Welcome ART 550 Students!
Our first class met onTuesday September 11th, it was great to meet you all!
Please leave your feelings & sentiments below in the comments section below. After you post your comment I will manually approve it. (don’t get worried if it does not show up right away, it will!)
Assignment #1 simply asks you to reflect and state:
What Does it Mean to be an Artist in 2018?
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ART 550 
To be an artist in 2018 means creating something with the intention of creating art. This can fall into a lot of different categories today, visual artist, graphic, make-up, tattoo, musician, the list varies. as long as a person is creating something with the intention of creating “art” then you are an artist.
I think being an artist in 2018 means struggling a lot. Its so hard to create something new that will impress people, something that hasnt been done before. Its also hard becasue of the internet, why go see art when i can see it on my phone? Why buy art when i have a screen shot of it?
Being a visual artist today is also an amazing thing to be and takes a lot of integrity. It seems not a lot of people have the patience to create and learn to create art today, there are so many other things you can choose to be distracted by. To be able to create something with your hands seems to be a dying skill (i hope thats not true). But if your are so inspired and have a strong drive to create, that you overpass the other options society gives us, then you are a true artist.
Great, good examples and questions to discuss for our class this Tuesday!
Being an artist in 2018 means we should be constantly updating our approach to art. Just like technology updates with the times so should we; we need to stay relevant in the art world where most things have already been done before. As artists we should be revolutionizing ourselves, the materials we use and the meaning of our work to relate to more masses. When I first began my art journey I would draw sea animals that made me happy, now I’ve decided to create art that makes sense to a larger group of people instead of just myself. Now I’m creating work to bring awareness to different species that have been affected by human lifestyle of irresponsibly using single-use plastics and other materials that are harmful to the ocean life. I’ve decided to use my artwork as a “voice” for the animals that can’t speak up for themselves. It’s 2018, we shouldn’t limit ourselves or our art.
Excellent and well stated!
Hi Ryan,
Just wanted to make sure my comment was received. I’m using a computer at work and it didn’t seem to give a confirmation that it was sent to be approved.
Thanks, Danielle
Yes! Got it!
Being an artist in 2018 to me is very simple; it just means to be happy and sharing happiness. I think that being an artist should be more simplistic than having to put all these hidden meanings behind your work. I am asked all the time to talk about why I make art and the reason is simple, because it makes me happy. As a child art made me happy and made me feel like I was special. I felt that art was an avenue for me to succeed at something. Being dyslexic made school hard for me, but art made it bearable and fun. That feeling of frivolity that I got when I created art followed me into adulthood. I wanted to share my feelings with others so I became an art teacher. Art was a way for me to express myself and gave me a great sense of success and contentment. So I think that art in 2018 should be a way for people to just be happy by creating work that speaks to the individual and also to all those that get enjoyment by viewing and engaging with it. There is so much negativity in the world and I think that my art should make that disappear for a moment and just make someone smile or relive a positive memory.
On a more technical side art in 2018 can also be about creating and understanding many forms of art. There are so many mediums to create artwork today. Understanding the process allows the artist to effectively communicate and interpret art. For me it is important to comprehend as many different art forms as I possibly can because I teach art and I want my students to have the best art education as possible.
In conclusion I guess artists in 2018 should be able to understand as many art forms as possible and focus on being happy. I believe artwork should bring out some kind of happiness within the artist even if the subject, style, or technique does not reflect that same feeling. Artists keep creating works of art because they gain a sense of enjoyment, satisfaction, fulfillment, etc. Now that is not to say all artwork produced needs to be a happy subject, but I think that it should make the artist feel proud and happy that they created it. My advice to other artists today would be to just be you and keep learning and embracing the art world.
Well said, the energy of happiness is contagious!
