Ophelia's Art World
By Ophelia Everfall
First and foremost, this world will not blacklist artists for speaking their views outside of normality. Silence is a detriment to all—even with bigots. Even with people that get too wildly involved with their own projected mythologies, or people who write their whole heart and it hurts or with their pain and its brutal. Even people who intimidate those who hold power in the world of art because they have more innate talent.
This world is of artists who support artists. Who don’t care to enable another that might outshine them. What an honor that is. People gatekeep in every portion of society and this entire way of living perpetuates everything. We don’t support each other. We compete and that’s wrong.
A ‘Final Release’ of any artwork in Ophelia’s Art World means its public domain. The world should be honest. Artists should be honest. Creations are only the makers until they are gifted to an audience. Just as you can’t control the perception of a work—I believe artists should be empowered by society to share them abundantly. The inefficiencies of our world would burn away if we lost the concept of possession. It would be a hardest thing—but how needed that is to come into balance with nature. Nothing ever stays the same. We’re owned—not owners. Leasing of things like homes for lifetimes should be a function of society, but owning art that’s shared publicly doesn’t make sense to my artist’s heart.
In practical terms I think of the never-ending cycle of businesses that rise and fall unsustainably—make everything from scratch all over again. Musicians clamor overpaying for samples that should be broadly available and software which makes it possible. Even re-workings of old art should be more freely available to pursue. There’s a line there—but ownership of the material is questionable.
To my artist’s heart—even charging people to enjoy my work feels wrong. I believe myself blacklisted for speaking out on the internet about this often at a young age, foolishly, even in regard to piracy. It was hard to feel guilty back then about it. I’ve poured huge amounts of my limited finances into the entertainment industries. Perhaps, this is a bit borne from bitterness that I haven’t ever made a dime off my works and just listened to the bad ‘put it on credit cards and it will work out’ advice. I’ve always wanted to be an author. The top of my bucket list is ‘Publish a Science Fiction Book.’
I made films to start and this practice of writing here and building a library of fiction, essays, and poetry has proven healing. To simply create things that are ‘finished’ is wonderful to me. At least, enough to be properly enjoyed by folks. I spent so much time writing un-filmed screenplays and unfinished novels when I was younger. There was so much time I put into writing and creating fiction—my greatest passion. The only thing I ever found an audience with were my guided meditations—which I love—but aren’t my great creative love. To offer some kind of finished long-form product of fiction is a glory to my heart, and I feel I’ve found my voice.
I say all this because I would take the opportunity to publish works and get paid so I don’t have to pretend to care about Microsoft anymore. That being said, if we’re talking about a world where people stop pretending resources aren’t abundant—and we just let people have time—the greatest commodity stolen from the unwealthy—there wouldn’t be a need for that kind of capitalization at all.
It’s the roots of it all. We’re corrupted from the bottom up and built on eras of the most horrid things imaginable done to the Earth, each other, and the people who came before. That’s what breaks everything—we just keep going.
That’s why Ophelia’s Art World starts with a kind of mini-apocalypse—in my dreams—and an island where people can do the Station Eleven for everybody. Which is one of my favorite television shows ever—rare occasion where I don’t read the book because it was just too good.
People are artists here. That’s what Earth is about. It’s too crazy and scary and sexy and fucking badass and sad and mean and hardcore. There’s a reason and I believe it’s to create in league with what surrounds us—we offer a lot to this Universe, somehow—and it’s making art.
We should do it right.
