Creativity is Key, or so you’d think that would be the case for an artist. But in his book, the cult of creativity, Samuel W franklin argues otherwise. A little back story, in the postwar era the U.S. was really trying to define itself and its identity. As we know this is when individuality became an obsession as an opposition to communist conformity. America tries to take on this persona of the creative and free individual, at the cutting edge of technology and culture to directly discredit the existence of a society with collectivist ideals. Creativity was not about artistry or exploration, it was about producing more so we could consume more. And as our society comes to a peak of consumerism we see this exact ideation instilled in us. What do our apple products say? Made in china, designed in california. We have collectively come to a silent agreement that mechanical work is worthless and creative work is valuable. Obviously that has implications for how society view the working class, which is fucked, but we also bring that mentality into our art. We romanticize art particularly with the idea of originality but we are essentially barking up the wrong tree. I’m doing a life study, and I am trying to perfectly copy what I see, I am limited by my skills of course, but the goal is replica. It’s okay to do repetitive work. We often feel so pressured to have our own unique style but why is that important? We feel pressured to make art that feels new and cutting edge. No, not all of us will re-invent cubism. When we pressure ourselves to be creative, just ask yourself. Who told us to be creative to begin with?