The Future of Art & Artists of the
Future
A Painter’s Perspective
By C.J. Irwin
There has been much discussion of late about the future of Art; about
the future of the ‘traditional artist’.
ARTS = Entertainment and entertainment feeds the hungry vein that helps
fuel the spirit of all mankind. All of us are attracted to Art in one form or
another. It’s inherent and lives deep within. To each and every one of us, our taste
in art is as specific and individualistic as a thumb print.
Maybe it’s the emotion and power of Bach’s Cello Suite No 5 in C Minor. Maybe it’s the writings of a poet or author
that whisks us away on adventure. Maybe it’s the mesmerizing moves of a dancer effortlessly
flowing across the floor. A good movie on a big screen can be spellbinding. The
unharnessed and collective energy of a ‘live’ concert can create a contagious
feedback that everyone in the room can feel. Maybe it’s a conceptual trigger or
the textural paint that is pulling across the expanse of the painter’s canvas that
transports us into another world. Whatever your preferences in the arts, it’s
hard to ignore an art form when it’s talking to YOU.
They say never begin a sentence with ‘but’… but this is a big BUT. What
happens when we get the majority of our entertainment, our experiences, our
arts from one common source? The great WWW. How do the millions of apps, the ever developing technology
and the mind blowing print capabilities affect the production and mass
distribution of Art? How will the value of digitally and mass distributed art
be perceived as it passes from viewer to viewer faster than a speeding bullet? Is
it like a fading aura that weakens with each transmission; like a sound recording
that loses a generation with each reproduction? Like vinyl to CD, is a part of
the experience lost? How will the original art‘s aura value change? How do
Artists retain their ownership/copyright? How do Artists control the altered
and passed along memes of their work? So many questions. So many possibilities.
Look at the old-school music industry. It has pondered these questions for years.
It lost track and control of its customers by refusing to accept and adapt to obvious
change. Technology isn’t going anywhere… except in every single home, in every
single ear, through every single eye and eventually embedded into every single brain.
Infinite capabilities are difficult, maybe impossible to predict, even harder
to control. No one really knows where it’s going because
the progression is never ending.
Will the majority of art buyers purchase their Art online? They already do.
Films, books, fashion, music, paintings, sculpture and more have challenged
conventional retail. Art is selling well for those technically hooked up with
marketing. BUT usually, marketing and technology don’t come second nature to
Artists, nor do the funds required for set up and maintenance. For Artists
looking for virtual online exposure, the artisphere
is just as cliquey as real-time galleries, dealers, curators and agents. Competition
has never been as fierce and opportunity never greater. Twitter is testament to
this. Twitter is an artist’s paradise now they have added automatic photo.
There is sooooo much great art to view online.
A vigilant and savy business minded Artist understanding licensing and
copyright can be very succe$$ful - just like a Rockstar, but the difference
between rockstar and painter is that although the painter may sleep with their
muse they don’t paint for the money or the chics for free. Maybe they do :-) What was my point here? Ahhh - that the introduction of new devices,
apps, printers etal is creating more dimensions and opportunities than ever
before and as Artists, IF we decide to play in this arena, we must be smart,
adapt and keep up. If online
dealers approach with offers, we need to do our research and understand our
rights. It’s easy to give our work away unknowingly. Corporate onliners like
Facebook, Google and Amazon can own you if you’re not careful. Most of us don’t
even read the ten page privacy statements they throw up – we simply click
‘accept’. For Artists or anyone not wanting their material hijacked online, do the
research and read between the lines. Not unlike the music industry – copyright
is key. Recording artists want to keep their publishing; so do writers, painters
and candle-stick makers. Licensing, copyright infringement and memes are good
topics for a future blog.
Will film and the movie theatre die? Film and movies will never die but movie
theatres will. Will books as we know them disappear? Access will become
difficult and the Library may thrive again. Will the ‘live’ Gallery experience become extinct? NEVER. The
real time Gallery and Museum ‘experience’ can not and never will be duplicated
or replaced, although in the face of online competition, it WILL be difficult
to maintain. In all cases the ‘original’ piece in it’s virginal, first
generation aura will be most valued – both in sight value and monetary value. Even
if the piece has been reproduced and distributed 50million times, even if it seems
that the piece has become desensitized, the original will always be a
commodity. It represents the truest experience.
