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Saturday, 07.31.2010 |
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| Art & Fear |
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Product Details
Notes
CHAPTER 1 - THE NATURE OF THE PROBLEM
artmaking involves skills that can be learned
it's hard to distinguish talent from perseverance and hard work over the long term
art is made by ordinary people
our flaws and weaknesses are both obstacles and a source of strength
making art is about overcoming things
artmaking tells you a lot about yourself, that's how you know whether it's good
there is a clear gap between what you intended, and what you create
to everyone else, the viewers, what matters is the end product
but to you, the creator, what matters is the process and what you gain from it
in general, no one should care about most of your work
the function of the majority of your work is to help you create a few great pieces
thus even the failed pieces are essential to the process
the best you can do is make art you care about, and lots of it
CHAPTER 2 - ART AND FEAR
Stephen DeStaebler: "Artist don't get down to work until
the pain of working is exceeded by the pain of not working."
quitting is fundamentally different from stopping, art is all about starting again
don't let your current goal become your only goal
otherwise you'll be done when you reach it
98% of art students are no longer practicing art 5 years after graduation
the reason is that it's hard to make art when it's no longer seen or encouraged
doubt comes from the gap between what you should be and what you might be
fear is more about the artist as a person than the work of art itself
fears often arise when vision races ahead of execution
you can see it in your mind, but you can't get it down on paper
the fact is, vision will always be ahead of execution, and it should be
uncertainty is a virtue, it will be with you for your entire artistic career
make an imagined piece into an actual piece by narrowing the possibilities
each sentence chooses a more specific story than before
artists don't dream about making art, they dream about having made great art
the artist's life is frustrating not because the pace is slow
it's frustrating because he imagines it to be fast
art is about carrying things out, the raw materials are what can be carried out
your materials are one of the few elements of art you can reasonably control
conditions will never be perfect, and knowledge is never sufficient
skills are never complete, and support is notoriously fickle
this is the normal state of affairs for all artists
the finished piece that seems so perfect may have been near collapse before
art is like beginning a sentence before you know its ending
you may never reach the end, or you may not have said anything by the end
art happens between you and your subject, idea, technique or materials
tolerance for uncertainty and a persistence despite it is the key to success
CHAPTER 3 - FEARS ABOUT YOURSELF
you know that happy accidents are a part of making art
it's not like other artists know what they're doing all the time
make good work by making lots of bad work and weeding out the bad parts
talent may give you a head start, but hard work gets you the rest of the way
art is error, your work will inevitably be flawed because you're human
imperfection is not just a common ingredient of art, but an essential one
many people procrastinate because to not work is to not make mistakes
your work is your guide, you learn about your work through the work itself
CHAPTER 4 - FEARS ABOUT OTHERS
art rarely emerges from committees, it's generally a sole endeavor
any outsider's view of your art has inherent contradictions
they want it to be unique, yet accessible, personal, but still universal
sometimes you need time between making the work and sharing it
this can give the artist a better perspective, more able to handle criticism
the world does reward authentic work, but it may not happen for a long time
courting approval puts a dangerous amount of power in the hands of the audience
CHAPTER 5 - FINDING YOUR WORK
art reacts to what you put into it, unlike the world in general
with experience, naive passion can become informed passion
you acknowledge your fears even as you continue to work
the truly special moments in artmaking occur when concept becomes reality
these are the "inspiration kicks" and the most fulfilling moments of art
it includes those times when the work seems to make itself
the artist is only a guide or conduit through which creativity flows
your current place in history and geography influence your work
whereas you can view and experience art across a much wider range
you can't make everything you can experience as a viewer
that means you also don't learn that much by just viewing someone else's art
even if a certain viewing was the reason you became an artist in the first place
your own work will vary over time as different themes emerge
so you can't even say your best work is fixed over time, your aesthetics change
note the difference between new ideas and practical ideas
practical ideas can be re-used for a thousand variations, supplying a framework
this can lead to a whole body of work rather than just a single piece
art is not the residue of the paths you could have taken, it's the one path you did
it's not the leftover of the options never chosen, it's the sum of the chosen options
