The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

[Kefka Jr.]

Just who owes who?

The artist provides the audience with entertaining or enlightening work, so shouldn't the artist get all the respect they've got coming?

But then, the artist only got where they were because they HAD an audience they could appeal to. Shouldn't they get what they want?

Is Dreamworks' animation department a bunch of assholes for pandering to the most profitable demographic? Is Hideaki Anno an asshole for using his work as therapy and expecting other people to like it?

What I'm wondering is: Is the artists' job to speak for the audience in their work, or to do whatever the hell they want and hope the audience can appreciate it?

[Funk]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

Lisa Lionheart only spoke to one little girl, and it changed that little girl's life forever.

[Nixon]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

If I'm doing work for myself, then I create what I want to see. If other people like it, woo. If they don't, it still appeals to me.

Work for money means it has to appeal to someone else, too, and maybe a lot of other people. So I guess it depends on the situation.

[Kire]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

this sounds like the age old question of art vs. entertainment. I'll post more later

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

its really a balance between both options. without one the other is bland and blank.

[Perversion]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

To be snide, I would say this boils down to the whole, "selling out" argument.

However, let me illustrate with an example of one of my own "creative" works....

My first game for RPGM, Series 1, followed the traditional RPG formula, albeit adding things to that formula that to that point had not been done with RPGM3. Meaning, it was meant to appeal to the widest majority of people in the community who download and play RPGM games. It had/has a respectable amount of downloads. For the "Extravaganzicon" contest, I decided to make a game for myself, not necessarily a game to win the contest. I had made a poetry topic in the Imaginari, and it was met mostly with indifference. So I decided to base an RPGM game around my poetry and short stories, and included about 15 minigames/puzzles to add actual "gameplay" to the game. There is no story. There is no character development. You basically play minigames and solve puzzles in order to unlock and be able to read my angsty writing.

I predicted that I'd be lucky to get 30 downloads in the first 6 months for the game, A Series Aside, due to the somewhat esoteric nature of the game. But lo and behold....even though it was released more than half a year after my first game (which was more traditional, and thus, I thought, able to appeal to a larger audience), it currently has more than 50 more downloads than Series 1, my first game. A Series Aside has over 500 presently here at the Pav, while Series 1 has not even broken 450 (I think).

The point being, I'm of the opinion that if an artist follows his own path, and creates something that is meaningful/relevant/enjoyable to himself, a prospective audience will most likely be able to pick up on this, and begin to form a stronger fanbase for the artist's work, while those creating specifically for "the masses" will soon be forgotten.

Radiohead is evidence of this. They made their first album by following the prevailing Britrock trend at the time. Most other bands that came out around the same time are long forgotten, but Radiohead decided to follow their muse, and make the music THEY wanted to make, and they slowly but surely built up an enthusiastic fanbase. This fanbase will probably continue to buy their albums for years to come.

Another example...which band would seem more likely to still be recording a decade from now....Modest Mouse or Linkin Park? The White Stripes or Fallout Boy? Stephen Merrit or (insert your own "flavor of the month" band here)? Del the Funky Homosapien or Soulja Boy? You get the point. It seems to me that when an artist creates from the heart, or creates what (s)he wants to, regardless of what is currently fashionable, not only would they seem to have a longer longevity, but most likely, they will be regarded (critically) a bit more favorably as well. Instead of being a flash in the pan, and reaping huge profits early on, and then fading into oblivion, I believe that, barring unforeseen circumstances, an artist who is true to him(her)self is like a slow burn, and eventually, the public at large might catch up, ten years later, to what the artist had been doing all along.

[Karr Lord of Chaos]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

that is a really good point perversion.

[162]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

What I'm wondering is: Is the artists' job to speak for the audience in their work, or to do whatever the hell they want and hope the audience can appreciate it?

I think it's a matter of interpretation. Some people would say "art is for oneself" and other people would say "art is for the world". Basically, the definition of "artist" depends on the person.

I personally believe there are two kinds of artists: a "commercial artist" who creates art for the sake of an audience or obtaining money in order to survive, and a "personal artist" who creates art for their own sake. I suppose the definition of an artist depends on the artist themself.

Basically, both those defintions are correct (at least in my opinion). However, there is such a thing as "selling out". I also think that fads may play a part in what an artist does, whether it be with true influence or out of a wish to make money.

[Crimson Knight]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

The reward(s) that you receive from your work is conditional to the value that you convey to others. So each party feeds the other. For each artist there's an audience and for each audience, there's an artist.

[The Ice Cream Man]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

A true artist creates for him/her self and if people like it good.

However, if you're trying to make money, well you better appeal to your audience.

[highwind]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

i write stuff that makes me laugh. on rare occasions, other people laugh too.

i write music that i want to play. some people kinda like it.

there's my answer!

[Translucid]

Re: The Artist/Audience Dynamic?

i write stuff that makes me laugh. on rare occasions, other people laugh too.

i write music that i want to play. some people kinda like it.

there's my answer!

yup.