This post will be somewhat long, I warn you now. But there is reason to be long winded, I suppose. I've had a lot on my mind.
Among the questions... What am I making? And why? Where will I sell my things now that I don't have a public studio space? Will people even want to buy them anymore? Why is anything I make even relevant? There are so many more talented artists I would personally rather collect work from - why me?
Need I go on? I think not. You get the point. The theme here is uncertaintly. Self-doubt. Of which I am not alone in having, I know. Yet it's so hard to get out of that hole once you have fallen in! And, I have been here before... with this feeling. What got me out of it? Why did I so easily forget the answer I had worked so hard to grasp?
These thoughts swirling in my head today, I went on with the day. While searching for Asian artists (which is my newest obsession since my world seems to be surrounded by only American art) I came across Xu Bing's "Monkey's Grasping for the Moon." The piece was created for the Smithsonian's Sackler Collection, the first work of art which they helped produce and did not just purchase after the fact. They worked with the artist on a series of characters in various languages which each imitate the American "Barrel of Monkeys" toy and cling to one another in a ladder formation. I think this week I have felt like this... a monkey grasping for the moon. Sometimes the monkey at the top who is almost within reach and other times the one near the bottom, with others using my body as a means to climb higher.
On Xu Bing's website I came across a letter written to him by a young artist, as well as his letter in response. It's long but worth the read if you have a moment (It's pasted below here). The young artist has anxiety over not attaining fame quick enough. This is not my concern. But his underlying self-doubt is shared. Xu Bing's comments are so well put. Afterall though, he had to overcome a great deal just to be able to make art - any type of art. He acknowledges so much I have been questioning... That an artist must wrestle with acknowledging the gift they have to give the world. That this is not an idle thing to be set on a shelf. He addresses the need to make money and support oneself, as well as to a make art free and clear of those realities. The most important element I pulled though? Xu Bing says:
"My viewpoint is that wherever you live, you will face that place’s
problems. If you have problems then you have art. Your plight and your
problems are actually the source of your artistic creation."
There is nothing more to say than this. Really, if one's creative impulse is there and known, then you have an obligation to follow it. And if you are seeking sources for creative inspiration? You need look no further than your life, your trials, your nightmares even. Because while much art can be beautiful or contain joy, no true art is ever made without effort. No art worth speaking about, collecting, or revering is ever just slapped together thoughtlessly.
I include both the young artist's letter and Xu Bing's reply for you to read...
From a young artist to Xu Bing:
Dear Xu Bing:
I have considered writing you for several months, but have put it off
out of fear of burdening you with a responsibility that is not yours
and making myself vulnerable to someone who knows nothing about me.
Nevertheless, there is a sensibility in your work and the way in which
you have approached your career that I respond to -- that keeps me
hopeful despite the solitude right now in the shadow of the sublime and
invisible mountain that is my career.
Last summer, after graduating from art school, I moved to New York from
the West Coast. My friends and family discouraged me from doing so.
They warned me how expensive New York would be, that I would spend all
my time working to pay off my tiny apartment and that I would have very
little time to make art. Unfortunately, their warnings have become my
reality. I feel like I need to be here though, to absorb everything I
can in the museums and galleries so that I can develop an historical
awareness about my work. But the struggle is almost more than I can
bear.
Over the past nine months, I have met many artists my own age who are
in a similar situation with the exception that they have grandiose
ideas about their future success. (It is true that gaining access to
galleries is easier than I thought it would be.) Some of my friends are
already showing and selling work. They claim that getting early
recognition is important because it will be much harder to get farther
down the road. Although I’ve had opportunities to show, I have been
resistant to do so soon. I have always believed that it takes time to
develop a true sense of self, and that that process should precede any
commercial endeavors so as not to be tainted by them. Still, I wonder
if I am my own worst enemy -- if I am sabotaging my future.
And that leads me to my question for you: is it possible to maintain
one’s integrity and freedom of thought and participate in the art
world? You appear to me as someone who has dealt with these issues
successfully. How have you managed to reconcile what seems to me, at
this point, to be irreconcilable?
Thank you for decades full of challenging work. That in and of itself
is a gift to me and has given me inspiration. Hearing from you directly
would be an unbelievable honor.
Sincerely,
Young Artist
From Xu Bing to the young artist:
Dear Young Artist,
I did not answer your letter sooner, first because I am very busy and
second because the honest and specific questions in your letter cannot
be answered simply, in a few words. The situation of each person who
engages in art is an individual case, with individual conditions. In
addition, even those artists who have already succeeded when asked why
others have not, have trouble answering the question despite their
natural talents.
