Hacker News Board Hacker News, browsed like a classic message board
Live data from Hacker News

You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

cdahmedeh.net

Post reply on HN
Print view View original

201–210 of 273 posts

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#201

Post by xor99 »

Phillip Glass was a taxi driver and half of his contemporaries in NY did removals. Loads of these composers are extremely successful AND I've never heard an interview where he talks about how insanely horrible it was/he was entitled to do something else. This isn't going to work for everyone and many of these kinds of jobs are not around anymore so people should be supported to make art and music (e.g. ubi or patrons/foundations).

H/w I can't stand the current hipster bs around "pure" artists and muscians (e.g. I only show at X or I'm an IDM genius since I was eight etc). It's very silly and enforces an artificial scarcity that's not good for anyone. You don't have to be a pure artist to be successful, there is no such thing.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#202

Post by asdff »

rafaelero wrote: post #127
8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #95

There's a lot of entitlement from "artists" who sit on a moral high horse and expect special treatment because they're "expressing a higher truth" while the rest of us normies toil in obscurity and sell our souls to corporate overlords to pay the bills. Not all artists are like that, and IME the more successful and experienced ones are the least likely to think that way, but the attitude is quite common with beginner…

With the development of AI, it's been quite an experience to see artists grasping the fact that their craft is not the magical thing they think it is.

It's never been about the craft. A lot of people can draw and paint in this world. People pay more money for art because of the individual behind it and its provenance. AI generated content will probably remain relegated to stock imagery or cheap mass produced prints sold at retailers.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#203

Post by matheusmoreira »

sushisource wrote: post #192
matheusmoreira wrote: post #189

Earlier quoted context omitted.

> I don't paint for you. I paint for myself. It's part of my life. > A place where there are no compromises, no demands, no expectations, no projections, no assessments, no tasks, no metrics, no applause and no glory. > A place where I am happy. I have immense respect for you. I did something along these lines too: switched fields so I could write software for myself. The same reasons you listed resonated deeply with…

Can you elaborate a bit? When I have a project I'm really exited about working on I'm productive and it feels great, when it's something I have to do for the business but I don't love the project, I'm slow and doing the work is a grind. So, I think about how I could only write the software I want to write a decent amount. What did you do?

I feel the same way. I have attention deficit disorder: it's really hard for me to concentrate on "boring" tasks. However, I actually have hyperattention when it comes to stuff I find interesting.

I've been programming since I was 14, I really love computers but the business aspect really turns me off. I can do it well if I need to but it just doesn't interest me like the operating systems, programming languages, virtual machines...

So when the time came for me to choose between a career in technology or something else like medical or law school, I chose something else. I'm somewhat comfortable now, still developing my career. I come here every day to read and talk about technology and sometimes I'll even publish a project on GitHub. Still wonder what it would have been like had I made a different choice.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#205

Post by ausbah »

Geonode wrote: post #130
golly_ned wrote: post #91

Earlier quoted context omitted.

This is so patronizing.

No, throughout the article there are major hallmarks of underdeveloped English writing mastery, and overall the whole thing is a bit more florid than it is clear and to the point.

the peak for me was the unaccompanied use of "serendipitously", don't want to be mr-anti-intellect but this was a slog

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#206

Post by rafaelero »

asdff wrote: post #202
rafaelero wrote: post #127

Earlier quoted context omitted.

With the development of AI, it's been quite an experience to see artists grasping the fact that their craft is not the magical thing they think it is.

It's never been about the craft. A lot of people can draw and paint in this world. People pay more money for art because of the individual behind it and its provenance. AI generated content will probably remain relegated to stock imagery or cheap mass produced prints sold at retailers.

I partially agree when it comes to music and painting. But when I watch a movie, I am not that interested on who wrote it. The same with books. I just want to be entertained.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#207

Post by r0s »

> Eventually, I realized that it’s not the best work and most original that makes it to top, but rather the mediocre.

Not at all true. The "top" work is a successful product, OR it gains a large following regardless of commercial success.

Lots of the best ideas are diluted into a mundane product, and plenty of critic's darlings never reach any notable audience.

You can put your art into the market, or the court of public opinion, either way you need a thick skin. Jung said artists have large egos because they are so exposed.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#208

Post by DubiousPusher »

ghaff wrote: post #79
DubiousPusher wrote: post #74

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Yeah but the "classic rock" phase came at a particularly unique time in history when hegemonic record labels and focused their efforts to popularize a very small cohort of artists. And cheap broadcast technology and syndicates made uniform radio the cheapest form of entertainment in human history. I can't say it enough. Mid 20th century America and Western Europe are one of the mlst unique media landscapes in human h…

I could make the same statement about classical music, opera, ballet, film, "oldies," folk for at least some subcategory, etc. and I think it would still be generally true.

Our perception and knowledge of most of these things has been filtered through a fairly narrow, ubiquitous and recent cultural criticism.

What's more, the canonization of these thinga has caused our modern media to refrence and reflect them. Meaning we likely have a predisposition towards them as their structure and tropes are familiar to us. Your popular measure of quality is terribly tainted.

How much time have you personally spent digging into obscure classical music or have you mostly listened to the cannon? I can say I certainly have stuck to the big names. But the big names of today weren't universally heralded in their time. In fact the reputation of art changes with the time.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#209

Post by zupreme »

nbzso wrote: post #141

A little life story: I had commercial success in art at the humble age of 23. Not only were my paintings respected and collected by accomplished and wealthy individuals, they formed commissions for years to come. My success was the result of an obsession with craftsmanship and clever word-of-mouth marketing. Suddenly, one day after insisting on meeting the deadline of the expensive commission, I had a headache and my…

What you said at the end deeply resonated with me. I made a similar decision regarding music years ago and since giving up all aspirations of commercial success from music, the quality of what I am able to create has blossomed - and then tanks again the moment I so much as THINK of making a track to put up for sale.

So I came to the similar conclusion of playing only for myself and my family, and I am much happier with music as a result.

I recommend to anyone working on talent-development to try, the next time inspiration strikes, creating your next piece of art for an audience of one (Self) and see what happens. The results may surprise you.

Re: You can't afford to be an artist and/or author, let alone be respected

#210

Post by wwweston »

8f2ab37a-ed6c wrote: post #95

There's a lot of entitlement from "artists" who sit on a moral high horse and expect special treatment because they're "expressing a higher truth" while the rest of us normies toil in obscurity and sell our souls to corporate overlords to pay the bills. Not all artists are like that, and IME the more successful and experienced ones are the least likely to think that way, but the attitude is quite common with beginner…

> You always see signs exhorting you to "support your local artists", yet you never see encouragement to support your local roofers.

Nobody asks roofers to work for "exposure."

Nobody's telling roofers that a penny per shingle / tile would be "entitled" of them (https://www.digitalmusicnews.com/2021/06/29/spotify-executiv... ).

Nobody's arguing that roofers should agree to roof for a pittance and come up with some "hustle" like t-shirts or other roofing merchandise in order to enjoy the privilege of roofing.

People do ALL these things with artists.

Labor should be paid, that's true. Trade work is valuable, sure. Craft is a matter worthy of respect, certainly.

But the idea that most artists (outside of a small fraction) are somehow privileged is so far from the truth that it isn't even wrong.

Post reply on HN