[ this is the main text from my newsletter - you can subscribe to it here and get it earlier and in your mailbox ]
Dear Friends,
We have to talk. No, I am not hitting the panic button here, but I'd like to address a few heavy hitters that are on my mind, and I hope you stay with me. Sorry, no fun artist newsletter again today, but there will also be nice things at the end, like a new print edition I'll be releasing shortly and some new drawings and stuff, so I hope you bear with me and keep welcoming these newsletters into your inbox. I am very grateful for your many responses to my previous emails, and I warmly welcome all the new subscribers. I hope you'll all enjoy it.
Alright. Let's get the big one out of the way first:
What the fuck is happening?
The mighty Donald is running America uncontrollably like a vengeful autocrat, selected by God (his own words) and surrounded by boot-licking minions, including dangerously powerful media billionaires. Fascists are on the rise again everywhere, and soon they will be pretty strongly represented in the German parliament, too. Not sure how to stop them; politicians overall seem to be pretty headless and try to fight fire with fire. All of that in a society that gets more hostile every day, with a dying debate culture leading to too much awful noise to bear... especially in the social media frenzy we all so willingly feed.
It is too much for me right now. Honestly, I have no clue how to deal with all of this on a personal level. I think of myself as a well-informed person, getting my news from reading reputable newspapers and listening to informative podcasts supporting constructive journalism (such as "Die Lage der Nation" - if you do not know this one already, I recommend it highly to my German friends). And in the light of all this, I am looking for solutions, trying to find a way to keep our humanity intact, despite all the angry screaming that surrounds us.
I have decided to not spend valuable time on Instagram any longer. I expect similar reactions like when I left Facebook in 2019 - people told me then that this would be the end of my art career. Well, it wasn't. I am still creating artwork that I find relevant and important, which is the definition of the work of an artist. Now I hit pause on Instagram as well. Yes, I know, most artists believe they cannot be successful without it. But is that really true? What will really change when creatives show Zuckerberg the finger?
I believe that artists should invest more time elsewhere. First and foremost, of course, in the studio, instead of submitting our art practice to creating entertaining posts for the algorithm. We can still stay together, connected and informed. I suggest: websites, newsletters, podcasts - and talks amongst each other.
I have not been on Instagram for more than a week now - and as I mentioned, I am Facebook-free for 5 years, have never been on Twitter with my art, and no, I will never ever spend a second on TikTok. I use LinkedIn sparingly, and recently have only briefly looked into Bluesky and Substack as alternatives (still making up my mind).
This last week I have completed three very detailed and large fountain pen drawings. One of these drawings (the smallest) is the one above, from Mount Denali, a symbol for the insanity of our days. It is the mountain that the crazy King of America renamed on day one of his regency, back to Mount McKinley, which is purely a nationalistic and anti-indigenous, asshole move. You might know why Denali is a strong symbol for these hard times; if not, please read up on it - I'll post a link at the bottom. Besides creating artwork, I have initiated a print release and done a lot of organizational shit I do not want to bore you with.
My conclusion? I won: a lot of time! I am talking about the time I did NOT use to create content for social media, which takes up many hours per week if you do it professionally. We all try to make the results look so easy, no matter what we post, but that is not the reality, is it? "Happy gallerist & ecstatic artist faces at sold-out opening" equals weeks of preparation and sweat. Fast-forward WIP-reels are the result of time-consuming, focused and intense workshop days and days and days and days before. Plus the editing at the end to make it look so beautiful (and, of course, successful) on a smartphone.
Fuck that.
"I want to be calm in order to work... I have no time to waste right now."
Claude Monet wrote this. Sure, he did not have to bother with social media and self-promotion. He wrote some letters, met with people (mostly at his home and gardens at Giverny) to drink wine, smoke cigarettes, and share food with them - and other than that, he worked on his paintings. Because that is actually what artists should use their time for! And yes, this quote is from when he was older, and yes, our years being able to work are limited, but the core is still true no matter if you are 25 or 57 (like me).
"To be calm in order to work" - how can we be calm when the first thing we do in the mornings and the last thing before we go to bed (not counting the uncountable times in between) is looking at our phones to check out the "likes" we got? How can we make artwork when we go down the rabbit hole searching for recognition and admiration on a mass media product that doesn't give a shit about anything but making money for the owners? And now even worse, becoming a propaganda machine for the far right? Crazy.
I hope you can understand that I am not willing to feed the dragon any longer right now. Of course, I am too unsure what this move really means. But if I don't try, how will I ever know?
Fortunately, there are many other ways to keep you informed: This newsletter, for example. Or my website with almost all my art on it, a blog with news and details about specific works, exhibitions, releases etc. I am also considering Substack at the moment for an additional output (for my words). I am not out of the digital world, not at all. But honestly: do artists really have enough interesting things to talk about and show around on a daily basis on Instagram? I seriously doubt it. And I certainly don't.
I know, I have only a few more than 3,000 followers, which is very poor in Instagram currency. But even if you have tens of thousands - ever calculated how many percent of these followers actually see your output? Anyway, for me this is not about the numbers, it is about the atrocious actions of the owners of these platforms that disgust me and drive me away.
Okay. I believe I made my point. So let's get to the other stuff I mentioned earlier, the announcements and practical information.
In February I will release a limited print edition of my woodcut "Waterlilies and Agapanthus" (a high-quality giclée print). It comes as print-only and in an elegantly framed version. Details can be found on my website, where you can pre-order it already (all links below).
I will also release two large original drawings next week; they still need to be framed before I can show you more. These are drawings I created in my Instagram-free time, so they sure are pretty special. You just wait and see - I added some spoilers below.
You can also purchase the "DENALI" drawing from the top of this newsletter, but of course without the yellow wording. This can also be ordered online through my website here. My family and I have taken over a share in sponsoring the Sea-Eye 5, a rescue boat for refugees in the Mediterranean Sea. The proceeds from the Denali drawing will help maintain our monthly sponsorship of this lifesaving vessel.
Last night I finished a smaller, political drawing that I placed in my shop as well. It's a tree with a carved heart in the bark that... well, see for yourself!
There are still copies left of my newest book "GOD JOB.", published with Gudberg Nerger. You can order it through them, or, if you want a personalized dedication, through my own online shop (where you also find all my other books... and some wine...).
This was a lot, I hope it is as important to you as it is to me.
Keep up the fight,
Jörg
