We had the good fortune of connecting with Lex McClintic and we’ve shared our conversation below.

Hi Lex, do you have some perspective or insight you can share with us on the question of when someone should give up versus when they should keep going?
It’s good to remember the sunk-cost fallacy, it lives in the back of my mind and warns me not to double down on my efforts when they’re clearly failing. But creatively, I don’t know, you don’t have to be succeeding by some standard to double down on your weird thing you do. For me, the things I make and do are supposed to make me feel something, and the sign that really tells me to keep going is making someone else feel something, too.

Let’s talk shop? Tell us more about your career, what can you share with our community?
I’ve always wanted to be an animator, but I thought it’d be in a different way, before I ever conceptualized the way I do it now. Going into school, I thought my career trajectory was to go make Finding Nemo 5 or move to Japan and convince a studio to let me make anime. The catalyst for just doubling down on making my own weird stuff was attending animation school and seeing all these different ways people animate and create, and then no longer being able to afford animation school. For the time I had, I got really inspired and chemically altered. I felt really driven, so it was really crushing to have to leave. I kept making things anyway, I just had to figure out what that would look like. This year I made two animated music videos for songs I wrote, because I also started a band, because that’s something you can do when your life comes crashing down on you. I am the singer/songwriter for BLESSER and an independent animator. I also host animation screening / comic-reading / music shows sometimes in Jersey City.

If you had a friend visiting you, what are some of the local spots you’d want to take them around to?
In the scenario that the PATH trains are on fire and you are staying within the state of New Jersey: walk along the waterfront, definitely walk around Grove st, but get your food in the Heights or on West Side. Check out elevator, especially if they are having an open studios night, that’s where so many incredible artists are tucked away. The best place to see music here is Pet Shop.

Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
Damien Flores, who is a friend and assistant in many artistic ventures I couldn’t have achieved otherwise, at least not nearly as well. Also, my dear friends and everyone I know in Jersey City. There are really wonderful, artistic people here (in the shadow of the New York skyline). I enjoy being an artist here, even when it’s hard and the buses don’t run, but that probably makes my art better. My brother, who is one of the main reasons I decided I could be an artist. And one more for Brian Eno, who exploded my brain about how music can be made and how to live as an artist.

Website: https://lexmcclintic.carrd.co

Youtube: https://www.youtube.com/@lexmcclintic

Other: https://blesser-nj.neocities.org/

Image Credits
Walter Orellana

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