Imagine setting fire to half your art budget before lunchtime. Seven hot air balloons grounded in a field. Fourteen speakers. The Birmingham Symphony Orchestra waiting to be paid. And a city council expecting you to reach a hundred thousand people by the end of the week.

That is the kind of corner Luke Jerram has found himself in. And it is also the corner that produced Play Me, I'm Yours - pianos in the street for anyone to play. Two thousand of them. Seventy cities.

Welcome to Extraordinary Creatives. I'm Ceri Hand. Follow the show so episodes like this land in your feed every week.

Luke Jerram is the artist behind Museum of the Moon, Gaia, Helios, Park and Slide, Sky Orchestra, and Glass Microbiology. His work has been seen by tens of millions of people. Close to a thousand exhibitions across forty countries. Pieces held in over eighty permanent collections, including the Metropolitan Museum of Art in New York, the Rijksmuseum in Amsterdam, and the Wellcome Collection in London. And he has built all of this from a studio in Bristol, with a team around him, without gallery representation.

In this conversation you will hear how he funds projects nobody has made before, why he turned down Red Bull and Coca-Cola, and what he calls stamina of dissatisfaction - the last five percent that lifts a piece from good enough to worthy of people's attention.

I hope you find this as inspiring as I did.

KEY TAKEAWAYS

Most artists make a piece, show it once, and move on. Luke lives with a piece across a hundred installations and refines it. That last 5% of refinement makes the work land, turns it into something enduring that funds the next project and the next.

Being an artist is a marathon, not a sprint. A diverse practice takes longer to build. But that willingness to keep reinventing yourself creates adaptability.

Don´t underestimate your ability to solve problems and learn from failure.

It´s up to us to decide on the rules we play by.

BEST MOMENTS

“I like creating artworks that leave space for other people to be creative.”

“If you knew you had to be rejected 100 times before you were a millionaire, you'd be really excited to get your first rejection, wouldn't you?”

“There's no such thing as luck. You've got to be ready … when the phone call comes … make it easy for them to say yes.”

For the text version of the topics, we cover each week in the Beat the Block Shorty episodes, straight to your inbox, head to http://cerihand.com/subscribe.

RESOURCES

https://www.lukejerram.com

https://www.instagram.com/lukejerramartist

HOST BIO

With over 35 years in the art world, Ceri has worked closely with leading artists and arts professionals, managed public and private galleries and charities, and curated more than 250 exhibitions and events. She has sold artworks to major museums and private collectors and commissioned thousands of works across diverse media, from renowned artists such as John Akomfrah, Pipilotti Rist, Rafael Lozano-Hemmer and Vito Acconci. Now, she wants to share her extensive knowledge with you, so you can excel and achieve your goals.

Ceri Hand Coaching Membership: Group coaching, live art surgeries, exclusive masterclasses, portfolio reviews, weekly challenges. Access our library of content and resource hub anytime and enjoy special discounts within a vibrant community of peers and professionals. Ready to transform your art career? Join today!

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Our self-study video course, "Unlock Your Artworld Network," offers a straightforward 5-step framework to help you build valuable relationships effortlessly. Gain the tools and confidence you need to create new opportunities and thrive in the art world today.

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This Podcast has been brought to you by Disruptive Media. https://disruptivemedia.co.uk/