In the Making by Linda Weintraub
At first I was overwhelmed reading this article. It can be shocking to see spelled out just how many options there are in the art world, from the search for and definition of an artist's self, to the inspiration of an idea, to the methods used to carry out the work. But eventually I found it to be helpful and almost comforting to read a thought-out, logical listing of the million iterations possible for a working artist. I have a lot of different interests and goals, and I'm aware that art making has a massive number of possible definitions; I often feel pulled in so many different directions that it's hard to pick just one, or even a few. I guess my organizational, list-making side appreciated that someone laid out all these categories on paper.
The section on the artistic “self” was particularly interesting to me, probably because at the moment I happen to be grappling with the question, what do I want to present to the world as “my work.” To me, the answer to this question deeply involves the development of identity. I thought the explanations of “wego” and the construction of a semi-false or completely fantasized identity were the most fascinating to think about—I'm personally not interested in representing a particular group or creating some kind of alter-ego in my own work, but I love the idea of both of these as a concept or incentive for making art.
I would have liked Weintraub to include examples of work or artist names with her analysis. Presenting artists who identify specifically with a type she is describing would have helped illustrate her point as well as become a really interesting catalogue of diverse artists to study.
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