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Re: [microsound] Serious Artist?



i'm gonna print this e-mail out and stick it over my computer.

well said!

graham
On 14-Sep-06, at 12:27 PM, David Powers wrote:

In the United States anyway, it is harder and harder to get
compensated for doing interesting work. This means, that anyone who is
not very serious, is going to GIVE UP. It takes a very serious
attitude to continue to devote one's energy to the seemingly frivolous
act of creating art, in the face of financial difficulty and a
generally hostile environment for presenting work.

One has to be a little crazy, to think the work one does is somehow
important. But only such a misguided belief, will give an individual
the courage to continue to develop, explore, and evolve without giving
up. This concept of the serious artist is not so bad, if it allows
some individuals to keep creating interesting work. Will there also be
talented hacks who think of themselves as serious artists? Of course,
but that's not the point.

Also, to suggest "serious" contradicts "playful" is a willful
misreading. We know that creativity and play are essential to art,
even very dark art -- if not in the overt content, at least in the
structures that are elaborated and developed.

Whether some people have a sense of humor, while other people have a
darker and less humorous outlook, is a matter of personality. We know
from history that many types of personalities are able to make art.
Quite a few artists were and are, after all, eminently dislikable. Let
us not judge the art work, based on personality of the artist. That
is, indeed, the province of the celebrity, who have no work but only
their shrink wrapped personalities to present to the public.

Mark Pauline is I'm sure very friendly, and has no need to call his
work art, but I'm sure when it comes to building the machines, working
out the logistics, and doing all the necessary practical work for a
show, he is quite serious in some sense.

Finally, since this is a list with quite a few "artists", would it not
be worthwhile to set a tone where rigorous creative work is encouraged
-- where serious, difficult work is encouraged? Do those who disparage
the term "serious artist" really want a world, where nobody takes
their creative endeavours seriously, but instead creatively talented
people just got bought up, to make commercials for Nike and Red Bull?

~David

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