doing the same thing will generally get you the same results
so look for what you did when things were working
sometimes you change your method or schedule or routine, and it breaks
try returning consciously to exactly the same conditions that worked before
for most artists, making good art depends on making lots of art
the hardest part of artmaking is living your life in such a way that work gets done
this includes finding a host of practices that are just plain useful
a piece of art is the surface expression of a life lived within productive patterns
over time, collect methods of working that allow confidence and concentration
CHAPTER 6 - A VIEW INTO THE OUTSIDE WORLD
there is a whole set of problems after a piece of art is made
one artist said they only spent 6-7 days actually painting, the rest is on business
society, nature, and artmaking tend to encourage conformity
but as an artist, you must court the unknown, despite others' fear of change
a bigger problem than offending is often getting anyone's attention at all
remember that the world has already been observed by countless artists before
but your view on the world is unique, and other people may want to see it
the arts network exists in society, and you have to make peace with it at least
competition can be healthy or harmful, find the right measurement of your work
there's rarely any consensus on what is truly the best piece of art
newer pieces don't have to be better, they should be different in a useful way
all the pieces you make serve a role in defining your total career as an artist
ballet companies do the Nutcracker at Christmas to make enough for the year
it may be easy to impose your own restrictions, but hard to work within others'
like when you do commissioned work or commercial work for someone else
how much do you compromise your artistic and aesthetic sense for money
CHAPTER 7 - THE ACADEMIC WORLD
art is the one profession where you typically earn more teaching it than doing it
old proverb - if you chase two rabbits, you catch neither
an artist who teaches often becomes a teacher who formerly made art
many people stop making art when they stop being students and learning more
making art is not considered a real job, it's a profession but not an occupation
the security of a monthly paycheck doesn't fit the risk-taking of artistic endeavors
artists spend their lives learning how to make work that matters to them
read a book on art to gain courage by association, fears are shared and disarmed
embrace art as process, not as the final works or some outside measure
you can learn more by viewing work in progress than a finished piece of art
read autobiographies and learn about the process of making art, not the results
CHAPTER 8 - CONCEPTUAL WORLDS
three questions to ask about an artist's work, by Henry James
1) What was the artist trying to achieve?
2) Did he/she succeed?
3) Was it worth doing?
we don't remember artists who followed the rules better than most
we remember those who made art from which the "rules" then followed
art made to achieve technical excellence often lacks emotional investment
trying to be perfect can take the soul out of the art
the problem with technical issues is that they're actually easier to deal with
so you can spend all your time fixing every technical detail instead of creating art
art that deals with ideas is more interesting than art that deals with technique
a single work can't be determined to be "art" or "craft"
it's really in the context of the world and everything that a piece becomes "art"
there's a greater conceptual leap between works of art than works of craft
art is less polished than craft, but more innovative
nearly all the great violins were made in a few years by a few artisans
with craft, perfection is possible, you're trying to duplicate a perfect template
craft is almost like derivative art, you repeat something great over and over
most artists progress over time from art to craft
early imagination eventually settles into a comfortable execution of technique
Zen proverb - for the beginner, there are many paths, for the advanced, few
craft is the vehicle for expressing your vision, developing your art
old work shows what you were seeing then, new work shows what you missed
compare the unique pattern of your own experience to all experience as a whole
your style emerges from habit, from repeated patterns that resonate with you
science requires consistency of repeated experiments, but art has to be unique
science looks for general theories of ideal situations, art is a specific creation
CHAPTER 9 - THE HUMAN VOICE
interesting answers come from asking interesting questions
when all is said and done, the artist returns to the studio and works on art alone
the goal is to draw a line from your life to your art that is straight and clear
most artists return to the same two or three stories again and again
the only work you can really do is work that focuses on what you care about
the only voice you need is the voice you already have
art does not arrive miraculously from the dark, it's made uneventfully in the light
each artist might find their unique method of proceeding, or they never will
if you don't give your best effort and take risk, you're choosing unhappiness
choose uncertainty, put everything into your art and find a way to proceed |
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