Until a computer can think on it’s own, whatever it creates will still
lack true human emotion. Sure computers are extensions of ourselves but the
results, although beautiful and well structured, seem to me anyway, to be
devoid of the main ingredient. As much as this doesn’t seem to be a deterrent to
some – it often is to me. I’m not saying that there isn’t a place for digital
art; there IS an art to digital work and it’s a growing medium, but when I look
at digital art I don’t really contemplate the process. Few understand the true
symbiosis between computers and printers and because it IS so technical, even
though we may find the piece aesthetically appealing, most don’t care about the
process. However, when a ‘live’, unadulterated, pure piece of art is in front
of me and I know that it has been created by an artist’s hand and heart, the
interaction is more personal, with more appreciation. It invites me to ask
questions, inquire about the process and of course relate it all to the Artist
that created it. So will digital/technical art kill off the ‘traditional
Artist’? Stupid question.
I’m a young artist, meaning that I’ve only been painting fifteen years.
Art is my outlet, my plug-in that allows me to feed off the meditation-like
process of LIFE. It’s my rhythm, rhyme and reason and without it – well, I don’t
contemplate that. I love that
creating art is a never ending learning, experimental and experiential process.
Simply, that’s the underlying hook for artists. It’s this simple process that
keeps us doing what we do. Love and Addiction. This is why we spend hours
creating something that may only appeal to ourselves. This is why we can easily
shrug off a failed experiment. We don’t think about the mess; sometimes not
even the toxicity. If we forget to breathe while painting, our body will remind
us. Sometimes our nutrition suffers because we’d rather art than eat. Materials
are mad expensive. Poorly attended shows can hurt our oh-so-sensitive egos and
in my case, living in the country can make it difficult to get attention. Did I
mention that being an artist can also make you feel like a social outcast or
recluse? How many times have I cancelled a dinner engagement or a night out with
friends? “Sorry can’t make it, I’m in the middle of a major project”. Or, maybe it’s because there are
highlights in my hair that aren’t by Clairol, my scent is Eau de Linseed and I
have few clothes that haven’t been touched by paint.
The ‘traditional artist’ creates simply out of an innate drive. Creativity
provides a sense of accomplishment, a beginning and an end. Creativity isn’t
exclusive to the typical ‘artist’. Whether you are a baker, a teacher, a wine
sommelier or you’re restoring a ’57 Chevy, you are being creative and the best
of you have practiced your craft to a state of ART. The process and the results
are the same - cerebral, soothing, therapeutic and satisfying. About the only
other thing that can compete with this is sex.
How are Artists perceived? When I moved from the city to a smaller town
a decade ago, even though I moved my marketing business with me and worked nine-to-five,
I always seemed to be introduced by others in the community as – ‘an Artist’.
Mostly I felt complimented by the label but on odd occasion I felt slightly
demeaned. After all, I’m now in a much smaller community where culture isn’t
rightly supported and many of the people I meet hold office or hard labor jobs.
I loved my business for thirty years, but dammit, I love painting more. Does it
make me a bum? Seriously, today few people take artists seriously. It’s a myth
that we don’t grind as hard. Oh we grind, maybe harder and we still support
ourselves and pay taxes. Many of us know we may never match the snack bracket
of those in the concrete jungle but that isn’t our goal. It’s an economic
designation and a choice we’ve made and most of us, even though we really do
know struggle, are comfortable with our decision.
During the time of Rembrandt, Artists were held in high regard. There
were no magazines, the few pamphlets that existed were hand-scribed, passed
around and copied over and over. There was no photography, no television, no
radio, no internet. ‘Live’ music, painting, theatre, story-telling and dance
were considered magical arts. Unfortunately, today, art commercialism built by
the higher tiered galleries, curators and dealers has placed much of the art
market beyond reason, price or talent.
Of course it doesn’t help that Science continues to weave an association
between Artists and mental illness and it’s obvious that more than a few have
read the articles. It probably accounts for the summer encounter I had recently.
Hot day. I decided to cool off at the local watering hole before dinner.
