Gravediggers Unite
Why bravery, naivety, and commitment to the unknown lead to pioneering creativity
For the first time in a decade of podcasting, I neglected the minor detail of hitting record for an entire one-hour conversation. The unfortunate The Fax Club Experiment project members Adam Holloway, Claire Gillespie, Grace Rodgers, and Judy Andrews showed me mercy and came back for a second sitting.
The kind response came with much relief, as this wonderfully deep and human project deserves greedy helpings of attention, and I wanted to contribute at least a dollop to that through The Creative Condition podcast.
The project was conceived by The DO Lectures founder David Hieatt. Invited members were sworn to secrecy, asked to source a fax machine, then ponder and eventually answer a question that would emerge from the archaic contraption every Friday afternoon.
The questions demanded deeper thinking, different thinking, and slower consideration, things we can all benefit from in this 1000mph information-saturated world. Some questions involved challenges, such as going into a coffee shop and asking for a discount – a task many members couldn't bring themselves to carry out.
Others presented uncomfortable truths.
I wanted to know what this one-year-long experiment was like for those in it. (You'll get to know in the upcoming podcast)
There's a brilliant story in the book that we discussed, about Jimmy Breslin, a journalist who, when presented with the opportunity to cover JFK's funeral like the rest of the world's media, chose instead to interview Clifton Pollard, the man tasked with digging the grave.
In journalism, this became known as 'The Gravedigger Theory.'
And isn't that what it's about? Not blindly following the flock, being brave enough to stand out for the creative greater good. That's how pioneers become pioneers. It's what many of us fantasise about when we envision what a career in the arts might look like. Art college was full of people fresh from school, wearing ludicrous outfits, conceiving even wilder assignment responses, and it all felt possible, even if it looked preposterous and the work was embryonic at best.
Don't get me wrong – it's not easy. We learn from those already doing what we aspire to do, and when the examples they set are so wonderful, why wouldn't we want to pick up the baton?
But what people forget so easily is that their story, their lived experience, and personality should lead everything.
Thicht Nhat Hanh, the Zen Buddhist monk, spoke profound words when he said, ‘The way out is in.’
It can take years to apply the Gravedigger Theory with confidence, when uncertainty and scepticism face us at every turn. But it's where the real magic happens.
I'm only formally trained as an illustrator. The rest – podcasting, interviewing, biography writing, fiction writing, non-fiction writing, and coaching, are all skills learned on the job, by being utterly passionate and working through inevitable terror; trying, failing, trying again. By conventional standards, I'm probably still failing in most areas, but you can be either more than, less than, or different from, and the latter is how I chose to be from a very young age.
This isn't a brag. I've spent many hours in a state of self-loathing because too many side projects have bombed or wasted what little money I have, but the magic of the Jimmy Breslin approach is just too alluring to a brain like mine, which needs to find out, needs to play.
To return to Buddhist teachings, we creative industry folk are impermanent, transient makers who, without taking shaky steps in new directions, run the risk of mediocrity, stagnantion, and frustration with our place in the arts. I see it all the time. I work to help people identify the absence of jeopardy or newness, and look, once more, inside for the compass. It's always there, and it'll point you towards the cemetery. Will you take that step?
The Fax Club Experiment episode of The Creative Condition podcast is coming soon.
The Fax Club Experiment book is out now.
To discuss working with me as a creativity coach, drop me a message at ben@bentallon.com. You can learn about how it works here.