People who work with artists often use the phrase "herding cats" to illustrate the difficulty of managing artists. They believe there is a need to indulge artists who can't quite "stay with the program".
In and out of the artworld there is a sense that artists are more temperamental and less reliable than people of other professions. I see hear and feel this frequently in sighs and eye rolls, and in the exchange of "knowing" glances and sly smiles.
This is just one of the cliches (stories, myths or archetypes) that negatively impact artists' ability to be taken seriously, or to take themselves seriously, as professionals. I would venture to say that it also impacts their ability to be paid fairly for their work.
Like all cliches, it is narrow and inaccurate.
As a former community organizer -- now independent curator of group art shows -- I find artists no more difficult to manage than any other group of people. As an emerging artist with years of professional experience in another field, it is unsettling to be suddenly patronized, albeit affectionately, as if I were a maddening but adorable kindergartner.
Artist cliches -- the unreliable, the temperamental, the eccentric, the starving and the mad -- run deep in the psyche of artists and non-artists alike. They are difficult to bring to consciousness and hard to root out. For artists there is a real danger that they can become self-fulfilling prophecies.
The solution is to become more aware, so that these undercurrents don't sabotage our careers.
With our "product" an artistic piece of our hearts and souls, it is no wonder we take refuge in an uncomplicated cliche that renders us a bit child-like (and may let us off the hook.)
It is challenging to change because, when we begin to percieve our profession as more accountable, we also take the risk of being fully responsible for our deepest disappointments.
Yet it is only by becoming aware of how artist cliches work in our professional lives, that we have a chance to lay claim to the full force of entitlement to our successes.
Betsy Lewis
Art Career Strategist
So, ok, we artists can be distracted because we're thinking a million things at once! But ask us to show up and do something important and we can definately come through! At least I do!
ReplyDeleteThanks for this post!
Thank you Betsy! I am requoting you -
ReplyDelete'As an experienced artist with years of professional experience in the art field, it is unsettling to be constantly patronized, albeit affectionately, as if I were a maddening but adorable kindergartner.'
Your comments perfect - timing impeccable - and your 'challenge" of "What Not to do in the New Year" is now on my studio wall!
Betsy Lewis (in Michigan)
Some of the most responsible and hardworking people I know are artists! The easy cliche of the wild and irresponsible artist undermines not only our careers but the value our society gives artists and artwork. Thanks for your post!
ReplyDeleteLeslie Nichols
Artists and freelancers in general may have a reputation for being loners and rogues, but I think that we’re actually more connected to society than those who work for institutions!
ReplyDeleteHello Author
ReplyDeleteYou are doing great job.
keep it up
i would like to hear more from you.
I never felt I was like those cliches at all. It made me wonder if I was not a colorful personality.
ReplyDeleteI like MYSELF and never color myself with those cliche words