Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking

Art and Fear

Becoming an artist consists of learning to accept yourself, which makes your work personal, and in following your own voice, which makes it distinctive. The best you can do at any moment is the best you can do at that moment. Your job is to learn to work on your work. You learn how to make your work by making your work - make art you care about, and lots of it. The function of most of your work is to teach you how to make that small fraction of artwork that soars. When the artist becomes a form of identity, when the artist is identified with self, then flawed art means a flawed self, or no art means no self. When the pain of working is less than the pain of not working you get down to the work! Those who continue are those who have learned how to continue, or not to quit. Artists quit when they lose the destination for their work - for the place where their work belongs. Fears (like I'm no good, I've nothing worth saying, or no one likes my work) have less to do with art than with the artist or individual artworks. What separates artists from ex-artists is that those who challenge their fears, continue; those who don't, quit. Fears arise when you look back, and when you look ahead. The artwork that seems so profoundly right in its finished state may earlier have been only inches or seconds from total collapse. Uncertainty is the essential, inevitable and all-persuasive companion to your desire to make art. And tolerance for uncertainty is the prerequisite to succeeding. You make good work by, among other things, making lots of work that isn't very good, and gradually weeding out the parts that aren't good. The parts that aren't yours. Decisive works of art participate directly in the fabric of history surrounding their maker - you have to be there. New ideas come into play far less frequently than practical ideas - which can be used for a thousand variations. Veteran artists have engaged the issues that matter to them - they've learned how to get on with their work. Artists learn how to proceed, or they don't. The individual recipe any artist finds for proceeding belongs to that artist alone. Art is hard because you have to keep at it so consistently.

Art and Fear: Observations On the Perils (and Rewards) of Artmaking by David Bayles and Ted Orland

Art and Fear is a non-fiction book written by artists for artists. The point of the book is to help the young and/or struggling artist survive in the art world and to conquer the various difficulties, obstacles and fears that the developing artist faces. These difficulties come in two varieties: internal and external. Internal obstacles are those obstacles that the artist has within herself, such as fears about herself, fears of others, an inability of the artist to find her own work. External obstacles are the difficulties one faces in the world of art, such as managing art production, finding time to pursue one's own work, teaching in the academy, interacting with the art community, managing one's art network, and so on. The authors divide the book into two parts, the first concerns internal problems, those associated with the individual creation of art; the second part concerns external problems, dealing ...

Art-making is a struggle. The authors point out that much art is unfinished, inauthentic, repetitive, juvenile, and overdone. This will lead the artist to ask how art should be done, and why the artist sometimes fails. Art may be harder to create today, as individuals have more liberty to create and less institutional structure to inspire them. Art involves doubt, departing from others; there is no Church to dictate what is beautiful. Further, art-making is not based merely on talent, nor that talent is innate. Talent, luck, fate and tragedy all matter, but they do not aid in the day to day creation of art.

So the authors make a few assumptions on which the rest of the book will rely: (one) Art-making involves skills that can be learned; (two) Art is made by ordinary people; (three) Making art and viewing art are different at their core; and (four) Art-Making ...

Most artists quit. This is not necessary. Further, they quit due to human troubles; those who continue must learn not to quit. Figuring out how not to quit is crucial. Artists will quit at particular moments that feel appropriate or when they lose sight of the purpose of their art. All artists have these fears and it is beating the fear that matters most. Quitting, further, is distinct from stopping. Quitting requires stopping and not starting again. To be an artist, you must always start again. Further, one must not lose motivation when the original destination of the art evaporates; say the show where the work was to be presented is canceled.

This is a particularly difficult problem for students, who graduate with no support network. The authors recommend that students form networks with other friends, so as to not have their support system disappear when they graduate. They ...

One debilitating fear is the fear about one's self. Some fear that they are poseurs, mere pretenders of doing art. Many worry that they are faking it.

When the artist is not extraordinary, she sometimes feels fake. Further, young artists often become self-conscious about their work, and over think, obsessing about their every move. The authors advise artists to stop focusing on themselves, but instead focus on the art. A person can pretend to be an artist, but she cannot pretend to be making art, even if it is bad.

The authors turn to talent. Many worry about whether they have talent; the authors claim that this is a waste of time. Not only can talent not be controlled, but it is only a small part of what matters. Since talent is "what comes easy," talent cannot be all that is required. If only talent mattered, the greatest works ...

