There are cliques even in the surf art world. I recently discovered this when my husband, Drew Brophy, one of the top most popular, well known surf artists in the world, was excluded from an art event that touted that they had secured the top 25 surf artists.
Confused by this exclusion, I called one of the promoters of the event and asked why. He said “We were expecting to get this call from you.” And then he apologized. And then his Executive Director apologized, as did the President of the organization. And I continued to ask, “Why?”
The answer was that the person running the event choosing the top 25 surf artists decided that Drew Brophy wasn’t part of the “hip surf art crowd.” Until that day, I had no idea there was a “hip surf art crowd.”
Intrigued, I continued to ask others, “What is a hip surf art crowd? And how do you join it?”
It was explained that there are a group of “hip surf artists” that dress in hip clothing and they hang out together. Just like Andy Warhol and his followers, only in the surf world. Except that in the surf world’s hip surf art crowd, there is no leader.
Drew and I sat up over wine one night laughing about this. I said, “Well honey, if you want to be in the ‘hip surf art crowd’ you’ll have to start wearing the right labels. And you’ll have to spend weekends hanging out with a bunch of cool guys.”
“No thanks” Drew said. He never was one to follow the crowd.
Wikipiedia’s definition of a clique is “….a group which is often the primary source of social interaction for the members of the clique, which can affect the values and beliefs of an individual.”
The problem with cliques is that the members start to become one in the same. And they influence each other to the point that they can’t think for themselves, because if they do, they will be booted out of the clique. This kills creativity and the ability to lead.
I’m not picking on cliques – I think some people really enjoy them and get great satisfaction out of being a part of a group. Not everyone can be a leader. But if you have the ability to lead, you may kill that ability by being a sheep following the crowd.
Drew and I have always been more like mavericks, doing things our way and forming our own opinions. We’ve helped many artists along the way, even if they weren’t wearing the right label or hanging with the cool people. We don’t feel the need to impress.
The best thing about being a maverick is that you don’t need anyone to make you feel important. This confidence comes in handy if the “hip cool crowd” suddenly kicks you out for losing your hair or wearing the wrong label.
You can’t be both – you have to choose to either follow the crowd or be your own person. I prefer the latter.
