Artists, Stop Trying Not To Offend People With Your Work — And Just Create

Creating art that challenges norms is now a revolutionary notion. Let’s change that.

Our culture is in a bad state.

Outspoken fury over mere words and ideas is an expected, even fashionable, response to work that upsets the status quo.

Numerous prominent creative figures have been flogged and expelled for the most trivial of acts that have been likened to the most dreadful of sins.

Whether it’s in film, music, literature, comedy, or any other artistic medium, the risk of cancellation looms monstrously over the minds of those hungry to test the limits of acceptability through their ingenuity and craft.

It’s no wonder our culture is suffering from a malignant case mundanity.

And that’s the reason for this cri de cœur to my fellow artists, creators, intellectual renegades, fugitive thinkers, aesthetic heretics, outlaws of whimsy, and anyone else with the rabid craving to disrupt.

Humans Are Messy Creatures — Our Art Should Reflect That

Every one of us harbors thoughts and feelings and views that would offend or disturb everyone else to some extent; this is the incurable symptom of humanity. Propriety demands that we keep these private notions to ourselves, and understandably so, for courtesy and order are signs of an enlightened civilization.

However, art should be the one public arena where artists can express themselves freely without fear of banishment and personal attack. Art should be the place where artists can examine the internal and conflicts that each of us suffer from, and portray them through aesthetics so spectators can view and confront them from a safe distance.

Because we live in the age of unearned outrage, fear of reputational risk and personal cost have bludgeoned many of today’s artists into creating works that are safe, harmless, and ultimately insignificant.

Much of the culture and entertainment we consume today lacks the staggering originality and extreme “personality-ness” that characterized the most influential films, paintings, music, and other works that forced society to wrench itself into the future.

It’s time that artists reclaim that freedom to probe the taboo and unthinkable.

Art Should Be Dangerous

Some of the greatest works of art caused hysteria in the masses and faced everything from censorship to outright criminalization. Today’s artists don’t need to necessarily strive for that level of impact, but they should be unafraid of controversy and harsh criticism. As cartoonist and Calvin and Hobbes creator Bill Watterson once said:

“Genius is never understood in its own time.”

But for genius to ever be understood, it needs to break rules.

Artists are a special breed; something in their blood keeps them curious about the strange and untalked-of aspects of society and the human condition, and we should encourage them to dive into those areas with relative impunity, regardless of the cost to our own feelings.

If artists are continued to be humiliated and chastised for their rebellious masterstrokes and refusal to cater to our sensibilities, then expect a dull and lethargic cultural destiny, one that is devoid of unbridled innovation and imagination.

But if we want a vibrant tomorrow that we can be proud of, let’s step back and allow artists to plow through boundaries into unknown and exciting territory.

Create Passionately — And Defend Your Work Just As Passionately

In an era when creators are bullied into walking on eggshells in their work by threat of social exile, it’s now more important for them to stand up and create without inhibition, to refrain from letting a fragile few dictate the direction of their endeavors.

While I may paint a grim picture of our current cultural state, I’m actually quite invigorated by the mandates and warnings constantly imposed upon this generation of artists; real artists, you see, thrive in harsh conditions, as it gives them something to push against.

As legendary filmmaker Orson Welles once said:

“The enemy of art is the absence of limitations.”

Of course, that fierce desire to birth profound achievements should be accompanied by an equally fierce desire to defend them.

To preserve the vitality of a spirited creative class, it’s essential that all artists stand firm in the face of suppression and to advocate for the unwritten freedom to create without limit on behalf of all creators.

Final Thoughts

I’m not calling for artists to go out of their way to intentionally offend and nothing else — provocation for its own sake is just as meaningless as blind conformism.

No.

What I’m calling for is for artists to confidently explore the ideas and regions of our existence that most people don’t dare approach, and to share their findings with the utmost care and derring do, and to defend their desire to break the future and replace it with something better.

It’s a lot to ask in this day of trendy puritanism, but I think many of you are more courageous than you might think, and have the grit and vision it takes to be remembered and revered.

After all, in the world of art, history is kindest to those brave enough forge it.