Why are so many people driven to create art? I run a stock agency, Index Stock Imagery. But, I love to embroider. I’ll spend hours creating and executing a design for a pillowcase, only to give it away. (This one went to my Mongolian mother-in-law. The writing is her name, in Mongolian.)
My 80-year old father-in-law spent his career in government service. Yet, through it all, he did calligraphy. Look at the intensity in his face as he forms the characters. After he finished this lovely piece, he tore it up. Not good enough to suit him.
My company has 1,700 artists associated with it. They have given us the right to market more than 800,000 of their photographs and illustrations. Most of our artists make a living from creating art. However, most would not say that making money is the only reason to make art and many would say it is not even the main reason. Instead, something inside these people drives them. Their finger itches to be on the trigger of their camera. Their eyes record scenes for later analysis and deconstruction. They write a letter or chat with a friend, and stop in the middle to reflect on an image that occurred to them.
Much of this art may be far from mainstream and therefore challenging to established professionals. These amateurs spend thousands of dollars on equipment and training. They read books, enter contests, and yearn for feedback and praise. I’ve mentioned before the thousands of mobloggers and fotobloggers who are crowding the Web with their images. Deviant Art, www.deviantart.com, has 8,000,000 “deviations” on its site, contributed by thousands of artists who want to test the boundaries of art. The Tate Gallery is famous for supporting art all the way out to its edges. It has a great discussion forum titled: “Is Conceptual art ‘pretentious, self-indulgent, craftless tat?’” Several threads speak directly to my issue. However, these artists feel the same things that "normal" artists do. I urge you to read this one, to learn that all artists struggle with their creative urge.
The fact that they can live from making art and can dedicate themselves to it, tends to separate our contributors from the tens of thousands of people (maybe hundreds of thousands?), who are amateur image-creators. Many full-time artists look down at the amateurs. They feel that “professional” images deserve full protection from theft and plagiarism. They are less concerned about amateur art. They feel it is up to the artist to protect his or her work—and to ensure that it receives proper respect. They feel those artists who can’t or don’t know how to fend for themselves should be thrown to the wolves! Some Web commentators have taken this attitude as implicity permission to open the door to unfettered use of amateur art. (See a series of blogs on PhotoTalk and on Jason Calacanis site theJasonCalacanisweblog.) Is amateur work art? Should we pay attention to it? Does it deserve respect, and protection.
It seems sad to me that there is any question that all art deserves respect and that only artists should decide how their art will be used. Amateurs share the same passion and drive to create that their professional brethren have. Both want to create images that are enduring and meaningful. Of course, we have cynical professional artists in our agency who claim their only goal is to make money. They say they don’t care about “art” and reject any concern about the significance of their vocation. I vacillate between believing them and being persuaded by the beauty of their creations, that they can’t really mean it. Here is a good article from Photo District News about three artists who have dedicated years of their lives, to unusual projects.
Instead of rejecting the significance of the passion that drives us, I feel all who are motivated by art should bind together. When people “rip” our art (Web slang for stealing it”), we should object loudly! We can’t blame the thief for loving our work and wanting to enjoy it. However, we have both the right to allow others to use our art and to prevent them from using it, if we don’t want them to! Art is not a public product—made for the good of all mankind. It is instead a private personal product—something artists create for their own enjoyment, release, satisfaction, and satiation. Once it is made, it is the artist’s right to remake, unmake, or share art, in whatever manner he or she wishes to.
Art is central to human existence. It stretches back to the caves we developed in and will probably move out with us to the stars. No one has the right to tell us what we must or must not do with our art. And, no one can ever stop us from making it.
Comments