Uncool Artist Monthly Letter - March 2024
Welcome to Uncool Artist's Monthly Letters! Each month, Carolina Paz, our Artist Founder and Director, shares reflections and updates. Join the conversation, connect with us, and feel free to reply to Carolina's letters as we build meaningful dialogues together!
Ready the past month's letter here.
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Dear , I hope February treated you well. For me, it was a challenging month, which you'll soon understand by reading this whole month's letter and the magnificent news I have to share.
As we start March, my invitation to reflection is dedicated to contemplating the power of judgment. How helpful and how hurtful can it be? Is judgment about fairness? What is its relation to control and fear? Could it be a tool for freedom?
As humans, we created the concept of judging to choose our preferences and affiliations, to define right or wrong, and to award or punish behaviors. To share a social environment believing in some safety and stability, we invent non-stop rules, formal and informal, to guide us on how to behave and which paths to pursue. However, the nuances of human behavior and life choices or forms of existence are much more diverse than control can predicate.
Michel Foucault has a whole genius body of theoretical work on mechanisms of social control explaining how key they are to sustaining the social order by separating from society everyone who imposes a menace to such order. The judgment of what has to be punished, humiliated, incarcerated, killed, canceled, or deleted is not just a formal institutional practice but is also present in daily life, in small groups, in micropolitics, and in social media. And it's so banal, so easy, so quick to judge.
Practicing judgment makes us feel empowered, alive, and doing something meaningful because, normally, it carries the sense that whoever is judging is a better human than the other one being condemned. We do it internally, too. More often than we can even perceive, parts of our mind judge our decisions, our body, our taste, our creations, our worth. And how awful do we feel? How painful is it? The condemned suffer because they are supposed to suffer. It's their punishment to suffer.
When the judgment is in somebody's favor, conceding recognition, prizes, and honors to the hero, to the genius, to the beauty, is it a positive thing? I have doubts. It is certainly satisfactory and very positive to be valued, but isn't it also a form of control and imprisonment of some sort? Are these pleasing attributes, so valued, really a good thing?
Good and bad criteria are problematic. To have to parameterize, I like to use Baruch Spinoza's idea of ethics, putting it very basically and dry (yes! it's far more complex than this): to act in favor of life. Are we judging other people's choices, behaviors, ideas, creations, businesses, ideologies, and even ourselves in favor of life or in fear of letting them/us live?
All of us who create something new are always in the condition of being misinterpreted and poorly received. Accommodation to the new involves resistance. Among many other experiences, I remember one time, in 2012, when I was developing an online mentoring program for artists, experimenting with formats, etc. Nobody was doing that in Brazil then, as I was starting to do. I was harshly criticized and judged by artists and curators whom I considered my peers. Some were so bothered by what I was trying to create (which is now Uncool Artist!) that they abandoned projects they were doing with me. A curator who didn't know me approached several of my friends, telling them to stay away from me, that I was "misguided." I won't victimize myself because I could do better and be more strategic in sharing my project, but it doesn't lessen the horror show! I felt terrible, but my decision was to continue what I was doing. The pain was intense. My inner judge was the worst of all. And look, I am this resilient and (even to my surprise) incredibly courageous person! Imagine how many sensational ideas and incredible people don't continue with their singular path in life because of these types of "condemnations" coming from people who have no idea how to deal with their own limits and want to limit instead of collaborating with those who are vulnerably sharing and creating something new and experimenting in the process.
If you are bothered by what someone is doing, don't sabotage it. Don't sabotage yourself as well! First, take time to review your thoughts and try to find a conversation or internal dialog pro-life. I always wanted to talk to that curator who had never exchanged more than two words with me. But my door was always and still is open. Also, if I did or said something painful to you, I'm sorry and ready to listen and find a way to heal.
Nobody is perfect! We make mistakes, fall, get up, and try again. Support is essential, should it be the priority, while judgment, control, and punishment are dangerous, and I feel unnecessary in most cases.
The more I grow, do, give, and support other people, the more of this oppressive, resistant energy I have to deal with daily. I try not to judge; I'm not interested in it; I'm here to understand, to investigate, to open the door for conversation and collaboration, and also to let go of individuals whose intention is to disrupt because their pleasure and purpose in life is to see others at the bottom like them, below them.
Sure! I'm not immune to falling into being judgmental. But I prefer to keep trying to see us all from a leveled perspective, considering we have equal rights to be alive, healthy, and happy. And then act from there in my best, always learning capacity. It's not easy, empowering, or glorious, but it's a choice oriented toward a conscious connection with life.
Am I judging my text right now? Am I judging myself for sending this monthly letter to you?! Of course! But the judge is just one of the many voices inside my head. The thing is, I do my best not to let it control me! And while these voices have a debate, I'll push send.
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This Month's Recommendation
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The Creative Act: A Way of Being by Rick Rubin
Initially skeptical about it being "yet another self-help book on the creative process," I gave this book a chance based on recommendations from fellow artists, including some from our community. Authored by music producer Rick Rubin, it surprised me with its positive insights. While I won't claim it to be a masterpiece, it serves as a good guide on various topics of the creative process. It's a helpful resource to jumpstart your creativity or engage in educational discussions with artists. I'm contemplating using it in future readings with our artists in residence. Consider it a valuable conversation starter if you can be okay with its spiritual approach.
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More about the book here.
Please note that this is not an affiliated link, and we are not receiving any commission for this recommendation.
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New Developments for UA Community: |
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We're thrilled to announce that, this month, UA Residency program is relocating to a spacious and amazing spot at the 77 Building in the Brooklyn Navy Yard.
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Imagine the possibilities for collaborations in this new, shared, and lovely space. What a view!
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Additionally, the UA Gallery is now officially available online. While small renovations are nearing completion at our Brooklyn storefront space –– and we can't wait to share pictures with you –– for now, get to know our co-founders-artists on the board following us on Instagram and Artsy!
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We can't wait to share pictures of our Brooklyn storefront space with you! But we already have fantastic artwork available. Meet our artists!
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UA ILAP 24/25- Live Q&A, 11 am (ET). Exciting news for those interested in the UA Online Residency - ILAP 2024/25! Join our Live Free Q&A session. Get your questions answered and gain insights into the residency experience. This is a fantastic opportunity to explore the program before applying.
UA NY Residency Open Studios, 6 to 8 pm. Come visit Bel, Erika, Sarah, Forrest, Kiwoun, Han, and join us in celebrating our farewell to our beloved studios at 16 Waverly Ave, 2nd floor, Brooklyn.
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Want to Become Part of Our Community? |
UA Applications are Open for:
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If you have specific topics or questions you'd like us to explore in future letters, your input is invaluable.
Remember, you can always reply to continue the conversation. I'm more than happy to connect with you.
Warm regards,
Carolina Paz
Artist Founder and Director
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