Lessons from Malcolm McLaren

I may never be so brash or so forward or so boldly brazen as I make my art, but the ideals of punk rock will always remain philosophies I cannot and would rather not escape.  There is nothing so valuable as truth and honesty–those old buzz words.  Transparency and authenticity–those new(er) buzz words.

Real art comes from reality.  It draws from real perceptions and communicates in clarity and stand alone-ness.

Here are some lessons I gleaned today from Malcolm McLaren’s TED (not sure it was actually at TED) talk in October 2009:

• Better to be a failure than a benign success.
• Do not lose the ability to see the artistic value of the banal.

Here is McLaren, who famously led the British punk rock fashion (with Vivienne Westwood) and rock scene (managing the Sex Pistols) in the 1970’s, discussing authentic creativity verses karaoke culture.  This talk was given about 7 months before his death in April 2010.  If you’ve ever wanted to know how someone ends up in a certain way, McLaren explains his path of development in a rather interesting way.

Let there be no karaoke art from me.

*Note McLaren’s beautiful and classic sweater in the video–a far cry from 1970’s punk rock.