What Should We Make Art About?
Musings of an artist's place in a working world
The nuns who live life in solitude, who live in silence, devote their lives to prayer and contemplation. What is their stimulation for this? I do wonder whether the contemplation responds to what they have experienced when they did interact with the world. Do they then spend the rest of their lives praying about their early experiences and what they are learning from the bible- which they are understanding in the context of that period of existence?
And who am I to judge? I am an artist. My early life consisted of going to school-studying, laughing with my friends, drawing and being taught and cared for by my family. I went to university to study art. When I came out it was time to make the monumental artworks which would give me some kind of living. I’m not saying I don’t have experiences which would make a worthwhile story-I believe everyone does. But how much time is spent bouncing art ideas off other art ideas, making art inspired by great thinkers of the creative fields, and not generating art from…life?
A common pitfall I have come across, is making art from the differences we have, controversies even. I have experienced the mental health services here in the UK over a decade ago. I am living with a stigmatised diagnosis. Perhaps if the way I experience the world is shaped by this, then sure, I should make art about it. If I felt my art could dispel some of the stigma I had experienced or seen others fall victim to, then yes, sure, I should make art about it. I could even make the point that it doesn’t contribute to how I define my identity, so I could make work about that. It could serve a cause greater than me as an individual and so the value comes in.
My concern is that art is in the vacuum of its own making, with the artist identifying themselves in the centre and playing pat ball against the four walls of theory, history, activism and other art.
Making worthwhile art straight out of university wasn’t realistic for me. I had to step outside first, down the rabbit hole of learning, and realising we never stop learning. In a way, longing for the teenage ‘I know everything’ attitude to resurface. Refining our vision takes as much work as refining our technique and concept. We do have to work. Many artists see those who have the freedom to create art- whether it be the liberty of space or time- as privileged. Circumstances, relationships and geography can all contribute, often with the goal of working as an artist full time. This means working on techniques, visions and concepts. It means spending your time bouncing off the work you have done to begin the work you will do. And this is because art is work- and we spend a lot of time doing it to make it valuable. Is this only to find that all that work consumes our lives and therefore the potential for value?
The industrial revolution, the tech revolution, the introduction of AI into our daily lives- came at us with promises of easier working lives. There are people of leisure, no doubt, but few would identify as one. If art is a job which preoccupies our lives, what do we make art about?
Stepping out of the art circle into the world where so many don’t engage in art and culture, surely we make art to ease, explain, and relate to those working people. How much is reaching them and how many are, in their own way, creating stories which bounce off their own days of freedom? Are we all nuns contemplating, without reaching out to those who could benefit from us?