Artist & Capitalist

Ada tulisan bagus dari salah satu siswa Carrot Academy, namannya andrianus/aan/andryst. Tulisan ini dia post di indocg di SINI

ini salah satu karyanya :

silahkan di kunyah kunya tulisan dia yang lumayan inspiratif di bawah ini 🙂

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Bagus Count Philip thread nya ! aite, ni gw gak cuma kasi motivational quotes ya, gw jg mau bagi2 apa yg gw dapet dari ex-kolega, sekalian bagi2 cerita untuk sesama Iwarga ICG yang sempet kehilangan nilai + di dunia art, entah karna faktor ekonomi, atau karna faktor lain2nya yg kebetulan sempet dibahas di thread-nya Wenart oktober lalu ttg bbrp ICGers yang banting setir antara art n money hehe. cerita ini isinya quote2 jg kok kebanyakan karna cerita gw ini kebanyakan meng-quote cerita ex-kolega gw

Ok, mulai ya,
Tau Edmund T. Shern ?, yap, salah satu penggerak ART di Singapore dan Asia Pasifik, yup, you’ve guessed it right, pencetus Imaginary Friends, bekas Director MTV Asia, bekas Creative Director Ogilvy Advertising, bekas Partner/Creative Director Paprika Global, Chief Operating Officer nya Radical Publishing, CEO nya Storm Lion, dan Head Honcho nya Velvet Engine… Linkedin ? yeah you got it right for the second time.

gini, dulu di kantor gw di SG, kantor gw punya TV Director, sebut aja namanya Mark, cowo bule paruh baya, mungkin bbrp dr kalian yg di Singapore ada yg tau ttg Mark ini, atau mungkin malah pernah kerja bareng atau kerja under directing nya dia. Menurut Mark, dia pernah berkolega dengan Mr. Edmund di bawah bendera MTV Asia, or at least that’s what he said. ( gw gak berani confirm apakah Mark n Edmund T. Shern ini kenal satu sama lain, gw kenal Mark nya, Edmund nya cuma tau dr berita2 gt, soalnya masa kerja Mark di MTV sama masa kerja Edmund hampir2 sama, sekantor, dan mereka sama2 pernah jadi director nya periode 95-00, so I assume mereka ini connected ya, inget “I assume mereka connected dan “I assume” bahwa Mark cerita di bawah ini ttg Edmund yg sama” )

gw akan cerita ttg apa yg Mark pernah bilang ke gw ya, tapi ini mengisahkan kembali cerita dia ttg Mr.Edmund and how successful he is as an “Artist & Capitalist”

one day gw lagi suntuk bgt di kantor karna kantor lagi sepi kerjaan dan bos lagi dinas ke luar negeri, begitu pula dgn Mark yg waktu itu ngajak gw minum bir untuk abisin stok bir 2 krat di kulkas yg kantor gw dikasih dr Tiger Beer. Kita nongkrong di studio greenscreen sambil ngobrol2, dan dia buka cerita dgn topik “how shitty my life is right now” sambil minum bir berkaleng2.

dia tanya gini ke gw : “Andy, do you know what is the most crucial thing to become a damn successful artist ? at least if you wanna survive as an artist, not just a regular artist, but an extraordinary Artist ?”, gw masih baru2 lulus kuliah waktu itu, so mindset gw masih cuplis, gw jawab “mmm hardwork ?”.

Mark bilang : “If hardworking is enough, then everyone would become great artists, aren’t they ?”, masuk akal, sempet kaget juga, ga berapa lama dia lanjut bicara “Andy, once I know a Singaporean guy named Edmund from my job in MTV long time ago, maybe you’ve heard of his name before eh ?” ( waktu itu gw blom tau sebetapa cadasnya dia, jadi gw jawab “no idea” lol ). ok trus dia bilang gini : “Yeah, we’re both artist, but look at me now and look at where he is now, that’s the difference of being an idealist artist like me, and a capitalist artist like him”. “We had almost the same start, except that I’m an angmoh ( bule ) and he is an asian, logically life would be easier for angmoh to live in Singapore compared to the local people here, but look at what I am doing now, wasting my turds away with beers, alcohols and self-pity, and look at what he is doing now, having so many top-notch art companies, his name being recognized as one of the gear of the Art movement in Singapore, and so on”

“Yeah you’ll pay a high price if you become an idealist like me, and you’ll get paid a high price if you become a capitalist like him”, dia bilang gitu, trus gw tanya yg intinya : “loh lu tau drmn ?”, trus dia cerita kl ex-wife nya dan dia pernah kerja bareng sama Mr. Edmund di MTV, dan mereka sesekali ketemu karna suatu acara media di Singapore.

