Two Plus Two Newer Archives  

Go Back   Two Plus Two Newer Archives > 2+2 Communities > The Lounge: Discussion+Review

Reply
 
Thread Tools Display Modes
  #1  
Old 11-21-2007, 09:48 AM
xxThe_Lebowskixx xxThe_Lebowskixx is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2006
Location: Indeed.
Posts: 3,784
Default what do artists get out of creating art

suppose someone has a great story or a great painting inside of them. getting it out could take years of torment, failure and misery.

if the effort worth it?

what the artist gains:

1. financial gain (sometimes)
2. respect from peers, fame (sometimes)
3. self satisfaction with his creation/achievement

I'm concerned with #3. Do we have any artists on record saying whether all their pain was worth it? Are artists victims who were cursed with a capacity for greatness and realizing this felt a responsibility to sacrifice their blood and sweet?

If a director watches his film 500 times to make sure its perfect, aren't we the viewer who sits down relaxingly to watch it getting more out of it than he does?
Reply With Quote
  #2  
Old 11-21-2007, 10:41 AM
KilgoreTrout KilgoreTrout is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Aug 2003
Location: This is my boomstick
Posts: 3,126
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art



They get to say, "Look what I created!!!"
Reply With Quote
  #3  
Old 11-21-2007, 10:59 AM
rothko rothko is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jan 2006
Location: nowhere, really
Posts: 5,437
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

[ QUOTE ]
If a director watches his film 500 times to make sure its perfect, aren't we the viewer who sits down relaxingly to watch it getting more out of it than he does?

[/ QUOTE ]

no. the viewer puts less into it and that is where the inequity is not that the viewer get more out of it. as a casual filmmaker/musician/painter/writer i can say from experience that i get way more out of my creations than anyone else ever will or can, but it does come at a cost of much effort.
Reply With Quote
  #4  
Old 11-21-2007, 01:45 PM
David H David H is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2004
Location: Cincinnati
Posts: 2,454
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

[ QUOTE ]
If a director watches his film 500 times to make sure its perfect, aren't we the viewer who sits down relaxingly to watch it getting more out of it than he does?

[/ QUOTE ]
An NFL player works out 6 days a week, maintains a strict diet, and puts in extra work with a specialty coach...For all his hard work, we get to see him break the single season TD record and be the Super Bowl MVP. More enjoyable for us, or for him?

Effort!=lack of enjoyment.
Reply With Quote
  #5  
Old 11-21-2007, 04:48 PM
daveT daveT is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Jun 2005
Location: disproving SAGE
Posts: 2,458
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

An artist, no matter, does what they do because that is what makes them happy. There is no way that a person who is not passionate can appreciate the work, thinking, and history that went into a painting, movie, or a plate of fine food.

An artist MUST be an artist. An artist is miserable in the world they presently live in. Creating makes him or her happy, and working on a painting sounds way more enjoyable than serving tables, no matter who you are.
Reply With Quote
  #6  
Old 11-22-2007, 04:49 AM
kafkaFan1 kafkaFan1 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 106
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

daveT what is that based on? I'm not a big expert on artists but get the impression a lot of them aren't very happy. I think creating is something they HAVE to do, not something they intellectually decide to do because it makes them happy. The doing it because that is just what they naturally do - well happiness or unhappiness could result just as easily.

Lebowski - some guy named "thebruiser500" who seems really really smart and a great person started this very related thread http://forumserver.twoplustwo.com/showfl...rt=all&vc=1

Lebowski - what prompts you to ask this question?

IMO creating things is a lot about vanity. Wanting to show the world how great you are, or maybe trying to show yourself you can do it.
Reply With Quote
  #7  
Old 11-22-2007, 08:10 AM
cambraceres cambraceres is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Short of Mind
Posts: 1,950
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

As a kafka fan, you should have a special insight into this one. Op mentioned financial gain as one of the motivating factors for expression, but it was less a factor for many greats, such as Kafka, than others would assume. Kafka recieved no payment for his work, and did not pursue fame as a matter of course. His work was done at night, after regular working hours, and it was done as he said to soothe an ache. On the other hand, Nabakov mentioned his singular cause when writing a book was to bring it to an end as quickly as possible, as if expression itself were painful.

There are alot of people who function largely, and naturally, upon emotion. Music, imagery, and all the other multivarious forms of art allow us to speak in terms that can only be felt, and to say the things which can in no other way be communicated. The value of expression for those who are more centered on how they feel is pervasive; for the apathetic, clear eyed middle ager; not so much. For the young and the emotionally predisposed, poets can be teachers, the most meaningful ones that can be found. artists deal in an ineffable product of unknown origins, that in some unclear way accesses the most precious vault; the reservior of human feelings. There is significant evidence that depressive mindsets produce artistic responses of higher quality and frequency, especially with manic depressives during an manic session. Tchaikovsky was bipolar, and his periods of production exactly coincide with manic episodes, and the same is true for a suprising number of artists, especially poets.


Cam

"Poetry is not entertainment, it is escape"
Robert Lowell
Reply With Quote
  #8  
Old 11-22-2007, 08:30 AM
kafkaFan1 kafkaFan1 is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Nov 2007
Posts: 106
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

hm liked your first paragraph you kind of lost me on a lot of the 2nd one though. i'll also add that i don't see how money could possibly play a main role in creating something of real value. it's easy to just look at poker players and see who is motivated by a competitive desire to be the best and who is motivated by a desire to win money and see how both those groups turn out.
Reply With Quote
  #9  
Old 11-22-2007, 09:23 AM
MagicNinja MagicNinja is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: May 2005
Location: Perth, Western Australia
Posts: 780
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

i just play music but the creative process is awesome, it feels awesome. you should read On Writing by steven king, he talks a lot about how great it feels to write stuff. a form of art is like a life pursuit and as you do it, you are thinking like 'wow i am improving, i am expressing my thoughts using the medium of my art'. seriously owns.
Reply With Quote
  #10  
Old 11-22-2007, 09:59 AM
cambraceres cambraceres is offline
Senior Member
 
Join Date: Sep 2005
Location: Short of Mind
Posts: 1,950
Default Re: what do artists get out of creating art

My second paragraph was a confused jumble of three different thoughts, that may be why it was lost on you.

Bipolar artists tend to be productive during manic episodes, in some cases these periods were the only productive ones. For these individuals, meaning those of a depressive demeanor, art is a tangible attempt to express and in that way assuage the pain brought by emotional problems. If you feel bad, and see the world through a putrid filter, without apparent reason and in defiance of your self-control, it is natural to do anything one can to change it.
Art accesses our feelings in a way nothing else can; the hues of an artists' product irradiate themselves over their entire lives, to magnificent artistic effect. Artists are emotional as a species, and in that way expression is their tool to fight back. How could an emotional being effect a positive change with no nonsense prosaic arguments? Logic does not attend feelings, and so argument is of no value.

I know for myself that a genuine delight in the growth of my skill is a major factor in pushing me to create, and aside from that to fill a need, a need that is FELT, not understood. It is therefore proper to service this need with an activity of EMOTIONAL value, regardless of it's intellectual elements.

Cam
Reply With Quote
Reply

Thread Tools
Display Modes

Posting Rules
You may not post new threads
You may not post replies
You may not post attachments
You may not edit your posts

BB code is On
Smilies are On
[IMG] code is On
HTML code is Off

Forum Jump


All times are GMT -4. The time now is 10:03 PM.


Powered by vBulletin® Version 3.8.11
Copyright ©2000 - 2024, vBulletin Solutions Inc.