I am getting very tired of this book. And you know what? It's kind of funny...Seth Godin emphasizes the importance of designing art for a specific audience and catering to them, and worrying only about what they think and how they respond to the work. His art, The Icarus Deception, is designed for people who want to read it. In the book, he even alludes to the fact that the reader's voluntary purchase of the book is a sign that he "knows he is capable of far more" and seeks to understand how to achieve it. This reader, this person who does not know how to unlock his own potential...this is Godin's audience. Since I am not reading this book for my own personal betterment, I guess I am not part of the intended audience for The Icarus Deception! Maybe that's why it's annoying me so much!
Reading this book is good practice for music education majors, like me, who have to complete observation hours in various classroom settings in fulfillment of the requirements for our degree. We are told that we should reserve our judgment, and that even if we are observing a teacher whom we deem inadequate, we should not simply discount everything they say, but instead we should listen attentively and try to pick out at least one helpful bit of information. Following this principle, I find myself making a conscious effort to be patient with Seth Godin as I read The Icarus Deception, and I did identify with a few lines from Parts 3 and 4. In the section that explores the vulnerability that we face as artists, Godin says, "To own the idea, to be responsible for the project. . .we risk being shamed for our arrogance." I do think that this rings true in countless different situations, whether you are the person in charge or the person stepping out of line and challenging authority. But then Godin goes and ruins it! He goes on with sentiments along the lines of 'stand up for what's right even if you're afraid of shame' and so on, and then he says, "When your restaurant gets a lousy review on Yelp or a stranger yells something out the window, that attempt to get you to quiet down and conform doesn't belong to you unless you want it to." Who said anything about conformity? The person doing the "shaming" is just another artist voicing his or her opinion. Isn't that what this whole book is supposed to be about? Encouraging people to voice their opinions?
It seems to me that a lot of points in this book contradict each other. Seth Godin reiterates over and over throughout the book that a creation does not become art until it is shared with an audience, and that part of the beauty of the art lies in the experience that the audience has. But then he basically says that anyone who does not appreciate your art ought to be ignored, and that you should focus your energy towards pleasing the people who understand you. Godin even reveals, "I haven't sought out and read a view or a tweet since [negative experience with feedback]. This is not cowardice; it's the act of someone who wants to keep writing and is determined to do it for an audience of his choosing." I'm not saying that all art is meant for all people, and I'm not saying that any artist's goal should be to please everyone; in fact, I personally believe that trying to please everyone is the key to failure. But I'm not so sure that blocking out all negative feedback is such a good idea. Isn't it healthy to keep tabs on how your art is perceived, whether it be received well or poorly, by anyone and everyone who sees/hears it? I think it is rather selfish to ignore any opinion that differs from your own, even if it is in an effort to stay true to yourself.
While reading The Icarus Deception, it's often hard to tell whether Godin is encouraging his readers to create art for others, or for themselves...or both. (As far as I can tell, this lack of clarity has a great deal to do with the scatterbrained setup of the book as a whole. Godin darts around between ideas, robbing himself of a chance to fully flesh them out and robbing his readers of a chance to poke holes in them. As a result, the book only has the power to reach its readers on the surface rather than in a meaningful, permanent way, and has virtually no real-world applications.) But anyway, reading Parts 3 and 4 of The Icarus Deception called to mind one of my favorite lines from the musical Sunday in the Park with George by Stephen Sondheim. (I think I've posted about Sunday in the Park in a previous blog post...maybe not...but either way, if you're reading this and you haven't seen or listened to this musical, run, don't walk, to get your hands on a copy of the album). The line is, "Work is what you do for others...Art is what you do for yourself." I've spent countless hours pondering this concept, and I think every artist has. Am I selfish for wanting to share the depths of my soul with the world? Because I enjoy my work so much, is it really work, or do I not really know what it means to work? I think Seth Godin's response to this line would be something along the lines of, "Art is work, and work is art," and while I disagree with his general attitudes towards criticism and individuality, I agree with him on this point.
Overall, with these two chapters of The Icarus Deception, I think that Seth Godin is trying to say that art is for artists, and anyone who questions the vitality and/or the morality of an artist's work is a "non-believer" and ought to be "shunned." This counteracts his earlier claims that everyone is an artist in his or her own way. This book does exactly what it tells its readers not to do: it tries to offer a solution to a problem, and it assumes that the solution will work for everyone. I wish this book's content was narrower and deeper, but apparently my opinion doesn't matter because I'm a non-believer.
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