One can see from your letter that you are a person who has courage when
it comes to your future and your artistic responsibilities. This is not
something that everyone possesses; but it is the first condition of
being a successful, outstanding artist. You should recognize this. I
have always thought that to be an artist, the first thing one must do
is clarify what art is and what its principles are. Specifically
speaking, she must identify what an artist does in this world and what
relationship exists between herself, society, and culture. And even
more specifically, she must determine her particular commutative
relationship with society. If you want to be a person who can survive
on her art, you must clarify what can be exchanged with society before
society will repay you. I sometimes think: I have a house in which to
live, a studio in which to work and food to eat, what has been
exchanged? Museums and collectors are willing to buy my work for a high
price, what have they purchased? The artwork itself is a mere lump of
materials; is it worth that much? Does value derive from meticulously
cultivated skill? Many artists work more meticulously than I do.
Rather, that part of the work with value presents society with a
valuable way of thinking and is associated with a new form of artistic
expression. As this “new mode” is something that people need, it can
become a marketable value; and only then can it constitute a conversion
key. The discovery of this new mode springs from talent, a sensitivity
to one’s time and an above average recognition of the current culture
and environment. In this way, it restructures the methodologies of old
art. Consequently, a good artist is a thinking person, and is a person
adept at translating thoughts into the language of art.
From your letter it is clear that your goals are lofty. At the same
time you are not an artist looking to quickly achieve market results.
This is the right way of thinking. Of course any “value” will be
transformed into a commodity and it will ultimately be sold. A street
artist might sell one piece every ten minutes; an artist in a gift shop
might sell one piece every day and an artist in a commercial gallery
might sell one piece a month. Some people sell a piece as soon as it is
finished, others sell only one idea for their entire lives. It all
depends on what kind of artist you prefer to be.
Some of the principles I have discussed above are a little broad and do
not address the problems you are facing. Below I will bring up some
specific examples from my experience, which you might find helpful.
Every person who has studied art wants to become a major artist, but
every person’s conditions are different. This includes knowledge,
artistic sensibility, financial and family background, etc. Everyone
has strengths and limitations. One who knows how to work also
understands that whatever limitations she meets can be transformed into
things that are useful to her. Using a limitation well transforms it
into a strength. I speak from personal experience. In China I received
a very conservative art education, and I didn’t come to America to
participate in Western contemporary art until I was 35 years old.
Whereas you and the majority of young artists in America have received
an open contemporary art education early on. In terms of their
linguistic and cultural adaptations, it’s easier for these artists to
meld into New York’s contemporary art scene. Compared to you, I was not
naturally predisposed, but from this “inadequacy” I could extract
something to utilize that others have not. Due to my socialist
art-education background, I probably view contemporary art from a
distinct perspective, which also stems from living in a new cultural
environment and confronting language barriers. I am particularly
sensitive to language, words and misreading. My art expresses these
characteristics that other’s art does not.
My viewpoint is that wherever you live, you will face that place’s
problems. If you have problems then you have art. Your plight and your
problems are actually the source of your artistic creation. The
majority of young artists who come to New York to develop their careers
are eager to enter the mainstream. But a majority of people like you
have to spend time working other jobs to support their costs of living
here. It may seem like you are wasting time that could be used for
creating art, but you needn’t actually worry about this too much. On
the one hand, as long as you are a true artist every field that you are
engaged in outside of art circles—living and working—will produce
treasure, which sooner or later will be used in the creation of your
art. On the other hand, for today’s artists it is not important to
plunge headlong into this mainstream system. Instead they find a
suitable position and relationship to it. But you should know that you
must bring something new to this system, which is not already there,
for the system to have a reason to accept you. And, it should be
something that cannot be found in the system itself. Only if this thing
is from some other realm or from the boundary between two regions, will
it be possible for you to succeed. Today’s art has become, on the
surface, rich and varied, but in terms of methodology more and more
narrow. Too many artists know how to make “standard” contemporary art.
The system really doesn’t need anymore of this kind of artist.
Just work, and don’t worry whether your talent will be discovered. In
fact, with the speed and ease of communication today, tragedies like
those of Van Gogh’s time basically do not exist. Museums and curators
are the same as artists: they are anxious that no interesting work will
come out. So long as you can bring forth something good, museum
curators will come to snatch it away for exhibition.
I Wish You Success,
Xu Bing
Both letters were published in Art on Paper Magazine in 2006, as well as the book Letters to a Young Artist by Darte Publishing, 2006. Image above was taken by Purple Cloud and is a detail photograph of Xu Bing's 2006 piece, "Magic Carpet" which is a woven carpet installed in the National Museum of Singapore.
