the Art of Risk

I was invited to participate in the round table discussion "the Art of Risk" part of the SIArts series Arts Intersect. The other panelist were a photographer, street artist and retail manufacturer. They were all smart and had well thought out answers. Were positive, working hard to achieve their goals.

The format was a conversation directed by moderator Sean Paul Gallegos, who asked a series of questions we had been given to prepare ourselves- our biggest risk, etc. After about an hour of talk Brielle, an organizer of the evening lead us in a word exercise. And then a final open mingling of attendees.

The attendees of this round table were few, and mostly older. Where were all of the younger artists who could have benefitted most from the conversation? Was the $10 fee prohibitive for them? As a young artist it might have been for me. Why does SIArts charge for these events? it seems like they should be free, isn't that their job on SI, what they get funded for, to educate the arts community? I remember a few workshops I attended when I was younger but don't remember if there was a charge or what it was. One was at Cooper Union, a series over several weeks, "Artists Survival" led by Deborah Remington and they covered getting exhibits, promoting your work, artists issues. Another similar series also at the lower east side print shop when it was in the east village.

When I started researching for the "risk" discussion I thought I wasn't a risk taker, but then as I explored the topic realized that everyone takes risks its just the level or extremity of the risk one takes on, that make some people stand out as labeled risk takers. My risks are always calculated, after stewing on a decision for a long while I figure out the course I want to take. We didn't discuss at all intuition or the subconscious which I believe also plays a big part in the risks you allow yourself.

From my recent work "Take a Chance"48 languages there were many languages in which risk was a part of the expression. My research for the panel showed that society thinks negatively about risk and the definitions are all about facing loss. While for chance it is defined as something that happens to you that you can't control.

JRow a NYC-based artist who creates and leads online community-based art projects, has set up the page "Artists Stories" to "raise awareness about the challenges of living a creative life... Creative people are legitimately at risk for many social issues." Stories are being collected to "increase awareness about what it really means to live a creative life." Looks like you can still submit your story of risks here!