Random thoughts of an artist at 11:30 pm
August 06, 2012
Yesterday after watching the documentary about Ai Wei Wei “Never Sorry”, now more than ever having a story that people can invest in and connect to as an artist is huge. The connection of your story can either make you or break you and can be the determining factor of your success, even more so than your art work. Artists who reach the status of icons and become celebrities beyond art circles are followed by wealthy collectors to the average Joe. There is something about their story that goes beyond the canvas, at this point their celebrity becomes a vehicle to a larger purpose and mission. In order for followers to rally behind a movement there has to be a leader or set of leaders who possess charisma that is unconventional and infectious. This inert belief by the chosen leaders in the art world who convince us that personal sacrifice is most beneficial for the collective in return place an expectation of sacrifice upon each individual within the collective. Once accountability and responsibility is handed down from the artist to the public with a sense of importance, history is made, a movement is set in motion and the artist(s) become a conduit for change. Once the larger society of people begin to take notice beyond the art world the effect an artist has on the public becomes paramount to the society as a whole and more specifically to race, culture, generation, and etc. For some strange reason I think the aristocratic society secretly cheer for the underdog and victims of the society they help to support out of greed and their egocentric attitudes, of course they too are victims plagued by an absence of humility or in the worst cases being disconnected to humanity. No matter your exposure to the arts learning and developing an appreciation for art in a broad generalization helps to remind us that we are human and the artists in their imperfections are constantly trying to reach perfection within their imagination, medium, space, instrument, stage and so on only to come back to the essence of humanity. I’m not beating up on the rich after all we love their financial support especially when they help fund the next big project or buy into the next big artist. These well to doers are typically surrounded by privilege which means they have options, resources and opportunity as well as economic influence. Therefore suffering to them is in the form of image not discrimination or inequality. I would say the upper echelon see the unorthodox celebrity artists subconsciously as visionaries who take on social responsibilities with a sense of courage and integrity they may lack. There is a certain power associated with money but this power doesn’t compare to the power and actions that are exercised by values and values are ignorant to the power of class or social status….random thoughts. What makes you as an artist valuable?
Posted by dustineparr on August 07, 2012
valuable? art is valued to a very specific number of people; namely the artist and 1 of maybe thousands of viewers that actually responds and resonates to a particular work. So, our art has an intrinsic value, but what you were saying with the aristocratic and bourgeois classes, they associate money with value.... dumbasses. It is when these people buy and sell to profit, collect to impress, and donate and display shit work to museums (not knocking on museums) is where filth convoluted the purity of the relationship between artist and viewer. it is like fashion, do people wear clothes because they are fitting and comfortable? obviously not. they want a favorable judgement from others. this mindset creates an art market that thrives on "the new next cool scene" and contributes to many many beautiful artists never seeing the light of day. i think money though my friend, does exceed the powers of morality as you conversely mentioned. it is because money is value to some people. money is power, and if that is valued, there is no saint capable of changing the ways of a crooked man. but i am rambling now as well. the thing that makes me as an artist valuable is the potential to passively create a stirring of consciousness, or a depth of meditation. The thought in each head of every man, woman, and child that views my paintings is also my own thought.
Posted by dustineparr on August 07, 2012
an afterthought about weiwei: he most assuredly knew what he was doing with all this freedom jazz. I mean, we all know it takes action to create freedom, and weiwei has the balls to stand up and say, NO! fuck you and your totalitarian regime! but, i would wager a years salary that he knew how the media would perceive him, and knew also that the art world would not only throw money at his work, if anything happened, they would make him a martyr. bing bang boom, your legacy lives on my friend. He just had to make sure he had the media's attention before he was arrested.
Posted by hemakehersick on August 15, 2012
@dustineparr well said and 100% right