I came across this website which talks about the relationship between the artist and the viewer. I think that this piece of writing depicts how artists are seen and their relationship to their work. I feel that Art can cause anxiety as i have shown in my practice it also increases it when you are under pressure to create. http://library.thinkquest.org/20868/ang/aaa/aaa.htm
Most people see art as something complicated, incomprehensible and unnecessary. Artists are often treated as "harmless fools". Why is this? Because art is always a new occurrence, it is original and it causes anxiety and therefore people are often ill-disposed towards it. A layman likes to say: "Even though I don`t know much about art I at least know what I like." But these aren`t actually their own preferences as their habits and the conditions they live in have made them like certain things and dislike others. We like the things we know and don`t trust the unknown. The past (which we know) seems better from the unpredictable future. We think of art in a similar way. Such thinking leads to the isolation of an artist who likes to penetrate new grounds of imagination.
The process of creating is always accompanied by loneliness and a certain incomprehension. Yet an artist doesn`t create just for his own satisfaction. Every artist wants other people to admire his works. The desire to be admired is in fact the main incentive of creating, while the process of creation itself requires a receiver as a natural supplement. One should realise however that as important to an artist as the audience is, it is not the quantity, but the quality of the audience that counts the most. The virtues of a work of art can never be described in terms of its popularity. This means that to an artist only the opinions of the people he respects and values are important. These are often just a few people - his friends, other artists, critics and people that show interest. The audience of course is also not completely without a word to say, but it is usually that little group of people (if the artist manages to convince them with his work) that encourages the creator to continue his work.
The audience can either accept or reject an art work. It is hard to forsee how people will take it. There is an emotional tension between an artist and the receivers, a feeling of insecurity and challenge, which are essential to an artist. A creator has to have the certainty that his work will overwin the public`s obstinacy or otherwise he will not make sure that what he has created is original, whether it was a work of art not only in his plans, but the actual outcome is as well.
The process of creating is always accompanied by loneliness and a certain incomprehension. Yet an artist doesn`t create just for his own satisfaction. Every artist wants other people to admire his works. The desire to be admired is in fact the main incentive of creating, while the process of creation itself requires a receiver as a natural supplement. One should realise however that as important to an artist as the audience is, it is not the quantity, but the quality of the audience that counts the most. The virtues of a work of art can never be described in terms of its popularity. This means that to an artist only the opinions of the people he respects and values are important. These are often just a few people - his friends, other artists, critics and people that show interest. The audience of course is also not completely without a word to say, but it is usually that little group of people (if the artist manages to convince them with his work) that encourages the creator to continue his work.
The audience can either accept or reject an art work. It is hard to forsee how people will take it. There is an emotional tension between an artist and the receivers, a feeling of insecurity and challenge, which are essential to an artist. A creator has to have the certainty that his work will overwin the public`s obstinacy or otherwise he will not make sure that what he has created is original, whether it was a work of art not only in his plans, but the actual outcome is as well.
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