Being an artist today means so many more things than it used to mean in the past. It can mean more traditional things. Working with physical materials, like clay, paints, darkroom chemicals. Musical instruments, scripts. Now it can also mean working digitally, videos, photos, graphics, animation, ideas. It can mean embracing technology like phones and tablets in new creative ways, or rejecting it using only tools and hands. Mainly being an artist means being a person that feels they have ideas inside their head that they want to get outside, whether its to show the world or to keep to themselves. Being an artist means working on art even after you have run out of ideas, to just keep creating. It means being able to communicate with others about art. It means exploring new ideas and not being held back by doing something that has been done before. It means being able to make people feel, through visuals, audio, experiences. Being an artist means making connections with people or with the voice inside. It means that the person saying they are an artist feels like an artist.
Excellent Nicole!
I believe being an artist today means that you are able to adapt. The art world is constantly changing and a way to stay on top of everything and stay relevant as an artist is to be able to learn new things and try out different mediums. A lot of artwork is done with technology today; whether it be drawing on a tablet, graphic design, or altering photographs. While traditional art is still held highly i think the artist still needs to be able to become as comfortable with newer skill sets as well as older ones. As technology progresses artists are always learning new ways to do things to achieve common goals, like painting on a computer compaired to painting traditionally. While they’re both similar in outcome it takes different skills for both. Ive found the older generation of artists arnt as inclined to pick up technology as an art medium because they feel what they’ve learned and mastered is just as good as what artists are doing now; where as artists now are learning both as they grow up and naturally have the skill set needed to use a computer to create art. With how often technology changes and how many different ways there are to create art these days it’s important to be able to and want to learn newer skill sets in order to be the best artist you can be.
I believe the basis of all artists is to communicate and document personal values. This holds true for the first records of human art making around eighteen thousand years ago in the Lascaux Caves, France. The famous “Rhino, wounded man, and disemboweled bison” from circa 14000-16000 BCE demonstrates that humans have an innate instinct to create and document what they feel is important. This image shows what appears to be a fight scene between a man, a bison and possible involvement of a rhino. The art making materials they utilized were blood, fat, sticks and stones. Fast forward to contemporary artist, Ai Weiwei (a personal favorite), we see that artists are still shining the light on what they feel is most important. Ai a political and somewhat controversial installation artist from China uses his millions of twitter followers to showcase unjust situations under the Chinese government.
When I came to writing what it means to be an artist in 2018 I find it much easier to look outward rather than inward. I have spent the last few years teaching art and not making my own body of work. For me to write it from my point of view would make me somewhat of an imposter. Though as the semester progresses and I begin to create the imposter anxiety will dissipate. I will end this post with one of my favorite art advocacy quotes that I always have posted in my classroom…
“Art is humanity’s most essential, most universal language. It is not a frill, but a necessary part of communication. The quality of civilization can be measured through its music, dance, drama architecture, visual art, and literature. We must give our children knowledge and understanding of civilization’s most profound works.” – Ernest L. Boyer, President, Carnegie Foundation for the Advancement of Teaching
Excellent!
Thank you for the detailed response here!
I believe being an artist in 2018 requires you to be socially responsible. The world is rapidly changing (as it always has) however, old ideas are resurfacing that seem to be bringing us back to a time where we are no longer in charge of our destinies and have to look to an authority to make decisions for us. So the outlet that we have as artists allows us to speak out to ensure our basic freedoms.
Indeed! Well said!
Artist, the dictionary said, “ a person who produces works in any of the arts that are primarily subject to aesthetic criteria. ” “ a person who practices one of the fine arts, especially a painter or sculptor. ” “ A person whose trade or profession requires a knowledge of design, drawing, painting, etc. ” “A person who works in one of the performing arts, as an actor, musician, or singer; a public performer: a mime artist; an artist of the dance. ” “A person whose work exhibits exceptional skill. ”
I saw two keywords from these definitions: art and aesthetic. It sounds like, you have to produce any forms of art in an aesthetically pleasing way. It has an art skill’s level requirement which means the work has to be able to display on the exhibit, or performance on the stage. A few years ago, I believed that an artist is a group of people who can produce great art: aesthetic pleasing look, meaningful, realistic or abstract, etc.