trus dia bilang gini ( ati2 ya ini rada2 menyakitkan untuk didengar, dan quote gw gak sama persis, kira2 inti yg gw tangkep aja ) : “He told me straight in front of my face when we sat down in a kopitiam to had a little chat over our days in MTV, ‘Yeah idealists work for his satisfaction while they are young, they work for money to survive and work for their own self-believe, cuz ART is their only world, they want people to recognize them, they want people to praise them, they want to get fame, and what do they get for getting all those when they are old ? just a better job and a better pay, and in the end they will always work for a capitalist to feed themselves everyday, ironic ? yes ! cuz they just get a penny share of the fame and money, while the capitalists took almost everything'”.

gw mikir sebentar, trus apa yg Mark bilang masuk akal, karna dr sekian banyaknya master2 di company2 besar gitu, kurang dr 5 jari mungkin yg namanya sampe bener2 dimarketin oleh company, biasanya majority of fame and cash masuk ke company semua, trus artist2nya dapet penny-share. ( sori lho ini cuma logika gw waktu itu sampe hari ini, gak ada niat offensive yah, maap akang2 )

trus mark nanya ke Edmund : “Ha, then what do we need to be the succesful ones ? can you explain to me ?”, trus Mark cerita ke gw jawabannya Edmund : “Mark, think ! what would happen if those artists are so damn friendly with money ? What would happen if those artists are at the same time, are someone who understand how money and economy works ? What would happen if those artists know the meaning of investments and real business ? Yeah Mark, they are artists, they produce beautiful goods for nearly 0 cash, they need no big capital but they can make money, they just have to figure out how to turn themselves into capitalists. Imagine, a lifestyle without the need to work-hard for money, Imagine, a lifestyle without a burden of getting kicked from a company when you’re old, Imagine, a lifestyle where you can do whatever you want when you are old, create whatever you want, and totally indulge the rest of your life just doing whatever you think is fun or at least become financially secure when you are old while enjoying yourself painting hundreds of pictures. Mark, you can become a total idealist only after you become a capitalist, remember, ideas takes time and money to realize, you have the time doesn’t mean you have the money, but with money, you will always have the time, or ask somebody else who have the time to do it for you, surely they’ll be happy to get a chip of your gold, but in the end, you’ll get the thing done for you.” ( yaaa ini contohnya aja gimana mindset dia ini melahirkan IFS dan Storm Lion, dia yg punya ide untuk Clients & Arts nya, orang lain yg eksekusi )

“enak jg jadi ky dia, mau bikin karya ini itu tinggal suruh2 dan direct” hahaha itulah apa yg gw pikir waktu itu.

nah segitu aja yg gw inget, ceritanya gak terlalu akurat jg, tapi kira2 beberapa istilah2nya tetep sama, sisa2 obrolan ama Mark gak terlalu ninggalin impression yg gimana banget karna biasanya bicara asbun asal ngutuk2 orang yg paling dibenci di kantor bareng2 kolega yg lain hahaha…

yah gitu lah, gw jg lagi mencari2 jawaban ttg kapitalis dan gimana sih namanya artis yang kapitalis ituh, nalar gw sih bilangnya Capitalist Artist tuh artis yg mental mainin uangnya sama kuatnya seperti skillnya sebagai artist, jadi dia kira2 tau kalau dia akan definitely kaya dengan caranya itu dan nanti semakin bertambahnya umur semakin punya luxury untuk berkarya tanpa perlu bolak balik kantor untuk cari duit… Yuk coba2 mulai mengkonsumsi buku2 bisnis juga selain buku2 art sebelum kita keburu tua, IMHO “Rich Dad Poor Dad” bagus  tuh menurut gw, beberapa isinya masuk akal n ga terlalu berat untuk dimengerti, coba ditilik kalau sempet.

gw blum punya hal signifikan yg bisa gw tonjolkan sih baik di bidang finansial, material maupun fame, jadi ya masi cari2 jawaban jg akan ke mana gw nantinya, tapi kisah Mark tadi buat gw cukup berkesan, dan cukup menggerakkan hati kecil gw, semoga buat anda sekalian berkesan juga,

Gimana guys, kira2 kalian setuju gak dengan term “Capitalist & Artist” di atas ? ayo pesan dan kesannya, jgn lupa sertakan quote2 berharga jg

btw numpang lapak, eh gmn pada jadi kolaborasi bikin buku gak tuh ? pusingnya sih kalau gw udah tetep semangat & menepati janji nulis draft kasar, gak taunya malah gak ada yg nongol… kan miris gan haha

cheers,
Andryst

Bonus :
dapet bisikan dari AGUNG salah satu siswa carrot.. kalo mau liat undangan kawinannya si edmund yang unik .. dan tebak nyetaknya diapain..? di photocopy.. ahahahahahaha super UNIKK dan kreatif..

kata dia :

relax, the wedding was long ago…just posting up my old stuff. Anyway, its so cool to have a wife that is supportive of your art and of just being crazy. If I had more money back then, I guess I could have printed this with goldstamping instead of just photocopying haha. Anyway, the marriage is still good. More than I deserve anyway