Ik heb het nodig om creatief te zijn
Hey peeps, LA D.A. on the keyboard. You might have encountered me during an OFA
Collectif event or the Hveco Mvndo Exhibition “Le Monde” or you might not know me at all
but let me take you on a journey to explain what I’ve experienced during the BizaNTrill’s
paneltalk centered around “Verslaving in creative sector”.
'When I first got in, I really didn’t know what to expect. Most of the time when faced with a conversation such as addiction, you don’t really relate to the subject because the speakers are either very scientific or speaking with a certain disdain or uppity tone that doesn’t allow you to be comfortable around them.'
The format that they used to make this conversation possible was so innovative. Rather than making it a serious (most of the time boring, let’s be real) debate around the theme, they chose to make it a live podcast with an audience, showcasing how natural and organic these conversations need to be in order to bring real change.
Hosted by non other than Alexandre Mestag from Koolcast and bringing forward high profile artists such as DJ Sahra, Fred Gata and the one and only Zwangere Guy (mattie da’s een gek line-up) the exchange felt real and some guy did tell me that it was liberating to be able to relate with people in this topic which is uncommon, taboo.
But let’s get back to the conversation. When I first got in, I thought we’d be talking about
hard drugs, OD and really the dark side of what a word such as verslaving refers to. What I
got wasn’t quite what I expected. They did say that they might have seen people use those
fixes but most of the time, that’s just what they are, quick fixes. The real addiction that an
artist can fall for isn’t necessarily material and mainly is conceptualized in their heads.
Giving us a new way to look into how to face and battle addiction : artists are not only
addicted to pills, they’re addicted to stats and how their art appeals to their public; artists are
not only addicted to alcohol, but the way it makes them feel more productive and efficient in
the way they’re doing what they know best ; artists are not only addicted to whatever they
can put up their nose but rather to the high that they get when they’re in front of a packed
audience.
I was living for that take because not only was it accepting the fact that there often was a
physical form of addiction but it was also acknowledging the fact that the abstract part often
is the key to overcoming that sort of thing. Most of the time (to not say all the time), we’re so
caught up in our own shit that we don’t just sit and take a moment to put words on what
we’re feeling, why we’re doing what we know is not good for us that we don’t deal with real
elephant in the room. If you don’t put meaning into your actions, they’ll feel meaningless to
you and you might now understand how they affects your relations, your art or the person
that you are so take that moment, put meaning into your actions, question yourself even if it
feels silly because it’s so easy to get addicted but you can trust that the way to get back to a
sane mindset is a 5 stories maze filled with fire and everything you fear along the way.