A Struggling Artist

[hzl]

Eh if you say so. I still don't understand contemporary art. Why would people pay millions just because some professional says they like it? Some teen left his glasses on the floor of a museum and people were treating it like a professional art piece. The glasses were probably on his face for an extended period of time before then, yet people didn't think it was art at the time. I'm really confused.

To simply put it - because people are sheep and people are stupid - but I don't understand where the glasses came from with your op, that has nothing to do with it - we're talking about the value of art which is what you complained about originally.

People don't pay millions just because some professional says they like it. I have no idea where you got that from.

The price of the work includes a lot more than the work itself - the credibility and success of the artist, how many collectors own this artists work, how much certain collectors are willing to bid on this artists work - all this and MORE affects the price of just a single work by the artist.

The art market is a huge business. You can't just base all you know about it off one article that you read - or for this sake - meme.

You seem really unwilling to take any of this information in even though I'm trying to help you understand why works sell for so much.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Also may I add, it's not just "if I say so". I'm telling you truth, facts, about how the arts market works.

If you are serious about forging a career in the arts you need to make it your lifestyle and continue to improve and make contacts and build a network. Otherwise you will be going round in circles. Just because you spent weeks on something that sold for $12 doesn't mean there's no point in continuing. Don't devalue yourself either. Always sell work for (minimum or living wage) x (how many hrs you spent on it) + (cost of materials) at a MINIMUM.

You are comparing your few (making a guess) years of arts practice against a mans entire career with that meme - and with any art that sells for a lot of money. Usually the artist has put in tonnes of research, years of practice, and making work to create these pieces.

Seriously, I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just explaining that more goes into the profession than meets the eye and just because works like this sell for millions does not mean you should give up. In fact I'm actively trying to encourage and push the arts, given that in the UK the government are making huge cuts to arts education.

 

[Mega_Cabbage]

To simply put it - because people are sheep and people are stupid - but I don't understand where the glasses came from with your op, that has nothing to do with it - we're talking about the value of art which is what you complained about originally.

People don't pay millions just because some professional says they like it. I have no idea where you got that from.

The price of the work includes a lot more than the work itself - the credibility and success of the artist, how many collectors own this artists work, how much certain collectors are willing to bid on this artists work - all this and MORE affects the price of just a single work by the artist.

The art market is a huge business. You can't just base all you know about it off one article that you read - or for this sake - meme.

You seem really unwilling to take any of this information in even though I'm trying to help you understand why works sell for so much.

- - - Post Merge - - -

Also may I add, it's not just "if I say so". I'm telling you truth, facts, about how the arts market works.

If you are serious about forging a career in the arts you need to make it your lifestyle and continue to improve and make contacts and build a network. Otherwise you will be going round in circles. Just because you spent weeks on something that sold for $12 doesn't mean there's no point in continuing. Don't devalue yourself either. Always sell work for (minimum or living wage) x (how many hrs you spent on it) + (cost of materials) at a MINIMUM.

You are comparing your few (making a guess) years of arts practice against a mans entire career with that meme - and with any art that sells for a lot of money. Usually the artist has put in tonnes of research, years of practice, and making work to create these pieces.

Seriously, I'm not trying to discourage you. I'm just explaining that more goes into the profession than meets the eye and just because works like this sell for millions does not mean you should give up. In fact I'm actively trying to encourage and push the arts, given that in the UK the government are making huge cuts to arts education.

Sorry if I seem unwilling to take it all in and possibly upset you. I just have a bunch of questions since there are many perspectives on the subject of art. What I was trying to question is that shouldn't people focus more on the beauty/aesthetic of art rather than just the credibility (aka having an art critic boost their popularity, etc., etc.) or rarity? It shouldn't matter who, what, or where art comes from as long as it is quality work. I've seen prisoners whose drawings blow my mind. Does being in jail make their art have less value or less beauty? Obviously not (at least I hope not). The same should be said for famous artists. Why should people have to pay more for the same quality of art just because a person is famous?

