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“Art Whores” An article I wrote for Newsweek in 2006 (during University years)

High schoolers considered Art class just like Study hall. A blow off class. Merely a time to piss off the hours till’ the real classes began. A moment to screw with the (already) emotionally disturbed teacher. The student, blowing a fuse when they received their much-deserved D.

The common image of artists are of post-80’s angst-filled, emo wannabes with little intellect and too much energy.

It happens all too often, that my own family places me in stereotypes. When I say to someone, “Yeah, I’m an art major”, I get- “You should do Caricatures!” or “So, are you going to draw cartoons for kid’s books?” If I act in an unlikely manner, someone says, “Sorry, she’s an artist”. If I splash some purple on a strand of hair, friends go, “It’s cool. You are artsy.” And when I remind my relatives that I am pursuing teaching art, I get questions like, “I didn’t know artists can do teaching.” To some extent, the stigma is perpetuated by artists. Society gives us a pass to dress and act abnormally. To another extent it could be we are pressing the limits of our creativity, and the limits of societal perspectives. Either way, there is that apparent view of artists in general that this “freedom” of expression goes hand in hand with lack of intelligence and sensibility.

The fine line between commercial art and fine art has worn thin. Selling art has become a sport in which hobbists with the label of “Self-taught” whore off hundreds upon thousands of 30 second artworks for a quick buck. All the quality and taste lost in the swish of a brush, in the senseless act of the creation of every meaningless work. Just like the nearby fry and chop fast food shop, all the energy, personal creativity, and power has been lost, because we all just want a “pretty” picture to hang on the wall. Fine art gives people the creeps, or makes one laugh. “Sure a five year could have done that one”, is a common quip, that manages to singe my very ears. The overall misunderstanding of art saddens me to no end.

And today, the Chinese factory market has filled not only American stores, but the fine art market as well, deceiving even museums and fine auctioneer houses into believing that they were selling originals of masters long ago. If you google the keyword, “reproduction art” online, you will find 22,200,000 results, of which most if not all are websites devoted to reproducing imitation paintings of masters and contemporary artists!

In a country where the average family is in debt more than they make, familial inheritances are fantasies of a child, and rapid action is the most important product in our lives. Where is there a place anymore for value, quality, meaning, purpous? It seems it’s now all a matter of whether it benefits our “fast food” society. Fast food technology has made this society wholly inconvenient and time-saving for hectic and busy lives, yet here we are even worse off, disconnected, and uninterested in natural life. Let’s all end our lives after our ipods die and our palm pilots lose it’s intended purpous. Art, in and of itself is so much more than esthetic pleasure. Does anyone take notice anymore?

On online Art Teacher message boards, I find many of them complaining that they have little respect or understanding from the rest of their school faculty. Art teachers aren’t considered on the same level of intelligence or education as other teachers. All the art teacher does is pull out paint and put kids in “quiet time”.

Will I have to bear the same burdens?

Will my experience and education be considered marginal or even silly?

Is this the fate of all art teachers and professors in the education field?

Since 2004, Self-representing artists have found it increasingly hard to compete with the factory made art that is being sold. People don’t seem to want original art. They don’t appreciate what it’s worth or what it means. Art to them is simply decoration and nothing more. As a student going into art, and possibly have a gallery career that should continue and grow after college, I am found dreading the moment. What if my degree is utterly worthless. In the light of art and artists, I will not be taken seriously.

My art will be considered only enough worth to reproduce. And I will be wishing I went into dental assisting. I have children to feed. A life to live. And I will have wasted my time in a degree that brings me no sustenance, no value because noone else values it. As a self-representing artist online, I have found that the only way I could survive

Take a college art class, and you will find that you must be versed as well as a doctor in the vernaculars of technique, skills, and the science of art. And if you suck at drawing, don’t expect the Professor to brush it off. Art is a skill that must be mastered along with a heavy foundation in the philosophy and science of art. I have found that there is so much intellectual analysis and critical thinking involved, that it would blow away some people. Art is not just a time to doodle on your homework paper, or paint a pretty picture to put on a wall.

Sure enough, art can be a form of therapy and a pastime for those who are bored or emotionally stressed. Some of the greatest works come out of emotionally disturbed individuals. However, first and foremost, it is a formal skill, just like music and writing, and mathematics. The stigma of artists and teachers of art is, to me, a major problem in the future of the art world. We see more and more people succumbing to the temptation to buy penny and dime art from the Chinese factory market that is dominating the art scene in America. More and more teenyboppers throw themselves into the graphic design world, taking over some jobs that only skilled, educated artists and designers should be awarded.

And lastly, Fine Art is an intellectual, spiritual, political tool in our world.