check out ecoflow's wide range of power stations and solar panels
Products & Tools Mentioned
- EcoFlow Delta Pro mentions — sponsor of the episode, portable power station
- Nike mentions — brand Tom Sachs has collaborated with
- Lego mentions — mentioned as creative building reference
People Referenced
Tom Sachs, Sarah Hoover