Show notes
It’s one thing when a stranger laughs at your art. It’s another when someone who knows you well does. Who laughs matters. A friend scrolling your website and snorting at an image. A partner chuckling at a line in your artist statement. A respected curator friend laughing during a performance, but not at the moment you expected.
Those laughs land differently. They don’t feel like feedback. They feel like exposure. And in that split second, something primal happens. We think: I’ve done something wrong.
Artists tell me this all the time. “My partner laughed at the wrong bit.” “My friend said it sounded like nonsense.” “My mum thought it was hilarious.” And the sore feeling that follows is rarely about the joke itself. It’s about the rupture.
When it’s someone close, their reaction doesn’t land as interpretation. It lands as truth. And we want those people to understand us. We want our family, our nearest and dearest, to see us wholly. Art and all the weird things we make and love.
We want them to nod and say, yes, I get you. So, when they laugh, or go quiet, or wince, the temptation is to retreat. To soften the edges. To clarify more. To become more reasonable, more legible, more likeable.
In this episode, I slow this down. Uncover the four things happening in that moment so you can keep everything in context.
KEY TAKEAWAYS
The hardest skill in a creative life is trusting yourself to take risks while still wanting love. That tension doesn't go away. You can want your partner to understand your work and still accept that they might not.
The people closest to us are not neutral audiences. They carry history, projection, worry. They may fear we're embarrassing ourselves, or them. They may simply not share our taste for strangeness. They can adore you and still not be your audience.
Who laughs and at what matters? A renowned curator laughing at the wrong moment might be data about where you place your emphasis in future.
BEST MOMENTS
“Wanting to engage an audience is healthy. Wanting to be liked is different. Engagement is about connection. Being liked is about approval.”
“Humour and awkwardness in art are not accidents. Often, they are the work. They are access points.”
“Small retreats accumulate, and slowly the special sauce disappears - When someone you love laughs at your work, pause before you retreat.”
“If everybody nods politely and no one is destabilised, you may have made something tidy, but tidy is not the same as alive.”
HOST BIO
With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.
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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/