One of the most serious problems of the artist, is that there are more artists producing more art than the public is asking for. Part of the problem is because the artist is usually at the front of cultural movement. And so, not everyone is able to understand what he is doing.
But there is also the problem that among the artists there are those who have more to say, and those who want to be artists more than they want to say something. It reminds me of an old joke I heard many years ago. It comes as a question: How do you relate to a medical student who always had difficulty preparing his lessons, whose friends helped him during tests, who had to be given a second chance with a number of tests, and only had his thesis accepted after rewriting it, and begging his professor for 'consideration' so that he can graduate? The answer is: You call him doctor. The same thing is true for artists, and plumbers and auto mechanics. Some people are A students, and some just barely get through. But in the end, they're part of the profession.
I've always felt that the most important thing for me as an artist, is that I find satisfaction in my work. It can be very exciting, producing a piece of art. Compared to my own excitement and gratification from the work, the audience is secondary. I believe that art is a work of communication, whether it be a painting, poetry, photography or sculpture. But it is not always easy to find a sensitive audience. In many cases, the art finds its own audience. I have spent some hours on the Deviant Art platform. And have seen fine works of art, which received many comments like cool, far out, awesome, and so on. You could see that there were people there, who had seen the work and wanted to show their appreciation to the artist, but just couldn't think of what to say. And didn't have anything original to say. Do these words say anything? Should the artist be running around looking for an audience? And what sort of an audience is he looking for? Is it enough just to have someone, anyone, look at his work?
aching for life
10loves10
I agree with you completely when you say that 'they're part of the profession' and persoanlly I don't mind variety in art even if it's not to my taste - in fact, I believe variety is necessary for a healty and thriving art culture - what I hate however is when people like Damien Hirst make money out of nothing, or worse by ripping off a number of other people, and swagger around declaring themselves to be euquals to the likes of the Old Masters.
PS Love the photograph. Says a lot without trying too hard.