A Conversation with Artists
Wed, 5/6/20 8:00PM
Amilee Watkins: Welcome! Hi everybody, it’s good to see you tonight. So we’ve been doing these conversations for about a month now and we have been really encouraged to be able to experience this season of disorientation and uncertainty together. David I continue to say this, but the exhortation in Hebrews “do not give up meeting together” has been incredibly important for us as a community to remember during this time. We really want to continue to find ways to process this time and the uncertainties that are facing us all, and to find ways to do that processing together.
Through these weekly conversations, we have been gaining perspectives from a variety of industries. Hearing about the way that different fields and different sectors are experiencing the disruption has been, I think, really eye opening — particularly to hear from personal experience rather than some of the more broad summary-type stories we get from the media and the news that we read every day.
So first off, thank you to Melanie and David and Andrew who are willing to share with us tonight in an intimate form and allow us to pray with and for them at this time. As a community, we have been learning how to hear God’s voice for others – and sometimes, honestly, we find it’s easier to hear His voice for another than it is for ourselves. But this can be an important way of growing in being able to hear His voice for ourselves as well, so we’re thankful to be able to grow in this as we pray for the three of you tonight. I think that’s everything from me, so I’m going to go ahead and pass it over to David, and he will lead our conversation tonight.
David Kim: Thanks Amilee. Yes, I think, if you’re anything like me right now, if you’re still sane, part of the reason you’re sane is all these amazing videos we’re enjoying from artists from all over the world that are keeping us in touch with our humanity. So it’s great to be able to highlight three artists from our own community and hear from them — how they’re doing and what they’re seeing during this time. So my first question to the three of you is:
What are you seeing right now as you talk to your fellow artists? Also, give us a sense of how you as artists are perceiving this new world that we’re all living in?
Melanie Penn: Okay, I can give a little summary of both where I am and what I’m hearing about live music. I’ve heard a variety of things — I think some artists feel as though live music will come back in the fall, and then hearing more generally in Nashville, they’re expecting live music not to be healthy again for two to five years. As in, live music really won’t be where it was, meaning really healthy, with a lot of opportunities to gather, and a lot of venues up and running again for awhile. Venues closing is going to be an issue as well. So, if venues don’t make it through the crisis then that will impact how quickly live music comes back. And Nashville as an “industry city” — being supported by live music more than any other US city — is expecting a pretty serious downturn because the whole economy of Nashville is supported by live music. Even though I don’t live in Nashville — I live in New York– but I’m more tapped into the industry perspective out of Nashville.
Me personally, I had a lot of music to put out this year. And I have put out as much of it as I think is relevant to the moment we’re in. The rest of the music that I have in my back pocket to put out is, unfortunately, a little bit tone deaf now. Like, I have a single that was supposed to come out that was a real celebration of New York City and there’s a video I made about having a day in New York and getting shoved in the street and scenes in the park, and laundromats and stuff… So there are assets that I just can’t put out right now because they’re too painful. I don’t mean painful for me but painful for an audience, so out of respect for an audience, I don’t want to be putting out assets that twist the knife. So, I’ve been writing other material and I’m able to go back to Nashville and record more material to put out right away. These songs that I’m writing now are more applicable to the cultural moment that we’re in. So, that’s my personal artist sum up and what I’m hearing industry wise.
David K: That’s very helpful. Thank you, Melanie. How about you, David?
David Chang: So, as a calligraphy artist, I would say half of my commission work was based on events. And so, since a lot of the events for the year have been canceled — from weddings to private events, all types — I had to kind of restructure my business plan. A lot of it for me actually is kind of waiting and listening to hear how God’s leading. And, yeah, it’s weird but I feel like though there are fires all around me, I still feel a sense of hope. And a sense that all the years before this have been preparing me for a moment like this — where my skills are just as sharp, and I can still be in a place of really being obedient to how God’s leading. So, I don’t know why, but I have a sense of hope about what he’s doing for me in this season.
And I guess more about the industry — I think a lot of calligraphers are kind of pivoting towards something that’s more online-oriented. So whether it’s teaching, or creating work online, a lot of their work has had to be more virtual. I think a lot of calligraphers are kind of just waiting to see how this environment turns out and hoping for the best.
