Introduction
Artist coaching is a training program for all those who would like to strengthen and structure their artistic life.
http://artistcoaching.baboni-schilingi.com
Despite what one might think, ideas on their own are worthless. Everyone can say “I’d like to do this, I’d like to do that”. Or “One day I’ll start this project”, or “I’ve got a great idea”, etc. But few know how to put their ideas in practice. And time flies mercilessly.
And procrastination seems to be the disease of the 21st century. But… what if procrastination was only a symptom of a bad methodology and a lack of self-confidence?
Many people suffer from this feeling of failure and bitterness, which inevitably happens when ideas remain ideas, and they cannot formalize them and communicate them. That’s when disappointment, disillusion, frustration and sometimes even depression come.
Other people have accumulated internships, diplomas, and post-diplomas, and are still unable to talk to a jury, a boss or an audience. Many artists don’t know how to stray from the paths that have already been set by academic circuits, and despite their many diplomas, they still don’t know to call for sponsors, benefactors or state structures.
How can they convince others? How can they put an idea in practice? How can they be understood? How can they build self-confidence?
How can they argue in favor of a project nowadays, when everything goes fast, too fast?
How can they avoid selling out their ideas to seduce an audience, or avoid dumbing their discourse down to be understood by everyone?
The key is communication. How and when should they communicate? Which tools should they use?
This question goes even deeper. Despite the overload of emitted and transmitted information, many people keep to themselves, no longer able to use a specific word for a feeling or an emotion that they do feel strongly.
The modern world is violent, destructive. How can people express themselves without the fear of being mocked? How can they relax while still being themselves? These days, a lot of communication is done through emojis: emotional simplifiers. How can people express what they feel in an authentic manner?
Many people can no longer transmit what they feel. From that comes a feeling of isolation within oneself, one’s relationship, one’s family, one’s own group of friends or coworkers. They feel anonymous.
However, for other people, words are not enough to describe a feeling or to make others understand their emotions.
Then, artistic creation can turn out to be a necessary tool to express the states of consciousness. Artistic creation as therapy for expression!
FORMATS
- a series of free videos, to expose the conceptual bases of art in the 21st century;
- training [without a limit on subscription] through recorded videos;
- individual training, with maximum 6 members, in person or long distance;
- intensive workshops [in person] as collective classes with 3 or 6 people maximum being present in the same room.
Topics
Formalization of a project:
- monitoring ongoing projects
- redefinition objectives
- redefinition strategies
To pitch - an inevitable necessity
The importance to define your authenticity
- social identity and aliases
- cultural identity
- artistic identity
Two preliminary concepts
1 - Manipulation - manus [hand] pole [direction] - giving a direction with hands - leading by hand - giving a vision
Voyage [journey] - > dream
2 - Seduction - se ducere - leading towards oneself - bring « them » to you
The artist has to assume to be a person who seduces and who gives visions
The artist as a dream maker
A first definition
The artist as gratuitous spontaneous emanation
Pragmatism the worst enemy of artists
How much time people really want to listen to you ?
How much time do you think people is ready to listen to you ?
Why listen to you and not another person ?
Two corollary concepts
« Beefy » power
« Utopian » power
Targets
Artistic directors [galleries, museums, theatres, concert halls, festivals, state commissions, etc.], sponsors, patrons
Social ages and people's expectations
When to start building your « Opus »? NOW
Till 20 years old : just do it, but DO it - inventively, activity.
When talent [gratuitous spontaneous emanation] is sufficient, but you need to show assiduity
Between 20 and 30 years old : looking for creativity.
When talent is not sufficient [because of newest generation incoming]
Research and experimentation: innovation, polymorphism, connections between media, flexibility, teamwork skills
Between 30 and 40 years old : looking for trajectories
Connecting dots, eruditions [ex rudere] - avoiding blanks, cusps [the dividing line between two very different things] and gaps.
Between 40 and 50 years old : looking for the Opus.
Reading consistency
After 60 years old : enjoying your Opus.
Pitching as an inevitable strategy
Create your slogan
Specificity and limits of slogans
Formats
« Elevator pitch » or « Cocktail situation » formats : 1 minutes - 3 minutes.
Typical formats : 5 minutes - 7 minutes.
Ideal format : 15 minutes.
The interview format - how to provoke questions.
Pitching strategies
What is a concept in a pitch
Difference between idea and concept
How to transform an idea into a concept
How many concepts you should put in a pitch
When one concept is sufficient
Be passionate and make people understand that you really are passionate
How to “keep it simple” avoiding simplifications in your art
The faster the pitch, the better, BUT still comprehensible
The importance of being comprehensive yet concise.
How will you realize your project it?
Why is your project more interesting than your competitors’ projects?
How will the client benefit?
How much will it cost?
The importance of verbal language vs pre-verbal language
Body language.
The three spaces : private, social, public.
Ethology and « animal » behaviours.
Mnemonic strategies
Training - coaching - teamwork
Example from my career proposal
-
Hermès - 8 Ties - with Miguel Chevalier - 2012, 2013
- Samsung - The origin of the curve - with Miguel Chevalier - 2014
- Camille Fournet - Patron and Grand Palais - 2016, 2017, 2018
- Chanel - Photo exhibition and concert - 2019-2020
How to write a « dossier »
The importance of « poetics »
Why you need to define your poetic - notion of « voyage » and « dream »
How to define your poetic
- inheritances and filiations
- intrigues and solutions
- how much to reveal
How to be in your time [actuality]
Difference between “Academy” and academic
Topics that create doxological positive expectations:
- readability
- visibility
- lightness
- exactitude
- quickness
- multiplicity
The importance of an accessible complexity
How to avoid topics that create suspicion and mistrust
Table of contents of your dossier
- Foreword and preface
- Short [3 lines - 2 sentences] holistic description
- The importance of images [or short videos]
- Detailed description
- Definition of a team [even if you are alone]
- Curriculum
- Detailed budget
- Credits and contacts
How to train yourself
- teamwork
- the importance of having a coach
- how to evaluate your coach
- difference between coach and agent
Endorsements
- how to ask for it
- what inside?
- from who?
- which format?
- exemples
Case study examples
- Simon Ghraichy - « 33 » - Théâtre de Champs Elysées
- Camille Thomas - « Voice of hope » - Deutsche Grammophon
- Marie Darrieussecq - Histoire de vagues
- Ascidiacea - artists' collective
Example from my career proposal
- Curiosity
- Hémera
- Nomad Brain [with Miguel Chevalier]
- Partitions
Body language techniques
- how to convince without speaking
- how to protect yourself
- how to face the other
Pre-verbal language techniques
- how to convince speaking
- how to bring the other towards you
- how to polarize attention
Definition of professional networks
Artistic creation as therapy for expressiveness
Definition and identification of fears
- how to overcome your fears
- how to develop self-confidence
Optimization
- how to manage professional and personal life
- how to define spaces (intimate, social and public)
- concentration techniques
- maximization techniques
- self-isolation techniques
Control of psychic energies
- how to anticipate exhaustion ["burn out"]
- how to deal with exhaustion ["burn out"]
(specific for teachers) how to compensate for pedagogical burnout and demotivation
- reinforcement of motivation [the post “burn out”]
Professional communication strategies
- website
- social networks
- newsletters
- creation of promotional events [show case]