Unnecessary Divisions – a call to artists

I’m realizing lately how much my education and worldview has suffered from my compulsive need to categorize things. It’s somewhat ironic that my foray into Library Science – a profession ostensibly about categorization itself – has started to change that. I’m not sure where it started, but the idea that something is “this *or* that” was firmly in place by the time I was in high school. In terms of college majors, you are either Art or History or English, not all three. The reality of college is quite different, especially in History and English majors. I don’t have statistics on this (though I will start looking), but in my (admittedly narrow) observances, an English major is more likely to have a second (or third, or fourth) major than, say, a Fine Art major. In fact, Fine Art majors seemed to be atypically myopic.

It’s not that no Fine Art majors get a second major, but it’s less prevalent, and it seems almost discouraged. When I was trying to get my Art History minor, I could not find any ready information about how to go about getting it. I had to ask a professor, who said it wasn’t encouraged (though she was glad to help me add it). I find this very odd since Fine Art is one of those majors that has to be about something. That’s why English majors are so likely to have another major- you can’t just write about writing, and even if you write fiction, or poetry, drawing from some other field generally makes the work more interesting. The same is true of art, but one often finds among Fine Art majors and professors those boring people who are only interested in art and nothing else. Someone told me a story of an art professor invited to a book club she went to- the professor dominated the conversation, and tried to steer every topic of conversation towards Art. How boring.

In art school, however, you are in a kind of insulated world, you submerge yourself in a world that is all art, all the time. You are encouraged or even required to hang out in the studio as much as humanly possible. It’s tough to even keep up with the comings and goings of the art world, much less trying to inform yourself of art historical matters. But making art when all you are thinking about is art is like trying to nourish yourself by eating your leg (pardon the gruesome analogy)- it might work for a while, but eventually you end up stunted and unable to create anything.

No one ever told me this. If I ever do become an art teacher, I will tell young artists first to get some interests outside of art. A lot of interesting art is that made by artists who are also scientists, architects, mathematicians, computer programmers, or some other profession. You have to have something interesting to say first- the visualization stuff comes second. Of course, this isn’t always true, as some art has only to do with the visual- but it’s amazing to read about, say, a color field painter and see how much they were influenced by history – and not just art history.

The more artists draw into a little cocoon of the art world, the less they are relevant to the world at large, and that’s dangerous, not only to the art world, but to everyone. People crave relevant art. Notice I say “relevant art” – pretty pictures, or even interesting pictures, simply don’t cut it anymore. At least they don’t for me.

I am optimistic that more people that don’t think of themselves as artists will begin to make art, and to make inroads into the cultural phenomenon and presentation of that which we call “fine art.” Visual Literacy is succeeding- I see it on the Internet all the time, myspace notwithstanding. People are learning to present their ideas visually because the Internet requires it- and it’s getting more and more effective. Many people today have the capability of doing what only a small percentage could a few years ago, whether it’s creating a website, or a flash animation, or a photoshopped image. This could easily be expanded to painting. More artists are interested in more than just art, too. I almost hope that Fine Art majors are required to have another major in the future- are encouraged to have another interest that they can then make art about.

In a way, I’m so thankful I got outside of the art world. I was getting entrenched; I had metaphorically begun to eat my left arm.