The Life of the Artist

       

       

       The life of an artist is an oddity in the modern world. It is common for young people to be encouraged to determine a career path from an early age and then to dedicate themselves to its development throughout the rest of their lives. The practicality of seeking a well paying career usually informs this choice, with passion for the selected role taking a secondary position of importance.  By contrast, those who are truly artists rarely choose to become artists. The need to follow the path of the artist is more of an internal pressure that forces them relentlessly to pursue the god of creativity. As a career, that of the artist is usually one that provides small financial compensation.

       Money has almost always been of concern when people have sought a direction in their lives. The modern world is predominantly a world of unbridled capitalism offering few alternatives to the pursuit of money as a direct path to self-actualization.  As a result, from an early age, our society expects young people to actively begin determining a career path which provides good financial compensation.  Having a passion for a particular career is considered to be a positive attribute of any career path chosen by a young person. However, if the choice is between doing what they love and making little money or doing something they hate but making a great deal of money, the advice is almost always in favor of  the young person making money rather than doing what they love.

       It is entirely possible that this preference for money over happiness is the source of a great deal of the misery in our world. It may be no coincidence that with the modern pursuit of money before all other things, we also have the development of the mid-life crisis; a phenomenon which was virtually unheard of until modern times.  As young people are pushed to select careers for the purpose of financial gain, many often find that as they have attained some degree of monetary success by middle age, they are unsatisfied with the condition and quality of their lives. Such a realization forces them to reconsider their choices and pushes them to pursue alternative directions which may be less financially beneficial, though far more psychologically rewarding.

       Financial gain as an artist is a rare achievement. Most artists do not receive enough money from their work to adequately support themselves. As such, for most artists, the motivation for becoming an artist has little to do with monetary compensation.  

       For some who are financially secure to start with, the life of the artist is a lifestyle. Those without the need to pursue money to support themselves cast about to find some interesting way to occupy themselves. For many of these, the dynamism of the world of art provides ample motivation to pursue art. If these do not find themselves having a natural inclination or talent for creation, money may provide them with the possibility of an expensive art education. With the subjective nature of art and having been educated in the basics of technique and art history, they find it relatively simple to pursue a career in culture. When the need to make a living is not a concern, then the pressure to create valuable or important works is also of little concern. For this type of professional artist, the creation of the work is an entertainment, and the lifestyle of the artist a way of giving one’s life a quantifiable characteristic which other people can readily recognize. This type of artist clearly chooses to be an artist. This is not to say that every artist having financial security is this kind of artist, but many are.

       Beyond the artists who have good access to money, there are those that do not and yet still pursue art. For many, financial concerns are as important to them as they are to those people who choose other more lucrative careers. And yet, despite a very good probability they will not do well financially as an artist, they feel compelled to pursue art anyway. Such people usually make this choice with complete lucidity in regard to the most likely outcome of their decision. For these people, the need to create is paramount. They are the artists that will create no matter the circumstance. If they do not have the financial possibility to attend art school, they will teach themselves. If they do not have the money for materials, they will take a job and buy art materials before they take care of other basic needs. If they do not have the ability to get a gallery showing for their work, they will save their own money and make a pop up showing in a rented space. For such artists, the relentless internal pressure within them to create is the source of their pertinacity. Their obdurate will in pursuing their work is the result of an absolute necessity to create.

       The two types of artists can be found throughout the history of art. In general, the former type of artist, in keeping with modernity, is most commonly found in our own times. As the world of art has become colonized by big business, the maxim that money goes to money, has become dominant. As a result, those who have access to large amounts of money tend to have the best chances in promoting themselves and obtaining gallery showings as well as to have interaction with collectors. By contrast, the later type of artist is less visible in the current context as the importance of money in achieving visibility limits their ability to do so when they do not have it. In previous times when the amount of money invested in the art world was much less, the chances of an artist gaining recognition when they were without great financial resources was better. When we look back into art history, though there are cases of those who were well-off becoming artists, we most often come across artists who began life without money and recognition and would later obtain these things exactly because of their pursuits in art.

       Given the importance of money to the modern world, and given its importance in achieving anything of consequence in the art world of today, it is remarkable to see the activities of these artists which choose to pursue art without the money to do so. As they continue with art under such circumstances, there is no doubt that if they could, they would rather do something else with their lives.  These artists follow the life of the artist from sheer need rather than simple choice.  It leaves one to wonder if in what they do, there may be a grander purpose that they themselves are not aware of.  What is very clear, beyond any speculation, is that in a world of money, the life of the artist, which is very much beyond the pretensions of financial stability, stands out in sharp contrast as a complete oddity.