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5 Questions I Have For All Artists

"We all are [different]. But there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?"

Stella Grimaldi

Jun 20, 2019

University of Southern California

824

live.staticflickr.com

The other day, I randomly started writing a fan letter to my favorite film director, Wes Anderson. (You know, what fun, extroverted college kids do with their free time.) From eighth to twelfth grade, I revered him as an unparalleled genius without thinking very critically about his work. I loved the visual aesthetic, quirkiness, and humor of the films endlessly, blind to what I now recognize as flawed stories lacking diversity in more ways than one. Nevertheless, I still admire a lot about his films and wanted to know if he has a unique process. This is what inspired my compulsion to write him a letter full of semi-artistic, semi-intellectual, semi-pretentious questions. It was only when I looked back at some of these questions that I realized I wanted to ask these questions to everyone who has ever thought of themselves as an artist or creator (which, if I'm not mistaken, is pretty much everyone.)

Here are 5 questions I have of anyone who has ever worked to create art, for either themselves or for others:

1. How do you know whether you’re generating a meaningful idea or merely indulging in something self serving? Is it possible that the latter option is just as meaningful?

2. What specific qualities do you look for in the people you work with?

*Come to think of it, Wes Anderson's answer to this is probably just "Bill Murray."

3. Did you ever feel different or misunderstood growing up? If so, how did this shape you or manifest in your work as a creator?

4. What is your philosophy on beauty? What, if anything, is profoundly beautiful to you?

5. What do you care about putting into the world? By putting it into the world, what is your goal? (If you have one.)

I may not ever get answers to these questions from Wes or anyone else, but I hope anyone who feels inclined can search themselves for their own unique answers. I'll certainly try to.

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Recommended for you

5 Questions I Have For All Artists

"We all are [different]. But there's something kind of fantastic about that, isn't there?"

1. How do you know whether you’re generating a meaningful idea or merely indulging in something self serving? Is it possible that the latter option is just as meaningful?

2. What specific qualities do you look for in the people you work with?

3. Did you ever feel different or misunderstood growing up? If so, how did this shape you or manifest in your work as a creator?

4. What is your philosophy on beauty? What, if anything, is profoundly beautiful to you?

5. What do you care about putting into the world? By putting it into the world, what is your goal? (If you have one.)

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Cool Off with These 8 Beers!

Coors Light Summer Brew:

Leinenkugel Summer Shandy

Leinenkugel Sunset Wheat

Sam Adams Summer Ale

Hell or High Watermelon

Blue Moon Summer Honey

LandShark Lager

Corona

75 degrees and sunny, plus, no humidity. I mean do I really need to say more?

Perfect Weather

You'll get an effortless tan

You can exercise with a view

You don't have to worry about bug bites

In n Out all day, every day

We have outdoor concerts

We live where people vacation

Because let's be honest, we all use lyrics.

1. “Don’t get too close, it’s dark inside. It's where my demons hide.”

2. “Tonight, we are young.”

3. “Cuz I may be bad, but I’m perfectly good at it.”

4. “Tell me how they got that pretty little face on that pretty little frame.”

5. “I can’t wait to fall in love with you, you can’t wait to fall in love with me.”

6. “Sweatpants, hair tied, chillin with no makeup on.”

7. “Why you so obsessed with me?”

8. “We ain’t ever getting older.”

9. “I didn’t know that I was starving until I tasted you.”

10. “Didn’t they tell you I’m a savage?"

11. “I’m gonna make you miss me.”

12. "Cheers to the freakin weekend.”

13. “Love’s a game. Wanna play?”

14. “You don’t know about me, but I bet you want to.”

15. “Let’s set each other’s lonely nights, Be each other’s paradise.”

16. “Trippin’ on skies, sippin’ waterfalls."

17. “Wish we could turn back time, to the good old days.”

18. “But you will remember me for centuries.”

19. “Something about you makes me feel like a dangerous woman."

20. “Don’t act like it’s a bad thing to fall in love with me.”

21. “Darling, I’m a nightmare dressed like a daydream.”

22. “Find me where the wild things are.”

23. “I’m high on lovin’ you.”

24. “If you’re gonna be somebody’s heartbreak, somebody’s mistake, if you’re gonna be somebody’s first time, somebody’s last time, be mine.”

25. “Don’t be afraid to take the road less traveled on.”

Everything Bruce says in his classic rock songs.

1. "Talk about a dream Try to make it real You wake up in the night With a fear so real Spend your life waiting For a moment that just don't come Well don't waste your time waiting." (Badlands)

2. "It's a town full of losers/ I'm pulling out of here to win" (Thunder Road)

3. "You've got to learn to live with what you can't rise above" (Tunnel of Love)

4. "I got something in my heart/ I been waitin' to give/ I got a life I wanna start/ One I been waitin' to live" (Leah)

5. “God have mercy on the man/ Who doubts what he’s sure of” (Brilliant Disguise)

7. “Is a dream a lie when it don’t come true, or is it something worse?” (The River)

Why you should spend your next summer in New England.

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1. "Talk about a dream
Try to make it real
You wake up in the night
With a fear so real
Spend your life waiting
For a moment that just don't come
Well don't waste your time waiting." (Badlands)