 

[hzl]

Sorry if I seem unwilling to take it all in and possibly upset you. I just have a bunch of questions since there are many perspectives on the subject of art. What I was trying to question is that shouldn't people focus more on the beauty/aesthetic of art rather than just the credibility (aka having an art critic boost their popularity, etc., etc.) or rarity? It shouldn't matter who, what, or where art comes from as long as it is quality work. I've seen prisoners whose drawings blow my mind. Does being in jail make their art have less value or less beauty? Obviously not (at least I hope not). The same should be said for famous artists. Why should people have to pay more for the same quality of art just because a person is famous?

It's okay, I just get very antsy when people brush it off like years of work don't go into these sorts of things. I've spent exhausting amount of hours studying these things, so of course, I am going to be passionate about the topic.

Also pricing a piece of art based on its beauty and aesthetic wouldn't work, because everyone's perception of beauty and aesthetics are different - therefore there would be no baseline.

Some people may think Rothko's work is beautiful, some people may think Basquiat's work is beautiful, some may think Caravaggio's work is beautiful, but all three are immensely different and I know a lot of people who hate one or the other. I think all three create beautiful work, yet all of their work reaches different prices - because of the desirability of their work, how much past work sold for, how acclaimed they work, how old the work is etc.

When I'm discussing value of work I'm discussing the professional meaning. Not the personal meaning. Personal / emotional value has no place in the art market.

Value of a work incorporates most of the factors I have previously mentioned and more. Otherwise the arts market wouldn't have a structure.

I'm not discrediting work of prisoners? But you don't know someones ultimate purpose of creating work. A lot of work created by prisoners is often done in rehab or therapy - not as a profession.

There isn't a simple way to answer "why should people have to pay more because a person is famous" without writing an essay on it. Basically most of the time these works are bought by renowned collectors or galleries. They're not meant for the average joe to purchase.

Sorry if this reply was a bit sloppy, I've had a long day haha

 

[GreggoryLee]

. . .

 

[~Unicorn~]

I was gonna try practicing drawing but I feel like nobody likes my art so I give up....

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

I was gonna try practicing drawing but I feel like nobody likes my art so I give up....

I make crappy MSPaint drawings and people pay me tbt for them. I say go for it! I love seeing people's art especially when they're practicing and getting to see them improve and develop their style over time! You should totally make a thread in the Museum! (The art community here is pretty awesome and supportive.)

 

[~Unicorn~]

I make crappy MSPaint drawings and people pay me tbt for them. I say go for it! I love seeing people's art especially when they're practicing and getting to see them improve and develop their style over time! You should totally make a thread in the Museum! (The art community here is pretty awesome and supportive.)

Yeah but you have an art style and people like your art cause it's cute, nobody would want to see mine

 

[KaydeeKrunk]

Yeah but you have an art style and people like your art cause it's cute, nobody would want to see mine

I would! But honestly you'll never know until you try!

 

[Catto]

actually school in the begining was a very hard place for me... I'm mayoring in design and in that field, they DON'T want artists... actually they pretty much hate some aspects of my work that could be considered "artistic" so when I came in with an art and illustration background (I took several uni clases in art before studying design) I got DESTROYED, it was so harsh and mean, teachers would say stuff like "wow you must be really stupid if you honestly thought that we wanted to see your mediocre art" and it was... to say the least, rough.

Two years after I learned to take that, my skin grew thicker, and now I can sort of understand where they were coming from but still, the thing is, ANYONE can get in design, literally anyone. But the dropout percentage is 75%... and it's because in this school everyone is actively trying to kick you out, giving you bad grades just because they can and being extremely harsh on freshman (literally half of my class dropped out before the second semester) so it was hard not to suffer when literally everyone thought you weren't supposed to do what you do, and say things like "why do you keep drawing when you know you are not good?" or "do you think design is an art? go study art to get praise for doing dumb, pointless things" and yeah you should be able to draw, but they don't want artistic drawings, they want presice, technical drawings. But I think the worst part is that my teachers used to LOVE public humiliation, to the point where they force everyone to say something bad about someone else's work or your own score will suffer.

I think now that I'm older I can deal with this, now I know how to talk with my teachers and how to have nice, fruitfull conversations with my teamates. I just think it's the worst that they get a kick out of making 17/18 year old kids suffer and feed them self doubt and the general idea of "you and what you do are worthless".