Admiration for a quality or an art can be so strong that it deters us from striving to possess it?

There’s a good book called “Art and Fear” that covers this.

GA, @The_Compassionate_Heretic! I was just about to mention that book! It really is a wonderful book that encompasses the psychology behind making art, and what sometimes holds the creator back. Check it out.

@The_Compassionate_Heretic and @lefteh It’s a quote from a philosopher, but give me your personal takes on it. That’s why I asked – I want to know how each person feels about it. Does it hold true for either of you? False?

I did at first but I got over that. I just do what I do because it makes me happy. I have influences in my art but in the process of doing it, is where I get value out of it.

Yeah, I agree. The process is what is most important to me. If I see a wonderful piece someone else created, I might go try to emulate the style even if I know I don’t have the artistic skill to replicate it. The process of trying will make me a better artist, and by extension, a better learner. So I guess I don’t get intimidated by a high degree of admiration, because I don’t necessarily aim to be able to achieve the same result. The process of trying is more important to me. I hope that answers your question.

Interesting concept, and I both agree and disagree.

Put simply, art is being accentuated by technology. In the age where we can create near photo realistic CGI (see James Cameron’s Avatar trailer. there is a debate raging in the community as to whether 12 foot tall blue aliens can ever be considered “photo realistic”, as we have no point of reference to determine realism, but that isn’t the point), develop a sophisticated pseudo-A.I. (see Peter Molyneux’s Milo, which effectively solidifies the bridge between a virtual character and interactivity. I was at this press conference during E3, and – literally – everyone was amazed. Though it seemed gimmicky at first, the “artist” [molyneux] has a way of crafting a deep personal connection between his art and the audience. This is still a prototype, but the technology works.) and successfully connect billions of people to one another on a vast infrastructure (see, the internet) to create art (see, all of the neato Web 2.0 projects running about), the idea that art is limited to the artist’s tools is now inherently moot.

Gone are the days where we considered the medium to be flawed (that is to say, the “This is not a pipe” complex – that no matter how realistic something seems on a 2D plane, it is never real, or tangible). No, technology has advanced far enough that our minds can be successfully tricked into believing that something is real.

Technology IS the new art medium, and should be considered as such. You see, computer generated imagery and graphics are the platform upon which an artist can build. We are now entering the age where a particular quality or tone can be captured. There are many artists on the front lines testing, prodding and probing the edges, seeing what they can do with this medium, but the importance is that the technology is there, and is waiting to be utilized. But, of course, this is a massive generalization.

For the record, yes, personally I shy away from art. That is why I have not finished that screenplay. I just wanted to say the above. I have no idea why.

That is all.

I am not sure of what you want to know here, so let me put it this way. I am pretty much self taught in all the artistic things I do. I had some high school training, but most everything has been a “learn as I go” process.

That being said, I probably am not as good as I could be, as in not seeming to be as good as someone who has been formally trained, but simply because I lack the proper training, or the patience to get that training. I am a pretty good writer, but I still fear that trying to get published will reveal my shortcomings.

I don’t even know if you can make sense of that, because I should have probably put more thought into my answer. But I am pretty rushed right now, as I have a lot of things on my plate, so to speak.

I think I am pretty musical. I play the guitar OK. I enjoy it.

Then, I saw a dvd of Stevie Wonder in concert. Song after song, every one more beautiful and more heartfelt than the last.

I just put the guitar in the corner for a week, knowing I could never write a song like “Over Joy.”

It depends on the environment you’re in.

I have been in situations where the admiration for a writer or an artist is so absolute that you feel it’s hopeless to even try to be as good. And I have been in situations that raise the amateurs to a pedestal, and encourages them to experiment. In those situations you’re reminded of how much you love that art or the act of creating, and so you do it anyway.

I tend to get discouraged when I read, see or hear a piece of art that is so-well crafted that the gulf between myself and the genius who created it seems immeasurable. Seeing someone like Michael Jackson perform, he just oozes talent with every move and sound. Examining a work of Michelangelo which bursts with energy despite being inanimate. Letting yourself get carried away by the words of William Faulkner, who takes words that seem too crude to describe intangible, heartbreaking concepts, yet makes them dance on the page and uses them to focus these ideas directly into your subconscious. These talents have accomplished art of such mammoth proportions that makes me feel like I’d be lucky to create something to exist in the shadows of their work.

But on the other hand, there is so much crap out there. Toni Morrison once said that she searched her whole life for a certain type of book, and when she couldn’t find it, she wrote it herself. While I may not be searching for something that isn’t out there yet, the multitude of garbage being produced encourages me to produce something better.

@drdoombot There is a ton of crap out there. We just don’t notice it because we’re busy preoccupying ourselves with the greats.

I’m sure many successful companies were started because the founders realized there was a need somewhere that wasn’t being fulfilled.

yeah, when i hear music that just puts you in some kind of ecstasy, its so frustrating that everything i do is just so shit, so i normally end up giving up in disgust at myself.
And when the emotion just seems to pour out of people, and all you know is your pathetic self apathetically and discouraged(ly) producing a ton of worthless stuff that just couldnt ever have the same awesome and cathartic beauty and meaning to it…
I remember seeing this awesome Nirvana thing and man the way Kurt cobain seemed to just let everything out, and watching seether play acoustic almost flawlessly and how it makes you feel in the head… it kinda makes you coldly lock away everything you’re doing because you know you can never get out of yourself what you love to hear from other music
yeah =)

I have done this a few times, thought “if I can’t be the best, why try” of when I started getting good at something to just stop. Sucks

My thing is with art…I believe I am creative and have talent and I look at other folios or illustrations, graphic design etc…and think I could never be as good as that person…or they used that media so well.
I love using white space and certain elements and mostly wish I could venture into the world of full blown colour explosion. I have all these ideas that I JUST can’t get out of my head onto the paper because I think if I can’t get them perfect there is no use. Everytime I seem to get overwhelmed that my ideas aren’t as good or my illustrations etc I think well they did it in their OWN style which isn’t mine…and my own take on things is just as good as their just through a different perspective. I think I am confusing myself…..most of the time I end up not doing what my heart so desperately wants creatively…I think rejection is an issue….had some dodo art teachers in my time!! Fancy grading a grade 4 pottery assignment and failing them lol

How about this:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Stendhal_syndrome

@bumwithablackberry Not really relevant to the particular question, but very interesting nonetheless. Thanks for sharing that. :)

True. I really want to go to outerspace. I’m a bit of a space cadet, as it were. I think about it all day, I study it, I even dream it everynight. The shock and awe of being out there floating with the stars, the mind-blowing views, even the rush of the dangers of being out there. But, what if (as if) I did go to outerspace, and it boring or I had to bunk with someone who complained the whole time and farted. That would be a total buzzkill for my once in a lifetime moment…lol but i’d still go. But I respect the idea so much that if i never get to go, I’m just as content experiencing as much as I can of it down here.

I wonder if celibate nuns think the same way about getting jiggy wit it.