Ok. True, I did say more info during the Summer, and it is almost November now and not a little piece of news from me. Most sincere apologies, but let me update this sad looking little blog.
First of all, Riot Art is in London, sleeping, but in London. It has been tough, it is not an easy city to get used to. Ah, London. The capital of the UK, Conservatism and... bohemian dreams? broken dreams? Ok. It has all been obstacle after obstacle, in all manners you can possibly imagine. But as they say: when lost, one has only got to connect with those things one loves best in order to find oneself again. Slowly it is happening.
Being in one of the most important art institutions of the whole country -and possibly Europe- does help, but in a sense it is like being in a rehab clinic. Let me explain this:
Riot Art -being born as part of a University project- was a product, a brand and a concept; but inside if it there was a lot more. You may want to call it the soul of the artist or any other soapy thing you may want to call it, the important thing is that it was full of life and ready to get going in a new scenario. When you feel at this stage, full of creativity, inspiration and generally empowered, anything and everything makes sense from all different perspectives. It is that state of "grace" that the Japanese Noh performers talk about, it is "the zone" that so many actors will talk about after a show, or like getting in touch with "el duende" that the great flamenco singers carry inside and with them. However, the process that I have undergone for the past few months has turned out to be quite different to what that empowered artist envisioned for herself. It has now been almost half a year since I finished my studies at University and I still feel like I have not recovered from the full blow I received in the Institution. Yes, Sir Ken Robinson, you are so right. Schools Kill Creativity, even the highest of the highest schools: University, the place for developing critical thinking -oh! and in a Creative Industry faculty- has managed to take me out of the zone and has massacred "el duende".
Why does this happen? What have I learnt from it? First of all that no one should ever make you doubt yourself. Never change things just because others do not understand them, just adapt them so that they can learn from it. Do not betray yourself, your ideas, your values, they are the reason why you are where you are in the first place and you should be thankful for them. And please, try not to take the teacher/marker/audience/critic too seriously. And if you are one of those sensitive artists that care too much about what others think/feel about you (like me) then forget about Education and start MAKING! They only want to educate you, not help you in the process of learning.
Ok, so now that the rage is out, I think I'll resume this post with a big thank you to the incredible work that the Central School of Speech and Drama (my Rehab Clinic for Arts Poisoning) is doing for me. The School might not be aware of it, but it is making me believe again. Thanks to its effectiveness, its projects, its members of staff, its locations, its spaces, its mentors and its students I am slowly getting back to myself. So Riot Art may be sleeping, but I am fully awake and funnily enough we are both dreaming.
London hasn't treated us as bad after all.
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