There’s a table of eight people in the corner; some I know, some I don’t. “Join
us CJ”. I sit and am introduced as local artist. Some ask questions and I get
to tell people about my Gallery. But then, there’s always one isn’t there? A
fellow at the far end of the table, in a too-small suit, tie slightly askew,
beer in fist, balances his chair on two hind legs. He hasn’t said a word and he
barely acknowledged my introduction. I’m drawn to look at him because I feel
his eyes, but he seems to look straight past me whenever I look at him. When I
do manage to catch him looking at me, he has that smile, you know the one that
doesn’t quite creep into the eyes. Have you ever seen eyes that smirk? “So how
long you been an Artist?” he asks. Before I can answer he spits out another
question. “How’s it workin for ya, you actually make a living from it?”. I wait
for the next question and when it doesn’t come I answer. “Well, I outgrew my suit and tie. I’ll
probably never be rich like you, but I’m happy” I retort. “I dated an Artist
once”, he says. “Trying to get her to come out was such an effort”. “I can’t
see you tonight, I’m painting” he mimes in his best girlie voice. Inside I
laugh because of the obvious. “I think she’s a bit nuts anyway” he says. “Who
Jenna?” says the fellow beside him. “She’s bi-polar”. “Well, they say all artists are some kinda fucked up crazy”
says the suit with the smirky eyes. And there it was, the mark of disgrace
associated with being an Artist. Stigma.
Last year researchers at the Karolinska Institute in Sweden, one of
Europe’s most prestigious medical universities, released an article that
claimed, as many other articles have, that artists of all genres have a higher
risk of anxiety, schizophrenia, depression and bipolar disorders and that they
are almost twice as likely as anyone to commit suicide (as reported in the
Journal of Psychiatric Research). Of course, they don’t look at the finer
details as to probable causes for suicide i.e. unstructured lifestyle,
addictions, isolation which can lead to depression, the struggle of
self-employment, low remuneration, little security, heavy competition, inappreciation and criticism. It’s not a wonder that from time to time an
artist feels doubt and fear. BUT DOESN’T EVERYONE at some point in their life?
Anyone denying fear and doubt in today’s world is either lying or dead. Being
an artist today is a huge gamble and if you’re going for the money you’ll
definitely have better odds in Vegas. Many artists do lead a lifestyle that
some may call eccentric, but that eccentricity may just be creativity and maybe
that simply means – thinking in a different way.
Who’s crazier? Me or the guy in the suit and smirk that works in
commerce, hoodwinking clients with commissions and financial risk. Like they
say, if it makes you happy… and as Artists, creativity makes us happy. IF we
didn’t have our art and expression, then maybe we would be crazy. I’ve been
fortunate enough to have experienced the corporate world and the art world, ‘both
sides’ as Joni would say, “and I really don’t know life ~ at all”. All I do know is that I don’t want to work
or paint the same scene over and over. I want to keep it moving, keep it
challenging, keep it fresh. Trial, error and fail if I must. Failing is an art
too and essential to success, teaching us what works and doesn’t. And NO, I
don’t want to be a techie, in fact I abhor the demands of it, but I’ll learn
what I need to in order to stay in the game.
So who/what is an Artist of the future? We will continue to be a bunch
of crazed lovers of an intimate universal language, determined to translate
ideas, thoughts and emotions through the flow of paint, music, dance, words, film,
fashion and all mediums of art. This will NEVER change. We will morph but our
nature will remain. To all Artists out there – Keep on! Art is Truth. We may
never be as cunning as Bansky or as masterful as Rembrandt. Or maybe we will. Maybe
Banksy and Rembrandt will pale to what comes in the future. We accept who and what
we are and just because we haven’t been discovered yet or maybe ever, doesn’t mean
we’re not good enough or relevant. We’ll learn what we need to to protect
ourselves and move forward. We’ll never feel that we must defend our vocation.
Our art is our identity. We’ll feel our persona and ignore fear and doubt or
use it to our advantage. We’ll feed our soul. We’ll be Happy! Albert
Schweitzer, musician, artist said, “Success is not the key to happiness.
Happiness is the key to success. If you love what you are doing, YOU WILL BE SUCCESSFUL” and knowing
this, having the ability to create and the mere act of doing it makes us not
only successful, but the luckiest bunch of people on the planet.
Cheers to the Arts!
