BANG BANG FEVER (LIFE OF AN ARTIST)
By Adam Cerny
Have you heard the term "triple threat"? If you're in the performing world, you've come across it many times. You might be a triple threat, in fact! The literal meaning is someone in a field who exhibits three skills that are necessary to excel. For example, if you're a football player: you excel at passing, kicking, and running. In the theatre world: you can sing, act, and dance.
Here's where I want to break things down. I've always found the term "triple threat" to be quite limiting. I see it as another way to try to categorize performers into a pool of people. We all know the singer who can't act for shit and actor who can't sing for shit. The dancer who wishes they could do both. We know the individuals who can do all three.
Let's bang away this "triple threat" theory, as I find artists too complex to be fit into categories. I'm sure most of you feel the same way. When I see performers of any sort, they are not doing one task. In fact, they are juggling quite a few skills at one time and always learning. We will forever be students of the art. I try to type that with a straight face only because saying it sounds so self-righteous + pretentious. It's true, though. Artists seldom give themselves enough credit, do they?
I like to think, as an artist, that I live in a perverse fantasy world with unrealistic expectations. Living somewhere halfway between fantasy + reality. We shut our eyes to see. We offer the sanctuary of beauty to an ugly world. Art is not what you see, but what you can make other people see. It's the most intense form of individualism the world has known. To be clear: ART IS A VISUALIZED (or sonic) ORGASM. A favorite quote of mine is, "A poet needs PAIN more than a PEN to write a poem".
I don't want life to imitate art. I want life to be art. I'm not real. I'm theatre. As Uta Hagen said, "Overcome the notion that you must be regular. It robs you of the chance to be extraordinary and leads you to the mediocre."
This video comes in two waves. I love the yin to complement the yang. BANG BANG FEVER is what you take from it. I urge you to put on your headphones (this is a sonic experience), and keep your eyes peeled. The small intricacies are what I find the most fascinating with the art of film. I make these with special attention to the small fireworks. I want to take you on an emotional and visual roller coaster. Hop on! I hope that this inspires someone to honor the art in themselves for whatever line of "work" they do. We are all artists in some way.
Thank you so much for watching! Be sure to like, comment, share, and subscribe! :-) So appreciated!
Peace + Love!
-Adam xoxo
AUGUST 2016
