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

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

#221

Post by deathanatos »

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…

I can't paint for myself:

> the nature of [needing to put bread on the table] is energy depleting zapping any creative juices needed for the concentration and initiative to produce content. Let alone something of high-quality that doesn’t exude fatigue.

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

#222

Post by HKH2 »

tjs8rj wrote: post #86
buscoquadnary wrote: post #39

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Patronage. Honestly music was profitable for a very brief period of time between around 1940s-1990's. Every other time in history it's required someone rich to like you enough to pay you to do it, or be a traveling minstrel who lived on the edge of society. Like even Wagner who is arguably one of the most influential and popular composers of all time spent most of his life destitute and only was stable when the Kaise…

Hypothetically music should be priced like medicine or drugs. What you "get" out of it is a mood, like a stimulant or depressant (but with more complexity and side effects). "For $20, I can sell you this audio file that makes you yearn for the deep friendships you created that summer a few years ago. Side effects may include vivid visual memories and internal hallucinations of what could have been, sudden mood swings…

You'd need to collect a lot of data for that, and there is no guarantee that the person listening hasn't built up a tolerance to it already.

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

#223

Post by watwut »

nosianu wrote: post #82
watwut wrote: post #71

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Neither Mozart nor Bach were poor. Quite a lot of these were basically middle class - respectable good paid job, but you are not Elon Muck rich. And some of them earned less then they could due to own habit of alienate people (Beethoven).

Both examples you picked were at the very top of their profession - and then some - even at their time. I'm not sure if looking at the Newtons, Einsteins, or Mozarts and Bachs of the past tells us all that much for the current discussion. Not to leave it at criticism, while highly specialized, the excellent lectures of Professor Christopher Page of Gresham College linked on the bottom of https://www.gresham.ac.uk/spe…

All examples in the original comment are people at the top of the profession. Literally none of them is average music teacher. And the question was "who paid for the great music of the period".

Einstein was not richer then other physicians. His fame could have help him when emigrating and at keeping employment, but afaik it was not rewarded by super unusual riches.

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

#224

Post by ornornor »

qaq wrote: post #147
bsder wrote: post #133

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I really do wish we had "basic income" in the US. Besides helping out the lowest socioeconomic class, it really seems like this would benefit artists, too.

Well the COVID gave a taste of it still can't put inflation under control from that experiment.

Is it from the couple thousand stimulus checks or is it from the billions companies got for free?

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

#225

Post by Ekaros »

swayvil wrote: post #41
thethethethe wrote: post #33

Seems a little entitled to me. Why should artists be able to spend their time doing exactly what they want while all the boring plebs have to pick vegetables/write CRUD apps? Sounds like someone is upset that more people dont find utility in their work

Because artists make the world an objectively better place in an uncommonly powerful way. Because it's an excellent investment, socially speaking. Because investment in the arts (I mean serious investment. Not like USA) has worked pretty well for some countries.

Not starving or dying from dysentery or hypothermia is infinitely more important and valuable than any art will ever be. Art has zero value for survival, and in some sense even huge negative value possibly.

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

#226

Post by Ekaros »

sinecure wrote: post #119

Online artists, particularly those gunning for a big twitter following, have to hit it with a specific niche to make it big. I've seen people blow up for drawing really great knights, or sexy sea monsters, or for making really cool space ships. The big artists typically have an area of focus that goes viral. Or they are the highest professionals who work on Disney, Pixar, Video games etc. I have a story of watching s…

And if you can go for furry community. From what I have heard they have both money and willingness to pay for it...

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

#227

Post by Ekaros »

nine_k wrote: post #46
klipt wrote: post #24

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Rich patrons mostly.

Also, the church(es) which employed many of them. On top of that, music was not a commodity back then. Live performances literally made a living for many of them as these performances were the only source of music. (And a church needs this music for every mass, for instance.) Now music is abundant, recordings are cheap / free, and the best performance is easily available in a recorded form. Live performances are stil…

Also most people were pretty poor at that time. Honestly being a live performer probably wasn't that horrible job comparatively. Think of farming or manual labour or low rung artisan. Grinding making some parts in poorly lit conditions.

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

#228

Post by qaq »

ornornor wrote: post #224
qaq wrote: post #147

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Well the COVID gave a taste of it still can't put inflation under control from that experiment.

Is it from the couple thousand stimulus checks or is it from the billions companies got for free?

was inflation mostly in industrial equipment or consumer goods?

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

#229

Post by ornornor »

qaq wrote: post #228
ornornor wrote: post #224

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Is it from the couple thousand stimulus checks or is it from the billions companies got for free?

was inflation mostly in industrial equipment or consumer goods?

Doesn’t one trigger the other in a vicious circle?

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

#230

Post by onetokeoverthe »

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…

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