Robert Henri’s The Art Spirit has long served as a manifesto for living the life of an artist. Henri, an influential painter and teacher, believed that art is not just a practice but a way of life, a means to see the world with fresh eyes. Henri advocated for authenticity, urging artists to seek their unique voice rather than imitate others. He spoke of the importance of daily discipline, but also of spontaneity and joy in creation. His words are a blend of wisdom and wit, stressing that failures are as crucial as successes, each brushstroke a lesson in itself. David Lynch has also thrown his hat into the ring with Catching The Big Fish, taking Henri’s advice and embellishing it with his own wisdom.
This is all well and fine on paper, but the realities of living hand to mouth as a working artist with no other income is increasingly suffocating in today’s society. Henri and Lynch, while beloved for their gifts to the world, did not come up as artists in a world of generative AI, nor as youths did they have to contend with a million invasive social media distractions 24/7, Sisyphean competition, or corporate thievery from social media platforms.
Artists have always had to adapt to survive in uncertainty; forever frolicking on the edge of an abyss; caught in the swirling currents of an unforgiving climate – the playing field has merely shifted into an entirely different monster. And yet, despite the pitfalls, the Art Spirit cannot be crushed, or tamed, or squashed.
Dreamers at heart, all artists delight in the chaotic choreography of creation, reaching for stars just out of grasp, knowing the very act may be their undoing. The painter’s passionate brushstrokes; the poet’s plucking of guitar strings – both sing of sorrow and joy. In the perpetual pursuit of the unattainable, their essence is illuminated. They laugh at the absurdity, finding humour in their hopeful hopelessness.
Bara Hari and genCAB team up on There Goes That Dream, which dives deep into the murky waters of being indie artists in a tough-as-nails world. These stubborn stars chase the horizon, knowing they might go under before they ever get there.
Despite the gloom, they find a strange beauty in the struggle. The joy of creating, the thrill of the chase, it’s all part of the package. Sure, the odds are stacked, and the climate’s colder than a grifter’s handshake, but they soldier on.
There Goes That Dream is a gritty ode to the Art Spirit—full of sharp wit and soft whispers – a testament to their tenacity. They might not have hit the big time (yet), but they keep at it, because the journey, with all its twists and turns, is where the real story lies.
Listen to the song below and order here.
Based in Los Angeles, BARA HARI is the dark pop alter ego of multi-disciplinary artist Sam Franco. Bara Hari eschews conventional boundaries in a triumph of genre defiance, melding dark pop-rock and trip-hop with her unique sophistication. Armed with a kaleidoscopic array of influences, Bara Hari effortlessly threads through the diverse territories of dark pop, synth-pop, industrial pop, electro-pop, darkwave, and goth. Her expansive scope is a striking testament to her uncanny ability to absorb and synthesize myriad musical textures and hues.
Adopting a stage name that is an ingenious confluence of two early 20th-century trailblazers, Theda Bara and Mata Hari, the artist pays homage to these women, both celebrated for their electrifying presence in the performing arts. The latter, Mata Hari, bore the additional intrigue of her alleged role as a World War I spy.
genCAB is the sharp synthpop brainchild of Philadelphia-based artist David Dutton. After releasing II transMuter in 2008, David Dutton was hard at work on a sophomore album when disaster struck—a hard drive crash erased all his efforts. Defeated and disheartened, Dutton distanced himself from industrial music, retreating into a creative silence for much of the next decade.
However, the move from New Jersey to Philadelphia sparked a resurgence. From this new beginning came the album Thoughts Beyond Words,showing that even when the flames of failure seem insurmountable, the spirit of creativity can rise again, stronger and more determined than ever. GENCAB’s journey is a reminder that sometimes, you have to lose everything to find a new path forward.
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