what do artists get out of creating art

[kafkaFan1]

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.

[cambraceres]

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

[kafkaFan1]

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.

[cambraceres]

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

[Coffee]

I second what Cam has written, and would like to add a simple summation:

Artists get relief from creation. Putting their troubles in a tangible form largely removes the sting of those troubles and gives clarity to the situation. I'm not sure how good of an artist I am, but when I create something, I feel similar to the way I feel after I've just vomited.