GhuneiM

Oct 15, 2013

There's a stereotypical argument that states "If art is for sale, it's not art anymore, it's a business." I like to approach this with simple premises: People do have bills (1), Humans hate their jobs (2) AND some conditionals: if you have bills, earn your living (3), if you hate your job, quit (4) 

Now, lets go the zigzag way, People do have bills and they have to earn their living, but they hate their jobs so they quit, and if they quit they won't be able to pay the bills, and eventually be thrown in the streets. 

Why do artists have to sit behind a desk 6 - 8 hours a day, get wasted every weekend to forget the shit they have been through all week and have to wake up with a horrible hangover on Monday? When the simple answer is "Commercial Art". All sorts of art has 2 sides, just like any coin. The conceptual good part that people usually do for themselves, and the commercial bad part that people usually do to get money. 

I have a friend who works as a photographer (part-time) who graduated as a civil engineer. He hates photographing weddings because they are so cheesy and people have weird demands that are far away than artistic but he has to be a wedding photographer most of the time to earn his living. He does what he likes some other times too and he pays the bills, and he's pretty good at what he does, so he earns enough. 

Art is vibrant, divine and beautiful. I wished everyone was an artist in a way or another, and suddenly I found out that people around me have hidden talents. Some people sing, play drums, or paint on glass. They don't talk about it because they do a private act which they are keen to expose to friends and family. If we tend to create art all the time, because it's a gateway to another world, and give us a comforting feeling why don't we do it "full time"? 

"I don't know if I am good enough!"  They say.

People are not aware of their talents or the beauty of their work. Actually most people who are on the scene are 'Wannabes" and the real artists are hiding in their caves. Why don't you show your art, sell some of it so you would be able to show it more often. Share this art and be confident. Even if people didn't like it, you will get some criticism. 

This is a bit off topic but I had to mention it, I was working with a team in a business competition and we created this beneficial product that holds laptops while users are standing or walking. Perfect solution for engineers and fieldwork. We were sure of our product till we went to the competition day and Maker Faire Africa. We received a lot of ideas to improve it, problems and flaws started to show up as people started testing it. "My belly is too big, It's very edgy, why can't you add something to it that relieves that edginess?" said some cool guy, another queried about ventilation and over-heating problems. After that day we realized important points that we ought to consider in our next design. Why can't the same works for art?

I like to believe in dreams, and ideas. The intangibility factor is very intriguing and exciting. Curiosity eats my brain to know what's going to happen next. How would that be and how would this work. Things turn out fine because I didn't attach expectations to my case. Art is intriguing in the same way because you put an idea into a process to be a product. Why not put this product to sale? It's still an idea, art and a business; all at the same time. Think of those people who provide paint buckets, and brushes for you to create all the work you do, they could have done an easy business like food or cigarette shacks, but they chose something divine & beautiful. I say whether it has a price sticker on it or not, the important factor is the idea, the heart and the soul of the producer, the producer is an artist, and the product is art; there's no shame in paying bills and providing for your family doing what you love and passionate about full time.

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