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

cdahmedeh.net

261–270 of 273 posts

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

#261
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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

Increase in production capacity triggers inflations of end product prices?

increase of price for industrial inputs (petrol, chips, low stock, supply chain costs) should have a large impact if im not mistaken...

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

#262

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 have learned to love the grind. The grind/business part gives me the resources to paint or do the things that I like. But this is personal, I don't have a universal solution.

All of my colleagues (at the company) share the same mentality, we all work for money/resources. Most of us don't use any form of enthusiasm or emotional projection on a business task. We use a craftsmanship approach towards a product building. We strive to produce quality. It sounds banal, but it's true, and it works for us.

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

#263
post #173
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…

That’s a beautiful story. It’s so good that you found peace. I have a child who is enormously gifted and could probably follow precisely the same career path you described. I fear/hope that child will make the same decisions you did.

I have no kids and cannot reflect on the fear/hope part. Life is too complex to be predicted in general, we choose our own path alone. All that can attest to is that in my darkest moments, painting has given me a shelter and hope. When I paint, I completely loose sense of time. Actually, after some hiccups to this day I use an alarm to limit my sessions.:)

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

#264

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. That sounds idealistic to the point of foolishness. The end result of your decision to quit art was that you had to get a job as a graphic designer. Doesn't that achieve even less of your vision? A lot of…

There is nothing in the laws of nature that require "rational actor" application of leverage. Money does not buy happiness. It seems their previous job directly conflicted with their stated goal of expressing themselves, and the new graphic design gig does not. To me that achieved quite a lot.

Correct. Creating design and products serves others. Painting is personal. In my view, this is the difference between art and design. When creating art, I share my personal vision and emotions. Design is 'function over form', the goal of design is the UX and achieving a set of goals. The successful design/product is free from the designer's and creators egos, its purpose is to serve. You can use artistic tools and interpretation in graphic design as a medium, but you must deliver a balanced result within a set of rules and goals.

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

#265

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. That sounds idealistic to the point of foolishness. The end result of your decision to quit art was that you had to get a job as a graphic designer. Doesn't that achieve even less of your vision? A lot of…

Not just that. You spend way more of the 80000 hours in deliberate practice.

Practice towards what goal? To be the next Banksy? To be a millionaire? In my experience, practice has a limit. After a lot of hours I can code decently, and my stuff is working, but one of my developers which is in his twenties can outperform me with quality and elegance.

When you have a talent and a habit/routine, you can keep your form for years.

It is like muscle training, every day simple routine is more effective than two days in a week in the gym.

And my goal is to stay in shape and create something meaningful for myself, not to win the Art Olympics:)

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

#266
post #246

Earlier quoted context omitted.

Increase in production capacity triggers inflations of end product prices?

increase of price for industrial inputs (petrol, chips, low stock, supply chain costs) should have a large impact if im not mistaken...

That is driven by consumer demand though.

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

#267
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.

Saudi Arabia or Scandinavian countries have generous welfare. What have their populations achieved?

Some Finnish guy made a small mark in the history of operating systems a few years back. You might have heard of him.

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

#268
post #263
post #173

Earlier quoted context omitted.

That’s a beautiful story. It’s so good that you found peace. I have a child who is enormously gifted and could probably follow precisely the same career path you described. I fear/hope that child will make the same decisions you did.

I have no kids and cannot reflect on the fear/hope part. Life is too complex to be predicted in general, we choose our own path alone. All that can attest to is that in my darkest moments, painting has given me a shelter and hope. When I paint, I completely loose sense of time. Actually, after some hiccups to this day I use an alarm to limit my sessions.:)

> All that can attest to is that in my darkest moments, painting has given me a shelter and hope. When I paint, I completely lose sense of time.

That's me with programming.

I would of course love to links to your art if you're up to it

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

#269
post #202

Earlier quoted context omitted.

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.

Well then your tastes fall into the cheapo mass produced prints at Target category for movies and books. Some people do care about the provenance of a film, and watch any movie that comes out from a director they fawn over, for example.

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

#270
post #268
post #263

Earlier quoted context omitted.

I have no kids and cannot reflect on the fear/hope part. Life is too complex to be predicted in general, we choose our own path alone. All that can attest to is that in my darkest moments, painting has given me a shelter and hope. When I paint, I completely loose sense of time. Actually, after some hiccups to this day I use an alarm to limit my sessions.:)

> All that can attest to is that in my darkest moments, painting has given me a shelter and hope. When I paint, I completely lose sense of time. That's me with programming. I would of course love to links to your art if you're up to it

Thanks for your request, I am working on a show (series of experimental paintings) but I have a principle of not sharing on HN personal stuff. In this way, when I speak here, I have no filter and no self-censuring mechanism is applied.:)
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