The Working Artist, Part 2

Ya Call That Awrt?

Growing up in a small Kansas town, I had no idea what you were supposed to do when you grew up. I was certainly interested in music and started playing out in the 8th grade. I was also interested in “Art” but I had no knowledge of real artists. Barn scenes, y’know?

Drawing, Gary Mackender, age 15

I liked to draw; I thought at the time I was a bitchin’ drawer but after attending art classes at KSU in Manhattan, Kansas, I quickly realized I knew nothing. I credit a drawing teacher by the name of Nick Jones for scrawling down some names on a sheet of paper and saying, “Go to the library and check out these guys.” They were Claus Oldenburg, Jasper Johns, Robert Rauschenberg, and Larry Rivers.

Well, that unscrewed the top of my head and released some barnyard scenes into the ether. What I saw was energy and excitement! Criminy, was I a hick.

Jasper Johns, Map of America, 1961

I moved on after that to the University of Kansas in Lawrence, and continued the torture in two year increments. I will say there were some amazing instructors at KU, many of whom are still friends. I may have made one or two pieces throughout that whole process that I thought had any oomph to it. Most of it sucked, but you go to school to suck and learn.

During this time, and with my upbringing, there was always this nagging devil in my ear about earning a ‘real living’ whatever that might entail. My parents were actually not too pushy about it but I think my direction into the arts didn’t exactly bring out the confetti and party hats. Despite that, they attended musical performances when they could and were, on the surface, supportive.

So over the years I’ve kept at it; playing music, writing songs, making physical objects we call art, and now writing this blog. Keeps the brain cells active.

I ran across this article, which in some ways is tongue-in-cheek, but also quite true about those of us who can’t help but keep on producing work. It’s titled “12 Step Recovery Program for Artists“ by Sylvia White, who maintains an art advice website as well as a gallery in California called realART. I’ve just listed the steps here but if you click on the link, you can read annotation for each one.

1. Admit that you are powerless over your ARTmaking, and it is the only thing that makes your life manageable.
2. Believe that ART is a Power, greater than yourself, and can restore you to sanity.
3. Made a decision to turn yourself and your life over to ART.
4. Made a searching and fearless inventory of your ART skills.
5. Admit to yourself and one other human being, the importance of ART in your life.
6. Were entirely ready to allow ART to be an important part of your life, but not your entire life.
7. Humbly promise never to ask anyone “What do you think of my work?”
8. Made a list of all persons affected by your ARTmaking, and be willing to make amends to them.
9. Made direct amends to such people, whenever possible, except when to do so would injure them or others.
10. Continue to take personal inventory and realize you and your ART are not the only important things in the world.
11. Sought through private time in your studio to improve your work, and devote the time necessary to just “look.”
12. Having accomplished all of the above, tried to carry this message to other artists and those who love them.

Now, let’s leap into Dave Hickey-land for a minute where he discusses (or pops a turd in the punch bowl depending on your perspective) how art relates to commerce with a couple paragraphs from his Air Guitar: Essays on Art and Democracy.

“What if works of art were considered to be what they actually are – frivolous objects or entities with no intrinsic value that only acquire value through a complex process of socialization during which some are empowered by an ongoing sequence of private, mercantile, journalistic, and institutional investments that are irrevocably extrinsic to them and to any intention that might embody? What if we admitted that, unlike seventeenth-century France, institutional and educational accreditation are presently insufficient to invest works of art with an aura of public import – that the only works of art that maintain themselves in public vogue are invariably invested with interest, enthusiasm, and volunteer commitment from a complex constituency that is extrinsic both to themselves and to their sponsoring institutions?

If we do this, we can stop regarding the art world as a ‘world’ or a ‘community’ or a ‘market’ and begin thinking of it as a semi-public, semi-mercantile, semi-institutional agora – an intermediate institution of civil society, like that of professional sports, within which issues of private desire and public virtue are negotiated and occasionally resolved. Because the art world is no more about art than the sports world is about sport. The sports world conducts an ongoing referendum on the manner in which we should cooperate and compete. The art world conducts an ongoing referendum on how things should look and the way we should look at things – or it would, if art were regarded as sports are, as a wasteful, privileged endeavor through which very serious issues are sorted out.”

Hickey is talking mostly about the ‘BIG’ world of art and high commerce. Me, I’ve found an equilibrium in my music and art where, despite having no gallery representation, I’ve managed to keeping making and selling my work fairly consistently for the past 7-8 years. You reach a point where you don't try to anticipate what someone else would like and just stay true to what really clicks and burns for you. It's the only way. And I am thankful to have a dedicated work space and the time to wander around in my studio and ask, “What’s next?”

Stay tuned for a similar post that relates more to the music biz…and Mosaic Travelogue, Part 4. Share this post if you think someone may like it or benefit from it!

Now, some of this…