Why Separating the Art From the Artist Is Bullshit
“I can separate the art from the artist”.
Everyone’s heard that at some point, whether it be a band accused of serious wrongdoing or a composer known to have extreme, abhorrent political views. It’s bullshit.
But why?
The first point I really want to make here is, I’m not judging anyone for their listening habits or choices - I just want to point out that art and artist are inseparable, because someone’s art is a direct reflection and manifestation of who they are and what they believe. That then leaves us with ramifications and a dialogue we need to be having with ourselves, about the music we not only listen to but promote to others.
All art is shaped by human experience. Everything we do, think, feel; it all shapes us in some way. Our upbringing has its own effect, as does our culture, and the environment we find ourselves in. A musician from a poor background with limited access to musical knowledge or equipment will create art that reflects their own experiences and that is coloured by it, just as someone who has never had to struggle financially would find their creativity influenced by their very different path through life.
A lot of fans identify with musicians and bands precisely because of that; recognising something of yourself in music is an intense experience, one that can create a deep, lasting bond between fan and band, between fan and art. Take those with traumatic upbringings; by singing about, or writing about those experiences, it speaks to those who have suffered similarly and brings them succour. Brand New garnered legions of fans precisely because of the vulnerability of their lyrics, the fact that people felt seen through that music - but Jesse Lacey was disgraced after his problematic behaviour came to light.
Alternatively, certain bands are gateways into music, and are formative parts of someone’s journey - that’s just as valid. My musical journey into heavy music started one day when someone showed me Trivium’s Pull Harder On the Strings of Your Martyr and I never looked back and I’d be heartbroken if it transpired they were anything less than the good-natured people they seem to be.
There’s more than enough “fuck you for listening to shitty people” out there; and really, in this case and many others where the behaviour has only come to light years later, fans are left wounded and distraught that something they were so deeply connected to has been tainted.
Where does that leave fans?
When this kind of information comes to light about a person or artist, part of the damage caused is to their fans; someone they idolised or greatly respected for their art is shown to be an incredibly damaged or damaging person, and that means we’re confronted by the fact that, for all this time, we listened to the work of someone deeply problematic. The attempt to separate them from their art is perhaps a knee-jerk reaction to still be able to enjoy something despite someone’s heinous acts, but it ultimately fails.
Ultimately, an artist is inseparable from their art; it is an extension of them. A band creates music that represents all of them, as a collective and as individuals. You can no more divorce that from them than you can divorce light from the shadows it casts. We can argue all day whether continuing to listen to a band like that after acknowledging the issues with them makes you complicit or endorsing of their views (and perhaps we will, later) but the point to take from this is that an artist is not separable from their art, and it’s important that we understand that and open a dialogue with ourselves as to what that means for our own listening habits.