Monday, January 07, 2008

Questions and ridicule...

The artist asks "How was it done? Can I do that? Can I improve on that? Can I do the same sort of thing, but only different-perhaps from my own unique style?"

The non artist simply makes fun of the artist and adds nothing to the joy of life. Poop on you!

7 comments:

Anonymous said...

I detect angst in your post. Have you been recently offended by a non-artist?

allen etter said...

Oh, just non artists in general...it's all job related frustration. Today was the first day back after a relaxing vacation. And to be fair, this doesn't refer to ALL non artists. My wife isn't an artist and she is usually quite encouraging - as is a lot of my friends...which is why they are my friends and not people I despise. I was watching the Blade Runner DVD documentaries and it was interesting seeing how many people just didn't get Ridley Scott's vision. Same with Lucas on the first Star Wars movie. Same with Van Gogh, but he was NUTS!

jonzig said...

I'll have to admit that I get annoyed sometimes by artists who act as if they're misunderstood, but the fact is that their idea is crap and there's nothing to be understood and it really isn't art.

However, you're right that there are people... 'non-artists'... who prefer things to always have singular meaning and never stretch their personal understanding of the world nor want to look at objects/ideas in another way. It challenges what they hold true... and quite frankly they're happy being blissfully monomorphic.

That's why I like art and physics, both challenge your perception of how you understand the world.

Unknown said...
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Unknown said...

I like to think of myself as an artist in what I do, sometimes, but I am not sure most non-artists make fun of something just because they don't understand it,I believe that most people make fun of art from time to time, because they simply don't like what they see. Plus Ridley, and Lucas proved everyone wrong when their ideas took off and made them millionaires, this just shows that more people like our ideas, it is just those who don't like them that are more willing to speak up. There are things that I see that as a person and artist that I think are just plain ridiculous. Allen, you can't tell me that you haven't made fun of someone's art just because of how bad it looked to you. Art is in the eye of the beholder, and unfortunately not everyone has the same tastes, if they did the world would be a boring place.

Though I do agree that it gets frustrating when you have people poking holes in your ideas and projects (especially when it isn't done), because of the time and effort you put into it. I just try to ignore them and remember that there are people that appreciate and like what I do.

allen etter said...

Of course, Ted, I make fun of your art all of the time. This rant had/has nothing to do with our movie...I merely threw in the Lucas and Scott references because they fit the situation.

Let me break it down better. Yes, as Jon mentioned, there are artists who complain about people not getting their work...posers! We've all met them and they are not artists. And yes, I have critiqued art. It's part of my JOB as a teacher. I am talking about people who look at the creative process and those who create and go out of their way to squelch that fire and passion. I'm far from being passion squelched and could really care less what people think of my own art (still a little nervous about how the movie will be received but that's because it's not MY project it is an OUR project and I don't want to make anyone look bad after all the hard work that has been done)...I have had enough people say my art/writing was crap and enough people who love it. If I don't like it or if I do, then does it matter what others think? If I'm doing art for others, then it has to matter. That is why the Blade Runner documentary sparked this rant which was then fueled by something I witnessed at one of my many jobs.

This wasn't meant to be a poor pity me post, but a (as John Mclain would say) "If you aren't part of the solution, you're part of the problem. Stop being part of the problem' post.

Does that make more sense?

Unknown said...

Yeah it does make more sense, I knew it wasn't self pity, but your point is more clear. I had teachers like that at a University I went to. If it weren't for them (which I know I made choices too, so it isn't just them), I would probably have a bachelor's in art. The teachers there were part of the art process, but they shot you down, and told me I was worthless, and could never do anything creative, because I couldn't make the drawings look exactly how they thought it should look. It took till recently and better teachers that I realized that they were the idiots.
They tried to squelch my fire, I just found a new place to build my fire pit (medium) and let it burn.