Thanks for taking a moment to be with me. Why don’t you warm that beverage with a top-up and take this opportunity to reflect on your work? What would be the titles of your three acts from the last three weeks? Feel free to email me your thoughts; I want to know what you’ve been working on and thinking through.
Act One, in which I cheat?
Applying to applications can feel like a rollercoaster of emotions. There's excitement at the start and anxiety about meeting requirements and being accepted. Yet, there's also hopefulness and confidence tempered by frustration and stress from the process. Finally, there's relief after submitting, knowing it's out of your hands.
The above paragraph was written by ChatGPT, with a little prompt from me. Initially, it gave a seven-stage answer to my question, “What does it feel like to apply to applications? But I wanted a snappier response because who wants to read that much in an email? So, I asked it to shorten what it had written.
The response accurately describes how I’ve felt over the last few weeks as I’ve applied to residencies, grants, and fellowships. And the software did just as good a job when I employed it during the writing process for each opportunity. Does that mean I cheated on the applications?
I didn't ask the artificial intelligence software to construct an entire essay from scratch; given the types of questions I was answering about my work, it wasn't capable. However, I did input paragraphs of my writing and asked it to shorten those to the required word count. Like asking a friend to read over the application to check for clarity, ChatGPT became my trusted reader. Through it, I gained perspective on my writing.
The application process isn’t the work of an Artist. It’s the key that unlocks the door. I’m not asking software to write my plays or films - I have plenty I want to say all on my own. I’m also not worried that software like ChatGPT will replace artists, but that doesn’t mean I’m going to shrug it off or, worse, hide from its potential for fear of the unknown. I will use it as another tool in my creative skillset. But there’s ethics that I’ll have to address.
You’ll just have to trust me when I say these words are mine. You can check out the source of this Act by clicking on this link.
Act Two, in which I get CREATIVE!
I now officially work no more than four days a week. I’ve always had a certain amount of flexibility in my work days and hours. Still, it was time to commit to rest and nourishment outside of my work for clients. So, Wednesdays are now my day for Creativity.
It feels silly because I am always creative, and that’s all I do. But really, it’s about stepping away from the work that’s paying the bills and ensuring I am learning and growing in other directions. In turn, I think I can better serve my collaborators and customers.
Instead of writing a list of things I’m not allowed to do on Wednesdays (e.g. emails, meetings, or administrative tasks), the first thing I did last Wednesday was write a list of things I can do.
Here’s a selection:
WRITE
LISTEN TO MUSIC
DANCE, OR CHOREOGRAPH
KNIT
LEARN A NEW CRAFT OR ARTFORM
PLAY WITH VIDEO EDITING OR GRAPHIC ANIMATION
COOK SOMETHING NEW, DIFFERENT, OR SPECIAL
STARE INTO SPACE
SEW OR EMBROIDER
EXPERIENCE SOMEONE ELSE’S ART
GARDEN
SEND A LETTER
Read more on the four-day workweek - plenty of folks are thinking about this. If you want to chat with me about it, reply to this email, and we can set up a conversation, but it won’t take place on a Wednesday.
Act Three, in which _________?
“This decision was undoubtedly difficult, and we are grateful to you for sharing your creativity with us. Unfortunately, due to our capacity, we are also unable to offer application feedback.”
This is a quote from a recent rejection. It’s one rejection, but the sentence could have been copied and pasted from probably 98% of responses from all opportunities. And not just in the arts but probably most job applications. Let’s face it, that’s what all these applications really are.
So, here’s a thought…what happens if organizations offering opportunities start to embrace technology, let’s say artificial intelligence, to give meaningful feedback to applicants?
We would better serve artists and the work they create if they received some form of reflection on each application they wrote. The silence is soul-crushing. With every response, the organization that likely supports artists as a part of its mission is, in fact, making it harder to be an artist. If organizational capacity is the central issue, then let’s explore how technology can be a resource for bringing organizational values into application processes.
I definitely have more to say about this, mainly because I’ve been thinking about how my accreditation in facilitating Critical Response Process could also play a part in this application adaptation. But the May weather is lovely, so I am going to be a human and get outside. I’ll have the robots efficiently help me form my thoughts after I’ve played in the sunshine.
From one human to another,
Catherine
P.S. I’ve still not forgotten those who wrote to say they fancied chatting about masculinity and sheep! I promise I will be in touch. If you want to add your name to the list, sign up here! Let's discuss being a guy.
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