David Bowie on the Two Biggest Mistakes Artists Make

In a soulful interview from 1997, the rock icon offered some brief, but essential advice about how to create great art

On irregular Monday mornings (PST), 5AM StoryTalk will share “educational resources” to help you in your creative journey. From curated screenplay collections, to curated film compilations you can watch for free, to advice and other wisdom I’ve collected over my years pursuing the arts — and much more. This is one of them.

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“Never play to the gallery,” or so David Bowie advised in 1997 while promoting the release of his experimental drum and bass album Earthling. “But you never learn that until much later on, I think.”

In less than a minute, he explained creativity and everything that can go wrong with our art when we don’t create from a place true to ourselves. These words should be recorded to memory, as far as I’m concerned.

“Always remember that the reason that you initially started working is that there was something inside yourself that you felt that, if you could manifest in some way, you would understand more about yourself and how you coexist with the rest of society. I think it’s terribly dangerous for an artist to fulfill other people’s expectations — they generally produce their worst work when they do that.”

This next bit is especially resonant for me, as it wasn’t until I began to embrace fear in my art that I feel I truly began to grow as an artist. Not as a technician, but as an artist.

“If you feel safe in the area that you’re working in, you’re not working in the right area. Always go a little further into the water than you feel you’re capable of being in. Go a little bit out of your depth, and when you don’t feel that your feet are quite touching the bottom, you’re just about in the right place to do something exciting.”

You can watch this discussion here:

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