When Do You Become An "Artist"?
I am interested to know how you all perceive when one can genuinely call themselves an "artist", and what the standards are in your discipline and your culture. Do you need to master a craft before you call yourself an "artist"? Do you need to have a body of work? Do you need to be creating regularly? Does your final product need to reflect sweat and tears or is it enough to have a concept or to be creative in everyday life? Do you need to have the ability to improvise, collaborate or teach before you can be considered an artist? I am sure that perspectives vary depending on the discipline, genre and also depending on where you are in the world. I would love to know your perspective--
Tags: artist, artists, culture, culture definition, definition of culture, what is culture?
Replies to This Post
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Permalink Reply by Gail Troutman on -
First you'd have to define "art", and I doubt that has ever been done successfully. If you think you are an artist, then you are an artist.
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Permalink Reply by Pankaj Barman on -
Art is what does not belong to institutions and dictionary.Galleries and promotion is not indispensible
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Permalink Reply by Revelation on -
It is best said: "Being an artist means having an appreciation for the arts,
Without poets, without artists, men would soon weary of nature's monotony."-Guillaume Apollinaire
From childhood there are comments like : "He is a regular little artist, or she is a painter". I believe "art" is evident in most true "artist" early in life. It is not an actually learned trait, it is natural like an athlete, a prodigy, an ability, a skill. Regardless if it is acted upon or not through youth until old age, it is born within. What makes an artist is the ability to see beyond in depth and dimension not readily available to people who are not artist regardless of how they try, and that is why it is appealing to people who cannot do art. Almost like a sixth sense, the artist can transform themselves to another world through the use of imagination and can relay that information from the mind. The expression of that imagination is personal whether appealing or not. My personal delimma with an "artist" are the ones who can put a black line on a piece of white paper and tell you an entire story about what it means. Those are not artist, they are writers (story-tellers) in my opinion. But if a person perceives themself as an artist, then that is what they are regardless of what you, I or others feel and that is the true beauty of art and being an artist!
Here is a great insight via essays exactly addressing this topic in detail:
http://www.luminous-landscape.com/columns/aesthetics10.shtml
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Permalink Reply by Alan Francis Alfon-Rivera on
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@revelation: I consider myself an artist albeit I do not have to explain or defend my view of that. I agree with your perceptions of what an artist is...but I also consider myself a "storyteller".
and for that matter it might be said that most if not all photographers (including the bad ones, the dilletantes, but most especially the photographers who use photography as their medium for art-making) are artists AND storytellers. And so are the film-makers. And the actors. And yes, the writers, the true storytellers, are artists too. Even the art of architecture has a story to tell.
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Permalink Reply by Revelation on
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Art's foundation is storytelling. I specifically made an example of a black line on a white piece of paper. Personally I do not see that as art. It is its story which people are drawn to, not the black line on a white piece of paper, unless of course they are fascinated with what it really means...then they must know the story. Example of one of the most magnificent pieces of art in the world:
_______________________________________________
The magnificent" work of art" above is requesting a critical evaluation of what makes this art? Forget about the story behind it. When really it does not matter. Someone somewhere will pay a very pretty penny for it just to have a black line on a white background on a red wall...actually that sounds pretty cool! I guess art is art and the beauty of it is in the eye of the beholder...I am considering a bold, black line on crisp, white on fire engine red ;p
How many of these could you make a day?
VERY, VERY EXPENSIVE work by our old friend and mentor: THE DOG by Pablo Picasso believe it or not! It is art, a little and very little more than a line I suppose...or is it?
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Permalink Reply by Revelation on
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Sorry it took so long to get back to you but I was on a journey of artistic discovery. I was mass producing Picasso's "The Dog" in hopes that I would get rich fast. I tried to sell them for $100.00 a piece, then $20.00, then $5.00, then $1.00 and finally, a little boy walked up to me and gave me a penny. I gave him all 5000 replicas and bought him a box of crayons... LOL just kidding.
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Permalink Reply by cheryl gravitt on -
Revelation,this was a hoot,thank you,sweet!!!!! :>) I've enjoyed reading all the answers to this discussion.I also think it has alot to do with passing the love of artistic expression to the next generation,for they are the Artist's of Tomorrow. :>)
And it does all start with a box of crayons,or a box to bang on with two sticks ,or a journal to write in,some beads to make jewelry with,etc...etc...
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Permalink Reply by Luis Carlos Vega on -
Nico, to me art is something created by an individual which holds beauty, it's attractive, appealing to others, wakens the curiosity of people, it transmits energy beyond our normal realm, but it also includes technique and ability to project this to the world, be it in dance, in drawing, painting, music, all the so called arts. In addition let us not forget that all art is something beyond the normal significance. Art has no boundary, no genre, it is a total divine expression given to each individual, how that individual expresses it, is what makes it a unique piece of art.
Be well
Luis
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Permalink Reply by Nico Daswani on -
Thanks Luis, really nicely put
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Permalink Reply by gigi mederos on -
The main thing is the artist's need to make art; to create. This need is evident for most artists since their childhood. The work evolves as the exploration of media and techniques are learned and applied in more proficient and selective ways - this creates a more mature and cohesive body of work.
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Permalink Reply by Amy Goldsmith Charmatz on -
I'm sorry, but I disagree with you! Art comes from the heart, and has little to do with "salability". It is helpful to create a "body of work" or a "series" as my mom calls it (she's an artist, too!) Art is what you like, and practice. It's really helpful to get some confirmation from friends or family, which will help you "feel" more likle an artist, but I don't like the limitations of labels.I love art, but I'm neither knowledgable about art and art history, nor a "museum" person. I see what I like: it's art
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