“Kendrick is not your saviour”, says Kendrick Lamar on his 6th studio album, ‘Mr. Morale and The Big Steppers’. It establishes a juxtaposition of two conflicting emotions. One, of self-importance in one’s body of work. And the other, of dissociation and creating distance from the same body of work.
When an artist sets out to create a piece, no matter what it is (music, films, books, artpieces, photographs, animations etc.), it comes from a need to express their individuality and their opinions and their worldview as a whole. The essence of the piece may be political from the artist’s point of view, or perhaps not. But it is a subpart of their identity which they choose to release to the world they inhabit without any pre-established filters. It’s raw and unique to what the artist stands for. Therefore, their lies a sense of self-importance during the ideations and materialization of the piece. This is where the artist puts emphasis on, during the creation of the piece.
When the piece is released to the masses, there stand variables that are beyond the artist’s control. When the artist chooses to put out a piece that stands for their values and moral-structure, it is often very well thought upon, thoroughly researched and definitive.
However, when this piece is accessible to the masses, the original intentions of the piece itself can get lost in translation. Meanings get lost in translation not only when one tries to translate the piece from one language to another but also when one chooses to delve into the piece in its original language. This happens because every individual is different and somewhat unique and every interpretation is different even if it is in the smallest iota of a detail. However, similar interpretations can sometimes group together to be the mass’s definitive interpretation of the piece. As a result, the piece can create a spectrum of interpretations, where on one end lies an interpretation while diametrically opposite of it lies the interpretation which is perhaps radically different from the other one. These interpretations can be contradictive of each other even though both stem from the same source.
There are also times when an individual may completely adopt one of these interpretations and opinions as their own. This is pure, unfiltered influence. An influence so immense, it may even lead to movements and revolutions. This is the power that the artist holds that some fail to realize. The ability to shape minds, to alter brain chemistries and even shape the individual’s life in the process.
There exists a psychological phenomenon referred to as ‘Transactive Memory’. The essence of this phenomenon when put into layman terms is that as social creatures, humans have developed a process through which they can store memory about themselves in another person’s brain. For example, when a working person is given a deadline to meet on a project they’re working on by their superior, the superior instills within the subordinate’s mind a thought. A thought which may be, “In order to progress further, I need to create this project by this date as it serves as an aid to the objective that I have to achieve”. Therefore, when the deadline finally arrives, the superior is well aware of the project that they had delegated to their subordinate, and expects it to be completed. A simpler example to illustrate the phenomenon is when a mother knows when to cook meals, wake up their families etc. When you begin to question why they do what they do, and when they do it, it is apparent they only perform these activities to help their family progress through their daily routine as smoothly as they can. My mother makes coffee for me in the morning when I wake up even when I haven’t told her to, the night before. The reason why my mother does it, is simply because I have stored the memory that “I love coffee when I wake up, it gets my day going.” in her head.
Similarly, when one chooses to delve into a piece of art that have stemmed from the artist’s mind, the piece may have the power to instill the artist’s beliefs and ideals into the consumer’s mind.
Hence, the question arises, “Does the artist stand for the individuals and movements they shape? And do they even realize the amount of power the ability to express themselves holds?”
Depending on the answer to this question, it is pretty easy to distinguish the good from the great. When artists know how to create a distance between their work in such a way that they can stand by what they decide to create and put out into the world but also realize how much power and influence that piece may have on the masses, it creates a balance. A balance every artist must strive for.
This is what I refer to as “The Artist’s Dissociative Paradox”.
For the artist to be able to distinguish between the importance of their work and self-importance is what’s indicative of the artist’s intention towards society.
We, as the masses should henceforth, be able to distinguish between the artist’s intentions and critically think before we accept someone else’s thoughts and opinions and adopt the aforementioned into our own thought processes and mindsets.
For the power of art should compel not only the artist, but also the masses who choose to indulge in the artist’s work as the artist can never be objectively correct in the true sense of being.
Ambiguity lies in every sphere of life. No one and no thing will ever be definitively correct or right in the message they propagate for the passage of time not only decays the mortal beings on this planet but also the correctness of messages, ideals, beliefs, hierarchies and existence in itself.