I always dreamed of being a graphic designer, especially branding design. I said I want to be a designer, not the artist. I think they are two different things but having one thing in common. It called the feeling expression. It is like the center part of producing artwork but displayed in a different way. For instance, being a graphic designer, the clients will have their own requirements about how they want their logo to be designed. So, the designer will follow the clients’ feeling as direction. However, the designer should remain their own style at the same time. It is like we put clients’ feeling at the most important thing while designing. Even when they make none sense idea whatsoever.
As for artists, I think they have more freedom then designers have in feeling expression. Artists know what their art style is and just stick with it. Their artworks include everything such as their thoughts, ideas, mood, lifestyle, etc. When you look at their artworks, you will have the feeling like these artist trying to communicate with you in art “ Hey, I am gonna tell you…..” They hide their stories in their artwork and looking for someone who really understands them or has the similar stories I guess.
So, what does it mean to be an artist in 2018, I would say freedom. It is means free to express everything that you want to tell someone. You may receive some critical eyes during the “ being an artist “ road trip, but being yourself is the key meaning of being an artist.
In 2018, I list a goal to myself: designing like an artist, don’t get lost.
Excellent work on this!
The definition of an Artist is consistently changing. An Artist is someone who uses their creativity through multiple mediums. To me, it is difficult to say exactly what an Artist is in 2018. “Artist” is such a loose term in this day and age. Everyone is an Artist. Everyone is a starving Artist. Whether you’re a chef, writer, painter, sculptor, photographer, Digital artist, blogger, vlogger, etc. There are many new and different tools to create art and with technology always improving and changing, this causes the artist to try to improve and change as well. Technology has a huge role to play in the way we see Artists now. Social media is a large part of our daily lives and it is a major contributor to how we are exposed to art. Social media has expanded an artists’ audience and their art can now be reached across the world in seconds. Since we are exposed to so many forms of art, it can both inspire us to create and challenge ourselves to create something new.
To be an artist can be defined in various meanings, specifically for artists who are eager to play even a minor role in the art world. Being an artist in 2018 means having access to the variety of mediums for making art which is not being confined by traditional art-making tools, but it can be new facilities that the modern world has to offer. Art is not limited to painting studios anymore where the artists used to develop their artistic persona in an isolated place. A phenomenon installation by Anselm Kiefer, an engaging performance by Yang Zhichao or a controversial video project by Gillian wearing all could be labeled as art and the one who has made it is an artist. a contemporary piece either carrying political, social and cultural contexts or reflecting the artist’s own world could produce various emotions. David Hockney’s monumental-scale landscape paintings are aesthetically pleasing while the photographs of Nobuyoshi Araki are extremely controversial. The artworks also can discuss the environmental issue like the ‘Marat’ by Vik Muniz or a massive team project by Artists Mary O’Brien and Daniel McCormick. The word ‘Artist’ doesn’t belong to visual artists who know the traditional techniques from inside out, but it belongs to whoever that is more meticulous about his or her surrounding than other people and provides a setting by art-making in which more people could start a dialogue. It means creating a new language with a capability of gathering more people for communication, so they could share information and discuss various topics.
To be an artist can be defined in various meanings, specifically for artists who are eager to play even a minor role in the art world. Being an artist in 2018 means having access to the variety of mediums for making art which is not being confined by traditional art-making tools, but it can be new facilities that the modern world has to offer. Art is not limited to painting studios anymore where the artists used to develop their artistic persona in an isolated place. A phenomenon installation by Anselm Kiefer, an engaging performance by Yang Zhichao or a controversial video project by Gillian wearing all could be labeled as art and the one who has made it is an artist. a contemporary piece either carrying political, social and cultural contexts or reflecting the artist’s own world could produce various emotions. David Hockney’s monumental-scale landscape paintings are aesthetically pleasing while the photographs of Nobuyoshi Araki are extremely controversial. The artworks also can discuss the environmental issue like the ‘Marat’ by Vik Muniz or a massive team project by Artists Mary O’Brien and Daniel McCormick. The word ‘Artist’ doesn’t belong to visual artists who know the traditional techniques from inside out, but it belongs to whoever that is more meticulous about his or her surrounding than other people and provides a setting by art-making in which more people could start a dialogue. It means creating a new language with a capability of gathering more people for communication, so they could share information and discuss various topics.
