Alexi Edwards | Spoken Word Artist

We are all artists,
In everything we do.
From the beggar on the street, To the slave in an office block,
We are all artists,
In everything we do.

Artists are looked down upon,
Shamed and spat on,
Attacked with tongues of brimstone and fire,
Do the fiends that assault us not realise, That they,
Are artists too!?

Hear me out,
Okay maybe you aren’t your traditional artist,
You don’t paint or write,
But you still create,
You my supposed friend,
Are a creative artist all the way through.

Does a politician not create words,
That will sway and influence the masses,
Does a bricklayer not create patterns,
Patterns and designs for ultimate stability,
Is there not art and creativity,
In everything we as a species do.

From that perfectly worded business email,
To the designed and constructed facebook post,
The ultimate business persona,
The feng-shui within your perfect suburbian house,
All creativity is art,
We just need to accept that it is so.

Have I convinced you that you are an artist yet?
Really, you really need me to tell you why,
Why being an artist is just so magical and worth it,
You need me to tell you why thinking like an artist,
Will lead to a more productive life,
Strap in and make sure you’re listening too,

We are a uniquely imaginative species,
The act of making,

The acting of creating,
It is deeply satisfying,
Life-affirming,
Completely rewarding too!

Being creative has an effect!
We need to take creativity off autopilot,
Add value to our lives and the wider world!
Artists don’t seek permission to paint or write,
We just do,
Show confidence like it is the key to you being you!

Through creativity we find contentment,
Contentment in our highly digitized age!
Sure art can be overwhelming,
But it is a gift you have always had,
You need to fucking use it!
Accept that an artist is completely you.

Art is a truly beautiful thing,
From writing to performing to everything in between,
Please get involved!
Art is love,
Art is life,
Please tell me when art means to you!

Art and creativity is part of your soul,
You need to accept that,
Do I have you convinced yet?
What’s that I do?
But you don’t know how to use this give,
You need me to explain it to you?

Well first,
Confidence is key,
Within art and creativity,
Confident is everything that you need to be,
Don’t ask for permission to write or sing,
That’s the thing,
just you do you!

I’m a novelist and a spoken word artist,
Though I guess some would call me a poet,
In my poems I don’t really think,
I word-vomit on a piece of paper,

And it works out fine for me,
So maybe this could be you.

You are human,
Your thoughts are human,
Your creativity is human,
Your confidence is human,
Everything you create is human,
Your future art is human too!

Use your humanity,
Make good art,
A good friend of mine once said,
When a boy was obviously hurting her,
When pain was so obviously imminent,
That this would make good art too,

Humanity and pain is a good thing,
We know that you are an artist,
Being human makes you so,
You are going to feel hurt a lot,
With brief commercial breaks of happiness,
Happening from time to time so…

Use it,
Fucking use it,
If you use it,
Some fucking good art shall be made,
You can turn your pain around,
Just in case you didn’t know.

Shia LeBouf once said,
Do it,
Just do it,
We live in a world full of urgent problems,
From climate change to terrorism to poverty,
Fix these problems with your art in all you do.

And so mister businessman,
Or academic or bricklayer,
Molecular or marine biologist,
Doctor, physicist,
Scientists of all kind,
Politicians too!

As I have said your humanity has,
Made you an artist,
Whether you like it or not,
We are all artists,
We just have to believe,
And well, that’s just what artists do!