File puptcrit/puptcrit.0709, message 180


From: =?iso-8859-1?Q?Mathieu_Ren=E9?= <creaturiste-AT-primus.ca>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Date: Fri, 14 Sep 2007 01:32:30 -0400
Subject: Re: [Puptcrit] Art for sanity's sake


I used to be a starving artist, and the glamor of it never had anything to 
do with my decision to risk "it" all to pursue it.
I just had to do it, period. I have known too many people who faded with 
time, no longer fully themselves, because they had settled, became diluted 
and shadows of their original potential.
I'd rather be dead than live like this, a half-zombie.

I just have to try everything like I have been doing it since 2000.
Telling me I should quit and "get a job" is the worst insult, the most 
ridiculous concept ever uttered aloud.
It's like asking a mathematician to stop doing calculus.
It's like telling a dancer that her damaged motor function won't allow her 
to even sway to music anymore.

Those who still judge artists as "lazy bums who can't work like everyone 
else" are the stupid ones, more often than not being jealous of what we are 
trying while they have decided to settle. Those are the unfulfilled poor 
souls who stopped pursuing their opwn dreams. Those who are happy in their 
line of work don't judge us so.
Most artists I know work twice as hard at least than "regular folks who do 
real work for a living", just to make ends meet. That is unfair yes, but it 
is up to us to change our patterns and get out of this stupid unfair 
situation we contribute to perpetuate by accepting it as-is.

One artist I saw in a show told us all she had stopped asking for any sort 
of government grants, because she felt like a beggar, while all she was 
asking for was a chance to dio her work. I asked her after the show if it 
was her character speaking, or if it was her. She confirmed that it was she. 
She would perform anywhere her travels led her, asking the public for 
contributions, the real source of the money anyways.







----- Original Message ----- 
From: "Alan Cook" <alangregorycook-AT-msn.com>
To: <puptcrit-AT-puptcrit.org>
Sent: Friday, September 14, 2007 12:04 AM
Subject: [Puptcrit] Art for sanity's sake


> Every artist hopes to survive while doing art, but without an audience or 
> a purchaser---there is a phrase, "STARVING ARTIST" which seems appropriate 
> to this discussion.
>
> I often think of  Vincent van Gogh, one of the most popular artists now, 
> but not when he was alive---having sold ONE painting for approximately 
> $24, I don't think he ate particularly well. Yet Elvis Presley ate too 
> well, and like van Gogh has made more money dead than alive.
>
> So why do art while starving? Because doing it is better than NOT doing 
> it, and if you are lucky or have a fabulous PR agent or self generate tons 
> of publicity you might be famous before being dead. But if you don't try, 
> you might as well be dead.
>
> Art is often compared to language, and if you have something to say, 
> something to offer, maybe someone will be interested in seeing or hearing 
> or reading your effort. Nothing much is guaranteed, which is why 
> McDonald's has so many jobs to offer.
>
> Most puppeteers don't make tons of money, but at least some of them are 
> remembered as havng enriched lives.
>
> ALAN COOK (still struggling)
>
>
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