Art is usually made alone, but the reactions of other people still matter. Whether or not they should create problems for the artist, they do. Sometimes we imagine critics surrounding us, become paralyzed by positive distaste, or follow the priorities of others. Artists only care about impressing others when they feel uncertain or insecure. One should seek constructive criticism, but remember that one's art is one's own.

Artists often look for understanding. This affirms one's humanity, but it imposes a risk because it gives power over you; they have the power to hurt you. The artist should place time between finishing the art and showing it to others, so she can make her own judgment about the piece. Further, do not worry about being misunderstood because bending to the understanding of the many produces bad art.

Next, the artist should be careful about seeking acceptance. Caring too much about ...

Art is always bound up with what the individual desires. Feedback is total and our art is always tied to who and what we are. Whatever we put in is what we get out. The scary thing about art for this reason is that it does not lie to you. If you are lazy, your art will be. If you work hard, your art will show diligence. The true artist always bears this fact in mind. She never feels unafraid of it; instead, she learns to master it rather than letting her fear of the truth overwhelm her. Instead, the feedback she receives from her work improves her.

One of the most serious barriers to doing good artwork is letting feedback throw the artist into uncertainty. If an artist is creating a work and does not know how it will turn out, she may fear that it will reflect ...

Chapter six begins Part two of the book. These cover matters of art and fear once a work of art is completed. New problems arise after this has occurred and they must be addressed separately. These problems force the artist to interact with the rest of the world; the authors refer to these problems as "ordinary." However, they emphasize that the problems are not of no consequence.

There is more to art than simply producing artwork. Sometimes one must manage a gallery, clean one's studio, and mail various items. Funding matters, education matters, publication matters and exhibition matters. Sometimes these activities help to promote one's artwork but other times the outside work gets in the way. In many cases art is quite expensive. Further, artists have bad reputations to the outside world, particularly because their work is often subversive.

Accordingly, the author must be aware that there will ...

The authors argue that art programs in college have an important and positive function, but this is an unpopular position in the art world. The authors admit that these programs are not that important, but they are still important. Most artists dread the idea of being a faculty member, as it would crush their creativity. The idea of going to school is also thought to bring about conformity. Further, art teachers have bad reputations.

Unfortunately, the cards are stacked against art teachers. Hiring committees rarely select primarily for teaching talent, and judging teaching ability is difficult. Further, many universities want the artist to have a specialty, which may limit the artist's interests. Many MFA graduates are destroyed in the very process of applying for jobs. Newcomer talent is ignored in many cases. Teaching experience is often measured in terms of years rather than any other metric.

The authors note that Henry James asked three questions of the artist, only the third of which is surprising: (i) What was the artist trying to achieve? (ii) Did he or she succeed? And (iii), Was it worth doing? The first two questions are practical, and they help to focus the artist. The answers also help to group artists into schools and understand them in these terms. However, the third question must now be asked. The artist must consider why she does what she does, what she values in her art, and she must structure her artwork accordingly.

The best art will bring something good out of both the viewer and the creator. It should challenge both. One must resist aiming at perfection, but simply achieving challenges. Those who do the best simply aim at the best practice of their art as they can. The artist should seek the challenge not only ...

Art and Fear confronts the obstacles to making art. They want to communicate the difficulties in the work and then allow the reader to clear her own path. However, there is no one way to overcome your fear as an artist. Instead, the authors suggest that the young artist focus on answers to a set of questions. The best artists will be those who ask the best questions. Some of the major questions that produce fruitful answers are asking what artists have in common, how artists become artists, how artists secure time to pursue their own work, and how artists create work that satisfies them. Further, the authors recommend focusing on why so many quit art. These questions may have answers, but any answer is going to be hard to articulate.

While many features of artists vary, there are still constants, such as the stress of art, the ...

While "the artist" is no particular person, she or he is the main character of the book. The authors are writing for the artist, the one in search of how to best engage in her profession, how to navigate obstacles inherent in artistic practice and how to create great artwork that reflects the personality, ideas and world of the artist. The artist faces numerous challenges throughout the book, but they can be generally divided into two classes: internal and external challenges. Internal challenges are those within the artist herself. The artist can often be the victim of her own fear. These fears are made possible by her expectations, uncertainty, imagination and the gap between her vision and execution. Even her materials can limit her in ways that cause anxiety and apprehension.

The great fears, however, are fears about herself and fears about others. The artist often fears that she will annihilate her ...