Books

I have hit a very interesting artistic block in the past few days. Recently, I wrote an artistic statement about why art is important to me, I'll copy it on here:
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Asking an artist why art is important to them is like asking a sailor why his ship is important to him. Without it, we do not exist. Without art, the person who I am today could not physically exist just as a sailor could not exist without his vessel to travel in. To some, my reasoning may sound less aesthetic than what they might imagine. I don’t need art to convey the deep complexities of my emotions or to try and bring a positive message to the world. I need art to be me. It’s selfish and shallow but that’s the way it should be. Art is important because it is the idea that I sail on everyday, and without it I’d drown.

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I have come to accept art as a key part of my life, but I have also chosen to not make art my career. It's a bit hypocritical for me to say that I need art to survive but then decide that I want to be a designer. It all connects, but somewhere I feel a little guilty that I don't want to be a professional artist when I'm older, especially when I so truly believe art to be a part of me. The block that I've reached is in regards to how can I be successful as a designer/ artist. If art is supposed to be so personal to me, then why am I using the artistic skills I've learned to make something that isn't personal, in fact it's the opposite, design is thinking all about the user, and not about me. I've been reading The Design of Everyday Things by Don Norman and he describes that one of the biggest flaws in design is the lack of attention on the user, and designing the product for oneself. Isn't that what art is? Is the problem with bad design that it is too artistic and personal? No, I know that's not right because artists are much better designer than engineers. Bad design is bad because it fails to understand the human mentality of approaching an object, making the product too technical and complicated. It's personal because only the person who designed it knows how to use it. That isn't art because as personal as art is, it is still meant to be shared. But at the same time, approaching design as an artist is still wrong because your focus needs to be on the user. Art is personal, bad design is personal. I am an artist and a designer. Is the block clear now?

I'm not really all that worried about it, but that's been the idea rolling around in my head ever since I started really getting into that book. It's fascinating and the more I read about design the more I want to do it. It's just that this love I'm growing for design is coming at a time when I'm just starting to understand art. 

I did get some solace after reading the introduction to An Accidental Masterpiece by Michael Kimmelman when he explained how amateurs are lovers of their craft. I think that I can be content as an amateur of art rather than a professional. Like the herd of people at the piano recital, I can always continue painting. What I really fear is that I might lose the passion for personal art. What if I get so into design, and thinking about the user, that I forget to make art that is personal for me. If I went professional artist then I'd be insuring that I'd make art because that would be my living. As an amateur I rely purely on my own will, and that is scary because I don't know if my will to make art will be as strong as it is now in ten years. I want to be an artist for the rest of my life, but I also want to be a designer, tackling the problems of objects and creating new and creative solutions. I know that they can coexist, but the possibility that they might not is troubling.