I believe that being an artist in 2018 means being able to adapt. I think that an artist should be open to the things around them and are able to see how the art world is changing. These days a new art form that not all artist are accepting of is digital art. I believe that in order to stay relevant artists today need to be able to use and at the very least understand how art has changed recently. Some older artists that didn’t grow up around all this technology don’t see its purpose as much and rely on their traditional skills; while still being sought after because it takes a certain amount of skill to be comfortable with a medium I believe the same goes for newer mediums such as digital painting, photoshop, graphic design, etc. Artists that grew up with this are more comfortable than those that it was introduced to later on and that’s where I believe artists should be able to adapt. The demand for art is always changing and the more art forms you familiarize yourself with you’ll be able to stay with the times and appeal to any sort of crowd.
What does it mean to be an artist in 2018?
To be an artist can be defined in various meanings, specifically for artists who are eager to play even a minor role in the art world. Being an artist in 2018 means having access to variety of mediums for making art which is not being confined by traditional art-making tools, but it can be new facilities that the modern world has to offer. Art is not limited to painting studios anymore where the artists used to develop their artistic persona in an isolated place. A phenomenon installation by Anselm Kiefer, an engaging performance by Yang Zhichao or a controversial video project by Gillian wearing all could be labeled as art and the one who has made it is an artist. a contemporary piece either carrying political, social and cultural contexts or reflecting the artist’s own world could produce various emotions. David Hockney’s monumental-scale landscape paintings are aesthetically pleasing while the photographs of Nobuyoshi Araki are extremely controversial. The artworks also can discuss the environmental issue like the ‘Marat’ by Vik Muniz or a massive team project by Artists Mary O’Brien and Daniel McCormick. The word ‘Artist’ doesn’t belong to visual artists who know the traditional techniques from inside out, but it belongs to whoever that is more meticulous about his or her surrounding than other people and provides a setting by art-making in which more people could start a dialogue. It means creating a new language with capability of gathering more people for communication, so they could share information and discuss various topics.
Did anyone else hear of Banksy destroying his work right after it was bought? Banksy quoted picasso saying “The urge to destroy is also a creative urge”. I like the idea of Banksy, “pulling one over” on a wealthy buyer. Yet I also love the humor of after this stunt (which had never been done before) that this art is probably worth more than its original purchase value… Never a boring day in the art world!
Ha! Yes indeed! I was planning on sharing this in class this week! Looking forward!! 🙂
https://hyperallergic.com/464419/1-3m-banksy-artwork-self-destructs-at-auction/
With the diversified development of modern art and society, The standards of art have also been diversified. It is difficult for us to use a certain scale and standard to define the quality of art, the value of art, who is an artist, who is not. Art is the insight of life, and thought is the soul of art. Realizing the positive problems of contemporary society with positive behaviors and responses, making voices and causing reflections, this is what it means to be an artist in 2018.
Being an artist in 2018 means that we have to constantly think about and create artworks, and we have to repeatedly examine and scrutinize the works we have created in the past. Thinking about how to better show our inner art and the ideas we want to express. Also learn and let yourself see more of the works of artists who have been successful and the excellent works that we are interested in. I often like to keep working on what kind of work I want to do in the studio or keep myself in the studio and think about how to better express the ideas I want to express through the works of art. However, now I think that if you create a good work, you should learn and watch more and better works.
As an artist, I also think that there are many things to consider when creating a satisfactory work. One is the artist’s personal thoughts or personal ideals. In addition, the current artists will also consider the social phenomenon or the influence of the works. The meaning of communication.