Making is both a privilege and a burden on the shoulders of the maker. It is a privilege to have the time, the energy, and the safe space to create and speak out. It is also a burden—because if making is a privilege, then it becomes a responsibility. A duty to act as a magnifying glass for society, for your inner struggles, to make people feel heard and empowered. Bayles and Orland capture this in Art & Fear: “Making art is a common and intimately human activity, filled with all the perils (and rewards) that accompany any worthwhile effort”.
It is a burden because, in an educational setting, you cannot escape the pressure of being asked to create constantly. “You have two years—show me that you’re using your time here to create something, to manifest it in space, for people to see and critique.” This expectation turns making into a burden.
Why don’t I have the energy to create? Why don’t I want to go to school? I want more time to plan, to think, to dream—I don’t want to try. But I should try. But I need money to pay for it. But I have to work to earn that money. And then I have no time or energy left to create. But then—am I working to create, or creating to escape real life, to escape the work? Will making turn into work in the future so that I no longer have to balance both? Will I ever have the mental capacity to do both? And if I do—when will it run out? When will the fuel powering my brain and body toward this dream finally burn out?
There are no answers. But exactly this line of questioning produces its own energy. If I don’t do it, I will never find out. “Uncertainty is the essential condition of art-making. Conditions are never perfect, sufficient knowledge rarely at hand, key evidence always missing, and support notoriously fickle.” (Bayles & Orland, 2001)
So—make. Surrender to the flow and see where it takes you creatively. “Art is not something you create. It’s something you allow to happen. You open yourself up and get out of the way” (Rubin, 2023)
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