Recently, I’ve had a lot of discussions with artists about how important it is to manage our own expectations. As artists, this is absolutely crucial to establishing what success means for us individually, and maintaining our mental health.
Art is subjective as fuck! What you consider to be a masterpiece will not be perceived in the same way by others. This is how one arrives at the village of broken dreams. If you’re not careful, you’ll end up not just with disappointment and frustration, but even worse: burnout.
In this article, I’m going to go down the rabbit hole of how I have (repeatedly re-)learned how to manage my expectations as an artist, and provide some practical tips on how to do so effectively. I want to preface this by emphasizing that success is also subjective, and you absolutely need to come to terms with what it means for you. I’m not about to deconstruct that one today; expectation management is already a fucking loaded topic.
Here’s some cliff notes for those of you who haven’t had your coffee, tea, or alcoholic beverage of choice yet:
Understand the nature of artistic pursuits and stop viewing it as competition.
Set realistic goals that are achievable within your current skills and resources.
Learn to love rejection or criticism, and also stay true to your vision.
Stay grounded: hype of success and disappointment of failure are illusions.
Art is a personal journey, and can exist in tandem with your work-life.
Understand the Nature of Artistic Pursuits
Art is not a linear journey. In fact it’s a product of the labyrinth that is your most likely unhinged mind. Every artist that is serious about their medium, will encounter setbacks, failures, and rejections along the way. This is especially true of self-rejection.
Here’s a video of where I started out:
I didn’t start with a clear path with suspension. It took me 10 fucking years of bullshit to figure out how to put my first large scale installation together. I told anybody that asked me in 2015 how I was putting this insane event together, that I had a plan. Which I did, but it was a pretty godsdamned wack-ass plan. I couldn’t have done it without my production team, which was primarily comprised of some really intimidating ladies that took zero shit from the world, and helped give structure to the insane vision in my head.
At the start of the journey, I was just hanging folks where and when I could, experimenting a little bit more each time with the aesthetics, and the techniques involved. I didn’t set out with the intention to suspend 15+ people simultaneously in a cohesive narrative, and have folks come observe it all like they were looking at sculptures in a gallery or museum. But that’s what happened.
Here’s what my first large scale event I hosted/designed/facilitated/curated looked like:
My takeaway from this path I took is that it is essential to understand that art is a process, and it takes time to develop your skills, refine your style, and build a following. Furthermore, it takes time to accept these facts! The best thing that happened to me was having my ambitions wrecked over and over again. Everybody will tell you patience and persistence are important, and they’re not wrong. But those are just cliche aspects of life anybody can tell you. Accepting that success does not come overnight however, is the one thing you cannot learn from a book or an instructor.
Creating art is not a competition. The minute you start comparing yourself to others, you will have committed yourself to a path of unrealistic expectations of yourself, and of others too! Follower counts, ticket sales, NFT sales etc… these are all illusory distractions. Focus on your own journey, and do not let the opinions of others affect your passion for your craft. Ignore the fact that people spend $45,000 on soulless shit-ass photography with zero understanding of composition or color of skinny nude women. Seriously, who the fuck cares? Stop comparing yourself.
Set Realistic Goals
I mean you don’t have to put up some rigid goal posts that you’re going to keep whacking the ball on. In fact, ignore this dumbass sports-ball analogy entirely. Just establish what is achievable and in line with your current level of skills, and currently available resources.
What fucked me up repeatedly over the years, was thinking I could do better than I was able to. I’m not saying don’t push the envelope and challenge yourself; I’m just saying be objective about things that are absolutely not in your skillset, or you simply don’t have the materials/resources to execute it with.
At one point I was convinced I could suspend folks in any position, anytime, with any gear. This was utter bullshit. Some folks couldn’t get off the ground because of my overly ambitious approach. I may even have gotten upset with them that they couldn’t handle it. This is the exact opposite of what my medium is about; this kind of mentality leads to disempowerment, which is the inverse mission of what we do with suspension. After a couple of these, I realized what a jerk I was being, and recalibrated my mindset. I reeled things back, and focused on simple things for a while, facing technical challenges with a steady upslope, instead of just going for the grails immediately.
Another example of what I fucked up royally, was overestimating the resources I had. Gear, environment, people; these are the most important things with physical installation art. If you don’t have gear that’s safe, somebody can get hurt when it fails - and trust me when I say it ruins your life when it happens. If you don’t have the right studio conditions (light, dimensions, energy), your final shots will look like shit. And if you don’t have the right team of people, your execution will fall short of your expectations. Manage this by ensuring you are confident with what and who you have at your disposal. I’ve had plenty of projects fizzle out, or flat out fail because I overestimated my tools and people. It’s not their fault - I was not being realistic.
The big takeaway here: set long-term and short-term objectives. Complete specific pieces of work, learn new techniques, attend workshops or exhibitions; these are short term goals. And in the long term, build a portfolio, establishing a brand or social following, and aim to achieve recognition in your genre of work. None of this is intended to mean, “seek fame.” 30 people paying attention to your work can be more valuable than 3000 people doom scrolling your work on Instagram with no real engagement.
