A community of young artists in London have redefined ideas of identity and found hope through creative expression.
The Elegists Collective began their new series ‘ego’ last week, where they explored the meaning of the ‘self’ through music, poetry, and art.
The Elegists held their first event last September after they noticed a growing need for a collective third space and wanted to bring people together through art.
Founding member and poet Regina Avendaño said: “Everything has to be monetised and even the art scene becomes an art market.
“It’s not accessible anymore, there’s a glass window into everything – you have to be writing what people want you to be writing about, or what’s winning awards.
“It’s not gathering for the sake of gathering.”
The Elegists will dedicate the next six months to exploring the theme of ‘ego’ through exhibitions, workshops and performances divided into three chapters: ‘The Self’, ‘The Other’, and ‘The Collective’.
Avendaño spoke about how the desire to form a collective ego which doesn’t just end with the self but instead extends into the community.
She continued: “Ego can mean being egocentric, being self involved, thinking about yourself, hedonism.
“We wanted to explore that because I think that’s an interesting element of the self, but we also wanted to explore how ego is the other, how you form yourself by the other.
“Especially in the society we live, with this constant performance and constant surveillance.”
The Elegists held last week’s event, ‘With A Sense of Moral Decline’ at Music Room London in New Cross.
The evening featured folk singer Painted Bird, alternative band Swamp, and poets Regina Avendaño and Elena Cruz.
Performances centred around a collective desire to connect with others in what can often be a bleak and disheartening society to live in as a young creative.
Avendaño expressed frustration at the dissonance between what you feel you should be and who you truly are.
She said: “I think our ego wants to make us into paraphernalia, it transforms you into these very distinct images and aesthetics of yourself.
“You can be sad about your life, but you’re not only sad about your life, you’re sad about it from the perspective of that constant watching of yourself.”
The only way Avendaño feels she can escape this perpetual cycle is through artistic creation.
She continued: “When I’m writing, I’m just writing, I’m not really thinking of myself.”
Poet and artist Elena Cruz uses her day-to-day experiences to inform her socio-political commentary on navigating today’s world.
She said: “I like to create stories that are really saying something.
“Even if this something puts me in a weird or embarrassing or bad or warped position having to share it on the stage in the way it unfolds.
“But I think good artists are courageous — and considerate.
“And that’s what I try to combine.”
Identity is a key aspect of Cruz’s work, which repeatedly returns to the Midwest where she grew up, and its influence on her ideas and beliefs as an adult.
She said: “The dominant culture in the Midwest revolves around this term ‘Midwestern kindness’, where the best thing you can be is over accommodating.
“You want to make everyone else feel so comfortable and good, and in return they want to make you feel good.
“Everyone’s so busy trying to make sure the other person has a good time that nobody’s paying attention to if they themselves are having a good time.”
Cruz found the theme of ‘ego’ forced her to challenge subconscious biases and shame around self-expression.
She continued: “Ego is an innate part of us as people and ignoring it isn’t a pure solution.
“Instead I think it’s good to begin identifying that we have an ego and how our personal experiences not only exist but can be used in art for good for the collective.”
The Elegists Collective have published two issues of their zine, ‘A Collective Enquiry into Social Evisceration or sexy thinky thinky time’ and are currently open to submissions.
They will continue to run events focused on the ego across London over the next six months.
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