No, not some secret society of Di Vinci esque concoction, but an I idea that I started to write about that quickly became a gigantic chalkboard paradox, and I had to walk away.
It started with an examination of the emotions one (I) go through in my daily work, and the dilemmas the very structures of the work creates.
See, I told you....
Ok, as a "creative type", a person that creates stuff for a living, there are are structures and constant questions that we are always honing and asking.
1. Purpose. The work must be serving some purpose. The work must have a purpose, or it is simply pornography or phycological doodling. Why would you sign up for a job this tough unless it was at least an honest service.
Hitch: The more "popular" your work, the harder it is to find a handy purpose. People like Koons or Hirst or other "Fine" "Artists" can name ART as the purpose on the form and they are done for the day. For a craftsperson or designer, we are audience based, like many of the other collaborative arts. The audience's reaction and acceptance is paramount. The audience is the purpose.
2. The Rub: Who the Hell died and decided you had a destiny to share your "talents" with the world as some kind of purpose? Did you win American Idol or the Art Olympics in the Auto-didactic triartathon? AHHHHH - Enter EGO - Id.
So, could I please, pretty please, obtain, for even one single moment, the humility of an ancient monk, the bravada of an opera tenor, the social skills of a politician, the physical focus of an athlete and the technique of great magician?
No.
But I can try. Decoro - the skills, Sprazzazia - the sell, Grazia, the harmony.
Perhaps it takes our whole - the good parts and the bad parts, the pretty parts and the unpleasant parts, all is spinning balance, to create.
Does purpose demand ego, or ego create purpose?
I warned you.
Ego must be strong, both in its demand and purpose. Everyone thinks people in the arts are fragile, weak egocentrics. It takes a lot to stand there by yourself (and your art is yourself) and take the pounding. To create is to be like a magician, we all want to play in Vegas and therein likes the problem. Especially when you talk about artists who are crafsmen. You walk a fine line between being commercially viable and selling out. I don't think you fall in to the latter, but because you don't, you must walk a tight rope the likes of Cirque du Soleil. Ok enough suspense, can you show us what you are cooking behind curtain number 1?
ReplyDeleteI'm impressed that you have the desire to make purpose-driven art. You're a step ahead of me! I'm not especially proud to admit this, but what I do creatively has always been purely because I enjoy it, and because - like running or hiking or drinking Italian coffee - I need to do it. I tried to avoid the arts, I really did. Growing up among artists, I wanted to be anything but. The problem is, it has a grip on me. I simply love to draw. I have never had any desire to leave a mark on the world, to be famous, to be remembered, or, really, even to have my work seen. Is that strange? Any motivation I have to create a viable business from my work is purely and solely driven by the need to survive and support a child, and by my desire to avoid ever again having a "day job". If not for that, it's possible I would have worked alone in a garret for my whole life, growing cobwebs on my toes.
ReplyDeleteThough, I can say that in the months since my daughter came home, I have been developing tiny little inklings of a different sort of purpose in the depths of my dark soul. From time to time I feel the desire to create something for her - something that she can be proud of. We'll see what comes of that.....
Wow - thanks for your comments. I hope no offense taken - I envy the balance you have on art and your life. You lead an artful life and found a way. You have talent and skill and love it. You are blessed. I think you nailed it in the second paragraph. You have the greatest purpose of all - raising a child. And I think your art has purpose. Your simplest sketch ooozes your charm.
ReplyDeleteFor my purpose, I am happy with ordinary magic. purpose of enchanting or making a magical moment are still purposes, even if I can't save humanity with it. Even making someone giggle is purposeful. The marks are accumulative.