And most importantly: remember to celebrate your work. Sure, you might fucking loathe it all, it happens to the best of us, but you still have made it this far. Look back at your work, and accept that it’s part of your journey. Throw a party with your cats, eat some fucking cake. Ask yourself, was my goal this happiness and cake, or was it just to make money? If you’re truly an artist, you may find that the money is secondary.
Constructive Criticism & Staying True
You absolutely have to learn to manage your expectations when it comes to the reception of your art. I’ve already stated that art is highly subjective, and subsequently not everyone will appreciate or understand your work. I mean fuck, tell me you understand my work here; I’m not sure even I do:
It is important to recognize that rejection and criticism are a natural part of the artistic process. Galleries, publications, other artists, and a bunch of ignoramuses on social media will reject you, and that’s the fucking point. If everybody loved your shit, you would be fucking boring. If you can just get past your own bullshit, you may find that internet trolls may be a great source of feedback; just don’t engage with them. Take notes, and accept that you look at and judge the art of others as well. Just don’t be an asshole about it.
I could say the key to managing your expectations in these situations is to maintain a positive attitude and not take things personally. But that would be a lie based on personal experience. The key to managing your expectations here is to learn to let yourself feel these feelings of frustration and disappointment, allow the bullshit to get to you, and then constructively deconstruct why you let this shit get to you. You can’t fully grasp how something works (especially your mind), unless you actually go through the process of failure, and patching it back together.
Face your fears, comprehend them, process them, go through the pain, and then shed them like you’re molting. Leave that old skin behind, and move on to the better you. Rise above your own bullshit. People are going to be assholes no matter what you do; just remember not to be an asshole to yourself. And only then will you be able to accept constructive criticism, and identify and ignore the negative nonsense haters wanna drop on your work instead of doing something productive with their time.
And once you get rid of this dead weight that keeps fucking up your mental health, you will find the mental real estate to commit to your path, and stay true to your own flavor of (in)sanity. Don’t compromise your integrity, vision, or insatiable need to explore this thing you are fascinated with, because some dingus needs you to please their expectations of commercial success.
It’s like a relationship; don’t go hunting for one with everything you got, let it come to you. Make good art, and those that appreciate it will find you, so long as you’re not hoarding it in your basement, with its walls made of fear and uncertainty. What a metaphor. My mental basement still has abandoned project sketches. They’re like relationships that never worked out. I hope you’re not keeping any ex-partners in your basements. Sheesh.
Stay Grounded
Success in the art world can be a blip in time, and it is important to stay grounded and maintain a balanced perspective. I had never made so much money off of my work until Path bought one of my genesis NFTs. In one moment, I had made more money than 12 private sessions, or 3 corporate gigs could have paid me. When Robek picked up another one from this OG collection, I was convinced this was it, I had made it as an NFT artist.
Hahahaha
Yeah, no. I haven’t sold a single other loop from the Phasing collection. And sheesh, did it suck feeling like I had failed, because only two collectors were interested in my work. And then I remembered that I had been doing this for 16+ years at this point, with zero expectations of profit or fame. I had somehow forgotten to check myself, and in remembering to manage my expectations, I was suddenly back to a grounded state.
I had never expected anybody outside of the suspension world to understand my work, so why did I think it would be any different with NFTs? Most folks are here for digital art, not things that remind them of their humanity. The escape we have that is introspective in suspension, is the opposite of the escape most folks seek in disappearing into the internet for hours on end every day. My work is for those that are willing to face themselves, face uncomfortable truths, and willing to take a deeper look to see and understand just how much work and intention goes into what I do.
And those few people are more valuable to me than having 100K followers that just repost my shit with hopes of winning a giveaway. Redefine your understanding of success, disappointment of failure, and re-evaluate the things that really matter: your family, friends, and your health. If you are mentally and physically falling apart, you cannot be there for the ones you love, and you certainly can’t make more good art.
Remember that your work life matters. If you hit it big one day and can live off of your art, that’s amazing! I wish this for _all_ artists, even if all they have to offer is a bunch of shitty photos of high school adolescent teen fantasies turned into tasteless jpegs. OK maybe not, I’m not perfect, I still feel some frustration for this, and believe me I’m working on it. This shit should not get to me like this. The inner battle never ends, and you can’t let the real world go in the meantime. Go make that paper how you have to until you can find a better way.
The video in this tweet (comment and RT it please, even if you have already) contains less than 4% of my work with suspension. Have I made it? In my mind, yes. Financially, not even a little bit.
The End
Haha just kidding. There is never an end in sight. If you’re an artist, you know that nothing is clear on the other side of the horizon; it might be a storm, it might just be more nothing. Manage your expectations. Prioritize your mental health. Don’t let others define success for you. And stay grounded in your reality, so you don’t come back to a life with no solid footing.
Find some balance so you don’t lose your proverbial shit, so we can continue enjoying your art, you absolute dingus. Some of us are here to criticize your work because we want to see you succeed. So go ahead and criticize mine too if you think there’s something worth improving!
“Art is a journey, not a destination.” Live laugh love. OK whatever, just fucking make good art, and fuck the noise. Stop fighting yourself, and gain ground on your own terms. You’re going to make it.