Harry Belafonte said, “It is the artists who reveal a society to itself.”

The problem is, the more we’re focused on ourselves and our own PR – whether that be in the form of social media posts or simply second guessing how our work will be received – the less likely an artist is to conduct Belafonte’s mission effectively.

This also relates to the Vivienne Westwood quote I shared on the blog last year:

“Art should not be popular. During the 20th century, artists and intellectuals abdicated their responsibility. Their responsibility is to the truth of things. See the world as it is. In fact, what happened, everybody just wanted to be popular.”

There’s a lot to consider in these two statements for creatives, but as I see it, what Belafonte and Westwood were talking about is an issue of identity and purpose. What are we actually in it for? Maybe we can never truly know – and we obviously can’t fully forsake our egos – but the reality I believe an artist should at the very least face up to is this:

An artist can be popular if they’re good at what they do, but they can’t be good at what they do if they’re too concerned about being popular.