The Case for Making Art When the World Is on Fire | Amie McNee | TED

Alright. Let's begin with Will Ferrell. [The world right now: Artists: Anyone wanna buy a painting?] The world is literally and figuratively on fire, and I am about to tell you that you need to make art. And more than that, I'm going to argue that the creative act is a huge part in how we extinguish and put out these fires. And I can almost hear you. You're like, "Oh, Amie" -- that's me, I'm Amie -- "Amie, that is so cute and such a lovely idea. And it's so sweet that you think that making stuff is going to help the world. But I write horny fairy fantasy novels, and I really don't think that that's going to do anything." And like, I hear you, but give me 15 minutes because I want to change your mind. We're living in a culture that sidelines the creative act. That says it's something for children or something for the retired. It's an indulgence. It's a little bit selfish, it's frivolous, it's decoration. It is a narrative that is actively harming us. It is repressing our innate instincts to create. And today, we're going to look at why making art is going to make your lives better and the world better, why art is so incredibly important to you. And before I move on with this conversation, I just want to make sure that none of you are like, opting out of this conversation. Because I am talking to you. And I know that we use the words art and artist, and we kind of pedestal it, and we say, "I'm not that good, I'm not great at art." You know, "I can't draw." I am talking to you today. When I talk about art, when I say the word creativity, I'm talking about anything from making a YouTube channel where you talk about your favorite Pokemon cards, to singing, to cooking. The creative act, art is anything we do where we create something with the intention to connect. So none of you are getting away with it today when I talk about how we need your art, I am talking to you. This conversation is about you. Even if you don't have a creative bone in your body. I want to introduce you to someone you may already know. This is Sally Rooney. She is an incredibly successful fiction author. She writes amazing books, a lot of you will have read them, and she’s seriously impacted my life. And Sally says, "I've given my life to writing novels. I don't know whether they are good" -- they are, "but even if they are really good, they're not going to save the planet. Maybe I ought to be spending my time doing something more productive. And that is very possibly the case." This is what is happening to our culture. This woman who creates profound, impactful books is doubting her impact on the world. We are constantly sidelining our creativity to being something that is not productive. "There are bigger things happening in the world, how could I be playing the piano?" I work with thousands of creatives, thousands of artists, and I'm getting dozens of DMs each week that say, "I don't know how I can be spending my time at my piano when there is so much pain in the world." What I need all of us to realize today is that we need to be at the piano, making our art more than ever as we navigate these incredibly difficult things. Art is not just for kids. Art is not just for adults. Art is not just for peace time. Art is now, we need it now. So I'm going to just go on a big rant where I tell you why every single one of you needs to be making art. OK? We're going to start here. Creativity is the missing pillar of self-development. We are a culture that is obsessed with optimization and productivity. We've got podcasts coming out of our asses about like how to, you know, do breathwork and be the best versions of ourselves. We're looking at meditation practices, sleep practices, exercise practices. How can we optimize and be the best versions of ourselves? And no one's talking about creativity. No one's talking about making stuff. It is the missing pillar of self-development. If we are going to look at how to improve ourselves as humans, sure, do your 20-minute exercise. But where's your 20 minutes of playing around with the pens? Where's your 20 minutes of singing in the shower? We should be considering this. Because if we want to live delicious, full lives, we need to be considering our art.