But for me, I think the biggest thing is just being here with my family and trying to get closer with my mom and my dad, my son, my wife. I feel like that’s kind of how God’s been orchestrating everything, at least for me in my life. And then see how the work itself flows from that relational-wise. Yeah, I don’t know if I’m living in denial or what, but I do have a sense of faith in how He’s been leading me in my work. And also, the support I’ve been getting from the community you, David, and Amilee have been creating here has been really helpful. So, I’m really grateful for that.
David K: Thank you David. Andrew?
Andrew Nemr: I would start by echoing David’s words in that. I felt like I’ve had a very odd calm in the midst of all the craziness over the past seven weeks. The past 18 months have been a really challenging time in my life — splitting time between being the artistic director of a tap dance organization in Vancouver, and then having a freelance performing and teaching career based out of New York City. And with what’s been going on now I’ve kind of had the opportunity to make some strong choices in what my work looks like moving forward.
Industry-wise, well, I feel like I’m in the center of a bunch of different industries, so I have had my entire performance and speaking calendar — from mid-March up through even events in August — wiped clean. So that was, that was interesting. It was just a shock. And then my organization in Vancouver actually owns a space. So looking at what venues are going through and having staff and faculty and a community that I’m responsible for there — I think that takes the majority of my mental energy. Over the course of the days I’m thinking, how do we navigate our organization and how do I navigate my work so that it’s beneficial for as many people as we can impact.
I feel like I’ve been busier than ever since this thing started. I’ve put out more content, I’ve done more writing, I’ve thought of more things to do in a shorter amount of time than I think I ever have in my life, actually. And the days feel longer. I’m very thankful for the Ignatian retreat that you, David and Amilee, have been guiding some of us on. I take about two to three hours every morning and just spend that time with myself and with God and with the thoughts that are rolling around in my head. That’s been a wonderful shift in my life that I’ve been able to make because of what’s going on.
David K: That’s great. Thank you, Andrew. And you all have already been touching on this a bit, but we’d love to hear more specifically what your personal response has been to all this. How has it been not having the kind of interaction and the ability to interact with larger groups of people and audiences that most of you are used to, and having venues and events canceled — what’s that been like for you personally in this? How does all this affect your emotional, mental state? I’ll leave that open ended for anyone to respond when you want to jump in.
Melanie: Personally, in terms of having events canceled, as in the public part of what I do — which is actually the bulk of what I do because I’m a singer – but that going away, it didn’t impact me emotionally. The real impact was only economic, kind of what Andrew was saying. Having events go away has made a lot of the logistics complicated, because not knowing when events come back impacts my finances in a big way, but emotionally it hasn’t impacted me at all. And if anything, it’s been kind of good. I have felt a re-centering in my art form, because I think that in the last few years I have been so pursuing industry acceptance that I have let these other voices creep in: “I gotta write a hit for Christian radio,” or “I gotta this placement or get more labels interested in me.” And I actually didn’t realize that I had done that to the degree that I had until this season. I have tapped back into something very innocent and pure in my songwriting that is refreshing to me. And so now I’m kind of excited to put those songs out because I think that they’ll actually do more than the other stuff I’ve been writing the last couple years. So, I don’t like this quarantine; I don’t like the season that we’re in, but the fact is we are have a lot of noise and influences shut out during all this. And so there is, there’s some good there.
David C: I definitely feel the same way, feel kind of a purifying of my process, my approach, even my motivation. I feel like the way I was responding and creating work before — a lot of those influencing factors now have been physically and mentally removed. I kind of had to figure out almost a new working methodology, how to create again because I realized how much of my work came out of a response to the tensions of the city. And now I’ve been trying to figure out, is my work only coming from a place of tension? or can it come from a different place? And so, I kind of had to figure out my whole process over again. I feel like God’s been really purifying my process. That latest thing I did [“Hope”], it was a return to just pure letter forms instead of creating something that’s more art related. I think what Melanie was referring to, turning from kind of focusing on industry acceptance and yeah now just creating something that comes from, you know, my own satisfaction. Yeah, I think that’s kind of where I’m at right now.
