Artists Vs Art

Artists Vs Art

If you have followed this blog long you know I try to keep this blog fairly free of politics and the like but once in a while politics kicks down your door and screams in your face until you grab it by the throat and hurl it back into the rain.

I feel like such a moment is surfacing now in many creative communities so I am compelled to weigh in on an old, old debate about “the art” and “the artist.”

As we become increasingly aware of the creators of our favorite works the question of is it moral to purchase a product arises again, and again. It is a thorny issue with no simple answer no matter what some may say of it.

Some argue that a work can be judged without any consideration for an artists views but even the most careful of artists will have the imprint of who they are in their creations, even when they have no conscious intent to do so.

So are we to judge everyone?

I feel if you do so you will find everyone wanting. No one holds up to the standards of perfections we want in our idols, least of all, ourselves.

The fact is half the time we purchase creative things based on its quality, ad half the time based on who is producing it. We create that connection with creatives, and creatives intentionally build that relationship because you are more likely to buy from someone you have a positive affiliation with. I mean — gestures vaguely at the blog.

So in my opinion there is no absolute separation of art and artists and I think if we could, we wouldn’t want to. It would leave the works diminished I feel.

To me there is an overlap, a Venn diagram of, how much of the creator do I see, how much of the creator do I want to see, and how much of the creator do I like? Any one of these three factors can overbalance the others but generally I want to feel your finger prints, I don’t want them to be so obvious that your work is predictable or repetitive and I need to like you enough to share a diner. If you can meet those criteria you can get my money and, so far, it has allowed me to enjoy some fantastic creations without feeling like I was giving money to monsters.

What your criteria are/will be are your own. I simply encourage you to sincerely consider them and not to follow in the trap of group think. Too often I see creators pilloried based on accusation by those who have no concept of the work or the person for whom they seek to destroy. And, well, creatives are very fragile creatures who easily buckle under the weight of ridicule and I hate to see such fragile souls crushed undeservedly.

So judge the art, judge the artist,. spend your money where it makes you feel well and, most of all, remember books, movies, music, etc, are to bring happiness into your life, not animosity. We are here but a short time, no one is worth your money and animosity.

Thank you my dear readers and God bless;

~S. Wallace