This assignment asks me to consider the intersections between art making and my life, as if the two are separate entities. I am an artist, that’s that. Not to say that I’m on my creative A-game all the time, but this question suggests that I’m a ‘person’ most of the time, and occasionally I put on my artist pants and get to work.
My real life is my art life. Not an hour goes by that I don’t think of what I could be doing to advance my experience as a working fine artist. It is, in every literal sense of the word, constantly on my mind.
This can actually be an obstacle for me sometimes. Because I want to make it as an artist so badly, sometimes I panic at the idea of creating insignificant work. Then I just freeze up and don’t do anything at all. Counterproductive, but no one’s perfect right?
Over thinking is the biggest barrier I’ve faced in art making. This happened last year in my photo bookmaking workshop. I came up with one idea, scrapped it because it was dumb, then spent two weeks hyperventilating because I just couldn’t think of anything. The problem ultimately was that I was tapping my head saying ‘think think think’, rather than just letting ideas happen naturally. I whipped out a great project at the 11th hour, but my (favorite) photography teacher has permanently labeled me as an extreme slacker.
So I learned from this. I got into the habit of thinking like an artist all the time, instead of right before an assignment is due. I also learned to relax a little, I am a student after all, and I think that the lessons learned from producing dumb art can be more valuable than the rewards of creating profound work.
Another obstacle is something I complain about all the time- the lack of fresh inspiration. Artists are charged with the task of creating fresh sights, even if working with old materials. Taking this Survey class has really helped me push though my initial lack of motivation and make new habits.
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