Question from a reader:”Does art suffer or thrive in a financial depression?”
My answer is that art is art. When times are good and times are bad, creative souls will always try to express what is going on in their lives. If they touch a chord with somebody they get a fan. If they touch a chord with a lot of people they develop a following. Hopefully this happens before the artist dies.
There are creative people who through their gifts can speak for what is happening all around them. They may do this through the written word, movies, television, dance, song, sculpture and anything else that I missed in covering forms of creative expression. Did they do this because they calculated that their work was at the right place, at the right time and that they knew they’d be representing their generation, their age group or what have you? Of course not.
What it means is that if you have something that you want to do creatively, just do it. Don’t try and figure out whether you are doing something that will change humanity forever. You are doing art for your sake of expression. I’ve often said that the reason that I write is because I feel the need to express myself through writing. For some people, they do it with music (I love to sing and dance too but I don’t feel the need to do it all the time). If you are trying to make some money from it, I would suggest that you do it for the joy that it gives you and don’t worry about making money.
If you are good enough at it, you will make money.
The large movie theaters, concert and opera halls were built in the Great Depression in the United States because people wanted to go somewhere to escape their economic situations. People have the Internet and all sorts of methods of escape now. They still will turn to the arts for the forms of escape. If you are fortunate to be creative at a time where people want to be your fans, you might make money.
I’ve been trying to determine if the Picasso in Chicago, Illinois managed to get a lot of tourists to visit Downtown to see it and then stick around and go shopping, have some dinner, maybe take in a movie. Here is a picture of it and you tell me if it would be enough to make a person want to stick around after watching it. Maybe people would have wanted to go to the Museum of Science and Industry or the Art Institute afterwards.
I remember when the city first put it up. People said that it looked like a bird. Some said it looked Egyptian. I think it looked like a great artistic piece that turned out to be a great draw for tourists!
Good luck with all of your artistic endeavors!
Kim Isaac Greenblatt
Do artistic things because you want to.
Tags: art, Business, Kim Isaac Greenblatt
Totally agreed with your stand on art. It’s sad that some people still have the mentality that one’s appreciation for art has to be comprised just because the economy is bad. But with art auction prices still running at sky rocket standards, it’s gratifying to know that this kind of mindset is gradually changing.
For the better, that is.
People’s first question, for those who don’t appreciate some types of art is generally, “How much is it worth?” I had the same issues when I use to collect and then later on buy and sell comic books. When asked what do I think about the book and would it appreciate I would say, “If you like the story, if you like the art, just buy it and enjoy it.” I think a lot of people are coming up though with a lot of ways to creatively express themselves these days and I am all for supporting the arts.
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Totally agreed with your stand on art. It’s sad that some people still have the mentality that one’s appreciation for art has to be comprised just because the economy is bad. But with art auction prices still running at sky rocket standards, it’s gratifying to know that this kind of mindset is gradually changing.
Jeff,
With so many people out of work, there may be more time for people going back to appreciating art and the simpler things in life.
Kim