There is always chatter on the subject of what it means to be an artist. Or, an Artist(e). Betsi asked it recently and instead of answering I just recommended a book: The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I will expand a little bit on that here since saying “lol read this” is kind of obnoxious and not immediately helpful.

The book is divvied up into sections, including one called “Turning Pro,” wherein Pressfield describes how a Professional operates (contrasted with Amateurs). There are many great nuggets in here, but this is one of my favorites:

A PROFESSIONAL DEMYSTIFIES

A pro views her work as craft, not art. Not because she believes are is devoid of a mystical dimension. On the contrary. She understands that all creative endeavor is holy, but she doesn’t dwell on it. She knows if she thinks about that too much, it will paralyze her. So she concentrates on technique. The professional masters how, and leaves what and why to the gods. Like Somerset Maugham she doesn’t wait for inspiration, she acts in the anticipation of its apparition. The professional is acutely aware of the intangibles that go into inspiration. Out of respect for them, she lets them work. She grants them their sphere while she concentrates on hers.

The sign of the amateur is the overglorification of and preoccupation with the mystery.

The professional shuts up. She doesn’t talk about it. She does her work.

The Professional shows up every day, in spite if sickness, fear, laziness, whatever. She hones her technique, asks for help and learns from masters so that when inspiration strikes she has all the tools necessary to capture it. The Professional also distances herself from her instrument – a concept that I find very interesting and had not considered before since the cliche of artists in love with their own work is a pretty predominant one. The Professional understands that their talent is a tool and they use it objectively. As Pressfield says, “Does Madonna walk around the house in cone bras and come-fuck-me bustiers? She’s too busy planning D-Day. Madonna does not identify with “Madonna.” Madonna employs “Madonna.”” (emphasis mine) Since they are not what they do, Professionals can take criticism, reinvent themselves, and continue to grow.

Amateurs, by contrast, only work when they’re “feeling it,” don’t necessarily bother to continue their education or hone their craft – and probably don’t see what they do as a “craft” in the first place (it’s ART god damn it!). They overidentify with what they do. Again, Pressfield says it better than I do: “He defines himself by [what he does]. He is a musician, a painter, a playwright…the amateur composer will never write his symphony because he is overly invested in its success and overterrified by its failure. The amateur takes it so seriously it paralyzes him.” This is, to me, the most telling sign of an amateur – somebody who is so in love with what they are doing that they become afraid to subject it to judgment – which also means that they will be unable to change or truly improve and grow as an artist. The people yelling loudest about their status as an ARTIST usually have the most generic, stagnant “art” and brush off any sort of critique with some comment about how you can’t criticize their self expression.

The thing I like most about Pressfield’s idea is that it is an attitude and way of thinking. You don’t need to get paid for what you do (although it’s awesome if you can manage it), you don’t need any particular kind of schooling or other external validation. I think this is important because there are so many different schools, so many natural talents and self-taught artists (many of whom are good at one thing and bad at another) that to force them all into the same box o’ validation (such as a particular degree) destroys a lot of great art before it is even made. If you can approach your work in as work, you are a Professional.

Me? I’m an amateur artist. I don’t practice very much and most importantly I overidentify with my “ART!!!”. One of the reasons I started this blog was to force myself to start putting things out there, to finally write my symphony as it were. It’s still not easy for me. I have no problem being an amateur because it’s pretty low-pressure and if anybody says anything mean I can just tell them that they can’t judge my ~*self expression*~. Y’all just haters!!!11

If someday I want the challenge (and growth), turning pro is easy:

There’s no mystery to turning pro. It’s a decision brought on by an act of will. We make up our mind to view ourselves as pros and we do it. Simple as that.

Again, The War of Art by Steven Pressfield. I would like to quote the whole book but I think that might be not allowed. It is useful for pretty much anybody – even in non-creative arenas, as the bulk of the book actually focuses on fighting Resistance which is useful in any area of your life.

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January 18th, 2010 |