Alright – so today we’ve got the honor of introducing you to Timmy Black. We think you’ll enjoy our conversation, we’ve shared it below.
Timmy , thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Are you happier as a creative? Do you sometimes think about what it would be like to just have a regular job? Can you talk to us about how you think through these emotions?
It’s very clear what the term “essential worker” implies. Firefighters, health care workers, plumbers, mechanics, teachers, agricultural harvesters, bus drivers, the list goes on and then it abruptly stops. Nowhere on that list do life coaches, project managers, human resource professionals, television executives, artists, or arts podcasters appear. Much of our workforce is superfluous, or at best, redundant. Our culture and our economy are cemented into our appetites catering to our mindless consumption. With the decline of religion, our lives have been rendered so utterly meaningless that to entertain the pious fiction of “purpose” is a pantomime of performative virtue. You ask if I ever entertain rueful regret, wishing I had pursued what you call a “regular” job. You have to be kidding! Imagine sitting in front of computer screen all day. Imagine attending inane meetings where everyone pretends to care about some fruitless outcome. Imagine participating in childish rituals like “team building” or “professional retreats” while knowing that not even a world away people are afflicted with real, life-and-death crucibles. A “regular” job!? I chose my profession because I felt that I could at least minimize the level of shameless hypocrisy that capitalism necessitates.
Timmy , before we move on to more of these sorts of questions, can you take some time to bring our readers up to speed on you and what you do?
I became an arts podcaster because my wife Tina bought me a microphone for my 40th birthday. She saw it as more of a gag gift – apparently I’m seen by my family as one prone to spasms of logorrhea – but when I opened the package it was as if a bolt of heavenly light struck me between the eyes. Till then, I was just your typical self-indulgent mediocre visual artist bouncing from one teaching job to another. Here, all of sudden, this simple instrument had given me a voice. I really had no expectation that my podcast, Timmy Black Presents: The Lives of Contemporary Artists, would garner more than a few dozen listeners. But much to my utter astonishment, within six months I had become viral. With over two million regular listeners, I think that I actually fall under the category of “influencer.” This is frankly terrifying!
In your view, what can society to do to best support artists, creatives and a thriving creative ecosystem?
In order to help the creative ecosystem to flourish, it would be best if art and artists were ignored. Let me give you an example. Have you ever been to the Louvre? Have you ever tried to study the Mona Lisa? Of course not! That would be impossible. This beautiful and important painting cannot be contemplated because it has been transformed from a work of art into a celebrity. It is a trifling bauble, a selfie prop, a bucket-list destination. Why? Because of an extra-aesthetic phenomenon that effectively has excluded serious artists and intellectuals from enjoying this important work of art. Another example is Instagram. The drek that flows through that sewer of relentless self-promotion under the general category of art is calamitous. I ask of society to leave art and artists alone and spend your time obsessing over Taylor Swift, Beyoncé, and the latest Marvel Universe movie product.
Is there something you think non-creatives will struggle to understand about your journey as a creative?
There are a few debilitating myths surrounding the arts. The most pernicious is that art is something that expresses one’s feelings. No, that’s what therapy is for. Art is something more serious, more dangerous, and more complex than that. Now, I know this might be controversial but in order to truly benefit from what great works of art have to offer one must educate themselves. If this sounds elitist it is because it was meant to. We have no problem thinking of dentistry or under-water welding as areas of expertise and if you needed a liver transplant you probably would be more comfortable if your doctor had graduated number one in her class. Somehow we don’t afford the same respect and awe for art and artists.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://timmyblackpresentsthelivesofcontemporaryartists.wordpress.com
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/thelivesofcontemporaryartists/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=100060832822377
- Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@timmyblackpresentstloca5105
- Soundcloud: https://soundcloud.com/dahliadanton
- Other: Spotify: https://open.spotify.com/show/3PT2zFA44Swivs130ISLMD
