What I did not love, and what made me realize (among other things) that art-as-a-career was not for me, was the pretentiousness and self-importance of the fine-art world. I realized that I didn't have much in common with ahteeests whose goal as an artist was to discomfit or disgust or sicken their audience under the guise of Making A Statement.
Which is exactly why I am getting a degree in history rather than creative writing--and why I'm doing my M.A. in Public History and not Writing. I do not want to know how to write the way they do. I write to tell stories, and yes, I may make a statement along hte way--but that's because there was a story there to tell first.
the prevailing sense in the pro art world that this is the best and only way to be a "proper" artist. I loathe the pervasive idea that art which is created because it's fun, or created for the sake of pleasing or entertaining people, is less in every way, which goes hand-in-hand with the equally loathsome idea that the artist who creates it is not smart enough or artistic enough or brave enough to do real art.
SO SAY WE ALL! Or, at least, so says me. FUN isn't bad or wrong; it's just different. And I think artists who have forgotten how to have fun, or who have put it behind their PURPOSE in art have lost the ability to make true art. Yes, art's purpose is often to push the boundaries and bend the rules--but it's also about being human, and the many ways that is expressed in our lives. There's nothing wrong or stupid about having fun with art. (This says the woman who is still slightly embarrassed about how much money she's spent on dolls and doll clothing to scratch her creative gene there. It's still about characters and creating and the stories they have to tell--just in a more 3d format.)
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Which is exactly why I am getting a degree in history rather than creative writing--and why I'm doing my M.A. in Public History and not Writing. I do not want to know how to write the way they do. I write to tell stories, and yes, I may make a statement along hte way--but that's because there was a story there to tell first.
the prevailing sense in the pro art world that this is the best and only way to be a "proper" artist. I loathe the pervasive idea that art which is created because it's fun, or created for the sake of pleasing or entertaining people, is less in every way, which goes hand-in-hand with the equally loathsome idea that the artist who creates it is not smart enough or artistic enough or brave enough to do real art.
SO SAY WE ALL! Or, at least, so says me. FUN isn't bad or wrong; it's just different. And I think artists who have forgotten how to have fun, or who have put it behind their PURPOSE in art have lost the ability to make true art. Yes, art's purpose is often to push the boundaries and bend the rules--but it's also about being human, and the many ways that is expressed in our lives. There's nothing wrong or stupid about having fun with art. (This says the woman who is still slightly embarrassed about how much money she's spent on dolls and doll clothing to scratch her creative gene there. It's still about characters and creating and the stories they have to tell--just in a more 3d format.)