Comments on: (Mis) Understanding Art

By: Johnny

Johnny — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:54:35 +0000

Sometimes suffering will help me create, but I would hate to think that it is a prerequisite to create. Ultimately I want to live a happy life.… I’m just hoping I get a break soon.

Also, I’ve noticed friends tend to disappear when you start getting too much notoriety or success. Obviously jealous. But, it’s not my fault artists are full of shit and don’t actually create, but instead talk about creating.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Mon, 27 Jul 2009 16:24:48 +0000

Not only that, but perhaps this difficulty would inspire you to do more. I don’t know about you, but I need to suffer to create. You may be able to channel this into something better. The good thing about certain types of art is that nowadays there’s little overhead for making a profit; once you have an instrument or a computer, you can write in your spare time and shop your materials around to be picked up by labels or publishers without any extra expenses.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:42:15 +0000

By the way I am Asian as well and my parents don’t understand either.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Thu, 23 Jul 2009 15:40:44 +0000

I am currently a starving artist (musician and writer). I actually didn’t have a day job for a full two years. I was very close to being able to make a decent living from the arts, but my business partners screwed me over and left me high and dry. I’m now thinking about filing bankruptcy. But, I don’t have any regrets. I’d rather let the creditors take everything I have than give up on my dreams. I’d rather go down swinging.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:52:37 +0000

I suppose that if you come from a childhood with less food and opportunity, your priorities shift. It makes sense if you continue living in this culture, but not when you’re raised in a completely different one.

Enrolling your kid in music lessons always seemed like the idea of having kids to me. Just one of those things you did because everyone else was doing it, as if you were supposed to. I asked my parents why they had me, and this was their answer.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:49:28 +0000

Quite interesting that your family doesn’t understand something that may be considered the opposite of art. Perhaps it’s not what we do, but how much money we make (i.e. stability) that’s the important thing to them. Now that I think about it, my family doesn’t care about the ideas of computer science or engineering.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:47:21 +0000

Ah, I had no idea that it extended to other Asian cultures. I had after-school tuition as well, with a fleet of tutors on various subjects. I can relate to the idea of parents wanting to “show off” their kids all too well, as I went through the exact same thing during family gatherings. My parents half-decided what I was going to do. At first, it was computer science, which they were fine with, but when I wanted to switch to psychology, they wouldn’t let me.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:44:11 +0000

The picture doesn’t have a very deep meaning; it was a shot I framed against the Armani advertisement where my grandma and aunt stood with their postures the same as the poses of the child models. The look on my grandma’s face is sort of naughty, and it looks like she’s too proud to kiss my aunt the way the girl is doing to the boy in the ad. It’s a perfect display of the relationship they have now, where it’s my aunt being the dominant one, taking care of my grandma, captured precisely in this moment.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:39:30 +0000

Some valid points, #4 especially I can relate to. It’s as if nothing is good enough, although this is probably because the measure of success is so different between generations. To one it’s money, to the other it’s satisfaction.

By: Jeff

Jeff — Sun, 05 Apr 2009 00:37:45 +0000

I totally relate to the starving artist lifestyle. My job is to support my artistic endevours, but I’m not sure that if I stopped working and went for it full-time, whether I’d be successful enough to pay my mortgage and feed myself.