Lauren DeSteno
Posts:
1,520
From:
Minneapolis, MN
Registered:
Oct 19, 2001
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Re: 2. Do you think a serious artist can earn this sum?
Posted:
Oct 12, 2003 1:14 AM
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> Lauren, first off, I don't recall dismissing your art
> as not worth considering. Perhaps you can remind me
> of when I did this...
I debated about posting this, and how much, but I don't have your current email to resolve this question offline. My apologies for off-topic posting again.
"The mnartists.org community isn't prepared to accept the viewpoints of a critic who is interested in posting on the site (or I'm not prepared to deal with the flak I get from my postings). And I suspect you would not be prepared to accept what I'd have to say about your work."
I hadn't read the email in awhile so I mis-paraphrased a bit, but I didn't mean to misrepresent you.
> Most of my
> critical writing then ruminates on what the work says
> to me. The problem with looking at most student work,
> of course, is students are generally learning the
> formal properties and have not yet thought much about
> what they want to say.
True, true.
> But
> likely in a few years it'll be a different story...
Good, I'm glad you think so.
> Ok, here's where I bring it back around. I'm just one
> vote in matters of art, as I mentioned above--though
> a rather well-informed vote. Each person who looks at
> an artwork has a vote, and that's it, one vote. The
> trick for being a successful artist is to make art
> that compels a lot of people to vote for it. It's
> pure politics, a popularity contest--and yes, it's
> not fair unless you happen to make art that a lot of
> people like and want to vote for by buying it. And as
> in politics, or in any endeavor, there's a lot of
> competition out there demanding the votes of a small
> audience.
At first read, I really liked this explanation, but I think it fails to mention that not *everyone has an economic vote when it comes to art - we can all say we like a work, but we cannot all afford to purchase a work.
This is especially ironic in light of the fact that (in your own words, and I agree with them)
> our
> culture romanticizes the artist's life even at the
> same time as it ignores the fact that working artists
> have an impossible task--to make a living. The hard
> fact is it's not easy to make it as an
> artist--particularly a fine artists seeking to live
> off the sales of his/her work.
So, how can artists that can barely make a living afford to support works of art? Where - and how - do they get their vote?
I would also say that foundations that support artists have multiple votes, or very damn big votes, because they can commission works (not just buy a finished product) and can support multiple organizations, which in turn support multiple artists. I don't necessarily think this is a bad thing, but it does throw off your "one person, one vote" idea. I haven't really solidified this argument yet, though - please feel free to pick it apart and give your opinion. (That goes for everyone here, too, not just MF.)
> But here's the thing, no matter what happens to
> you the art will go on. People will never stop making
> it, no matter if you give up or become successful or
> become embittered, so it comes down to your own
> personal choices. Ask yourself, am I an artist? If
> yes, then just accept it and do what it takes to keep
> it happening and stop worrying so much. If you can
> say, at the end of your life, I was an artist and it
> was worth it, then that's enough.
This is a nice statement, too, and from a level of personal responsibility/personal choice, I agree. I do believe in dedication and tenacity; I do believe they will be rewarded, and I also believe that amazing works of art (and even works solely for the pleasure of the artist) will exist despite a lack of economic reward. However, I cannot ignore the fact that a very talented person may "give up" art making or become embittered because certain other people have "access" to organizations and institutions that they will not have.
Personal choice? Yes. Systematic institutional injustices? Yes again.
lauren
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