Andrew: I think the biggest shift for me is that as a dancer, a lot of what I do has to has to do with relating to people — in my body, and in space. So, I feel like I’m making completely different things now. The craft work has changed in that instead of being for a live audience, I’m dancing for my phone, or, you know, for a laptop, and I have to think about not only who would be behind that camera but also how is what I’m going to make going to be received. And it’s very different. If you’re used to dealing with the way acoustics function in a space and what that does to people and those very visceral experiences, that all flattens tremendously when you’re dealing with a digital form. And so I feel like it’s just a completely different art form now, which, thankfully I feel like I’m technically proficient enough to navigate, both in my dancing and with the technology itself, but I wonder about others. If they actually see that change or not, and for digital natives, do they realize what they’re missing. Yeah, that’s where I’ve been.
David K: I think it’s fascinating to hear from each of you the shifts that are taking place. So, as these shifts are happening, how do you feel like your faith is coming into play in all this? What’s being reinforced or what is being challenged? And how is faith impacting kind of the way you’re approaching your art?
Andrew: I can jump on this. So, when sheltering in place first happened. One of the first things that I did was attempt to put together a mutual aid list for artists. A bunch of my friends realized that the next six months of work were shot and they didn’t know what they were going to do, so I put a call out and said, if you have anything to offer, even if it’s a tip jar, send me a website and I’ll put it up. And I realized I think the way I sit now in what I believe makes me focus more on people than anything else. So I almost have a habit of forgetting that my tap dancing has any benefit if there are people in need, and saying, alright well, what is the actual work that can be done to fill this need. And if the tap dancing helps, great. Let’s use it, but if there’s something else, let’s do that too. And more generally, one of the verses that has always come up for me in situations like this is “Be still and know that I’m God.” And, you know, as much as I’m a movement-oriented person, I think that’s what I’ve been doing more recently than anything else.
David K: That’s great. Thank you, Andrew.
David C: I think for me it’s that a lot of my work process now comes, like I was saying, more from a response. The motivation now seems to be more about presence, about being present. So once I usher in the Spirit – I may be feeling uninspired, but once I kind of tap into that, I realize how accessible the Spirit is still. And so this time has kind of removed a lot of the “things” I thought were needed to approach the Spirit or to approach being spirit-minded. And I feel like a lot of those things that maybe worked, or that I thought worked for me in another season, it’s different now — the whole process. And so, I feel like it’s definitely been a time of God engaging me even more, in a deeper, more relational way. It’s almost a whole new kind of adventure and journey, again, definitely more personal and full. And I think, the biggest thing for me is, I always had kind of an image of what an authentic life would look like, and now even my rules and definitions of authenticity are being redefined. But it’s… it’s good, because God continually shows up and just keeps reminding me of how present and how real He is.
David K: Thank you, David.
Melanie: I’d be curious to know what everyone else on the call thinks, because I resonated with what David Chang said at first, that it’s a hopeful season. If you had told me, two and a half months ago that my income would have changed and I’d be moving out of my apartment, potentially back in with my parents, and that all the things I had worked so hard for would look a lot different or would be gone, I would not have thought my response would be, “Wow, that’s cool, what is God going to do next??” like feeling intrigued and hopeful. And so, why is that? That must be because God is about to do something huge here. I don’t know if we’re all really talking about it yet or putting words to it but it’s almost like we can all kind of sense that in the tearing down, there’s going to be some kind of rebuilding. What is gonna happen? So, there’s a lot of expectation. And I say that knowing that I have the privilege of expectation because I have a safety net, you know, and I recognize there are some people who are not going to have their basic needs met through all of this. So I don’t know, I know it’s not a simple answer, but I have felt that sense of expectation.
David K: Well, that’s a great note to end this portion of our conversation here – to end on the hope aspect, and remembering that when God appears to be tearing something down, it’s often for the purpose of building something new. So we really appreciate what you all passed on to us tonight. And hopefully having this chance to pray now with you will be an opportunity to encourage and strengthen you in the work you all are doing.
Amilee: I just wanted to thank you three as well. So many of the things that you said here have been really encouraging. You know in some ways given the reality of our society right now where so many things are crumbling, to hear the three of you – who are having entire schedules and commissions and salaries wiped away – to hear you speaking with the kind of Hope you have, it reminds us of what is true. Thank you three so much for clinging to hope, and for pressing forward.
Melanie: Thanks for putting this together.
David C: Thanks Amilee.
Andrew: Thanks for having us.
David K: Thanks everyone for joining us tonight. We won’t regroup after our prayer time in the breakout rooms, so we hope we’ll see you for our next Wednesday conversation!