Creativity is the missing pillar of self-development. It needs to be something that you think about when it comes to how you look after yourself. Making art gives you agency in a world where we have little control. So creativity is our power to enact change and bring order to the chaos that we are currently experiencing. So many of us are experiencing a sort of existential depression. This idea that, you know, we consume the news and we're like, I can't do anything about this. I have no agency, I have no power. I have no purpose. And we're seeing an epidemic of meaninglessness. Like we just don’t feel like there’s any use to us. Dr. Alok Kanojia talks about this, particularly with young men. And because we have this huge, like, "What's the point of going forward," we see a lot of people relying on lateral experiences. So because there's no point to our future, it's all hopeless, we're instead indulging in things like phone addiction, gambling addiction, porn addiction, game addiction. I truly believe a solve here, when we are consuming so much hard news about the world, and it's so reasonable for us to feel so terribly depressed about the future, is to come back to our art. To come back to our creativity. And please remember, like, you can be creative in so many different ways. No one is exempt from this conversation. When we create, we have agency in a world that says that we're too small to enact change. When I write my novels, I'm the God of my own little realm. I get to tell them what to do. I get to make the change. I see my impact on the world. Creativity is our power to enact change. It is how we become powerful. And so many people are leaving our creativity on the sideline, discarding it as just play. It is so powerful to pick up whatever instrument it is you want to pick up and make something. The power is in your hands. You're sitting on the throne when you make art. Another beautiful reason to create is because it reclaims your most valuable resource which has been robbed of us. And that's our attention. In a society that profits from you being stuck on your phone, giving your attention to art is a rebellious act. That means when you write that little piece of poetry, it isn't just a nice thing to do with your time. It is a revolutionary thing to do with your time. The other day, I figured out that if you spend three hours a day on your phone from the age of, I think it was 15, to the average age of death, 79, you will have spent 10 years straight on your phone. No sleeping, just 10 years straight on your phone. And three hours a day is, I'm going to say, a fair amount of us are using those numbers. I want you to reclaim the attention that has been robbed of you, and I want you to use it to make something. We are a culture of consumption, and we’ve forgotten how to make. We need less consumption, more creation. Bring back your attention. Reclaim it. It is yours to do with whatever you want to do. You have so much to make, there's so many things that you have to give this world. I want you to take some of those 10 years back from Zuckerberg and give it to a project you want to work on. Making art is activism. I had a client that I worked with who was in the science space, and they were working in a climate change sector, and she was miserable. She was really, really struggling. And all she wanted to do was write her romance novels. But she felt so guilty for taking herself away from the climate change space to do something that is so trivial and so frivolous. And again, this is the narrative that we have to break down. We have to understand that art is activism, that it is inherently political to use your voice and to take up space with whatever it is you're making. Legislation and policy are important, but I am moved by art, and the culture is moved by art. We are impacted on a very human level when we consume creations. It is political. You can change the world with your art. Use your creations to seek the change you want in this world. Making art is activism. This is a big conversation for the time right now. This is a DM I got the other day. It says, "What is the point of making art in this world when AI is just going to do it better and cheaper anyway? There's no reason to create anymore." I'm hearing this all the time.

"What's the point? There's no reason." There has never been a better reason to create art than the incoming storm of AI. We need humans making things. The beauty and magic of art is that connection, that human connection. I replied to this DM and I said, "We consume art to feel closer to humanity. Lean into the humanity behind your art. Lean into the vulnerability, the mess, the imperfections. People are going to start craving it." Do not ever come to me with the excuse of AI is going to make art. I will sit you down and force you to draw something. (Laughter) I'm going to appeal to your ego for a minute and just ask you about your legacy. What do you want to leave this world with? I’ve written here, “Artists dare to imagine a different world. Creatives never leave the world the way they found it." You know, we can depart this place having spent 10 years straight, or more, on our phones and having just left the world with a memory of horror and fear and being very depressed about what's going on. Or we could leave this world with a little bit of you in art form. Whether that is recipes that you pass down to your kids, whether that's my dad writes me poetry. That's his legacy. I'm not asking you to become a world-famous artist, though, I will absolutely back you if that's what you choose to do. But I am asking you to start making stuff. Start taking up space. Leave a legacy, leave this world with something beautiful. We're human beings, we are just born to create things. What is your legacy going to be, artist? I kind of threw this one in the end just to kind of, like, punch you in the gut. Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you are keeping it to yourself. I think we can -- We've been taught that creativity is a selfish endeavor, that when we go and play the piano or we go and do our YouTube creation, that this is something just for you, that it's selfish. The act of making art is inherently generous. Your art is the antidote to so many people's pain, yet you keep it to yourself. If my dad hadn't written me these beautiful, beautiful forms of poetry, like, do you know how much they healed in me and the vulnerability it took my father to give them to me? It is beautiful. The way you're hoarding your creations is selfish. I'm going to turn around now and show you the back of my coat, and I want you to shout out what you can see, because it's got words on it, OK? Can anyone see what it says? What does it say? Say it louder. Audience: We need your art. Amie McNee: We need your art. You guys get it. This is important. Art isn't to be sidelined. You are inherently creative, with something very beautiful to give this world. I need you to start taking it seriously. You are so needed. Thank you. (Applause)