My friend Eddie went to SVA for illustration and taught himself to be a web/graphic designer for extra income. He currently has two websites - www.ashworld.com and artcharger.ashworld.com After 10 years of freelancing odd jobs, getting by, but not very comfortably, he is thinking of going to teach in Japan. I helped him write his essay today, which explained the influence Japanese visual media has had on his life. It was cartoons, anime and video games that sparked his interest to begin drawing at a young age. He never stopped and devoted his life to drawing and art. Unlike artists of traditional media, he decided to go towards technology. Still, without being a corporate office worker, he has struggled for many years.
In America, it's more often American visual culture/media that draws people in and offers dreams that may never be fulfilled. My friend Yaniv, from high school, wanted to be an actor. He stuck to it for many years, acted in movies like Toxic Avenger IV and then got a job with Desperate Housewives in the production department - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0788979/ - He kept his dream that one day he'd be able to be an extra on the show, but it never happened. Last month he called me and told me that he got fired for speaking inappropriately. A woman on set had a baby girl and he jokingly said, "When she's 18, I'll date her." Inappropriate yes, but worth being fired... I can't agree. He thinks that corporate America is getting more conservative and notes that he has been working in corporate America.
Like Yaniv, my friend Pam also loves American visual culture and gets lured in by celebrities and film. Pam wanted to be writer, but has also always wanted to work in film. In addition to her short stories and a novel, she wrote a screenplay, but nobody with power ever looked at it. Instead she worked her way up the film hierarchy from a production assistant to a production coordinator, with a few jobs in the art department. If she keeps moving up she may one day be a producer. She actually got fired from her last job. It was the first time she got fired and it was mostly due to personality clashes and unrealistic expectations. Pam described this last job as working in the movie Devil Wears Prada, but it was film instead of fashion and the Devil Wore New Balance.In between jobs she spends her time making cards and small polymer sculptures.- http://www.imdb.com/name/nm1061975/
The list can go on... The last roomate I had before living with my husband was a movie editor and made a few of his own movies (http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0596392/). He freelanced and worked all the time. All he did was work on his movies, but finally had one show on HBO last year. He might be the most content of all of these people that I mention. Then again, he comes from Connecticut (privilege), has a mom who was an art teacher and a sister who is a somewhat successful actress (Gretchen Mol - http://www.imdb.com/name/nm0001543/) A friend from college who is a photo retoucher who started out by working for a porn magazine, retouching breasts to take away scars. I remember when he was living in a one bedroom apartment with two roomates in his living room. Now he works office jobs as n art director and is fine with that, but he's still does his own photoshop work on the side. I can also talk about my close friend who is a graphic designer for Library of America and does fine art on the side, and a friend I met in jury duty who is a photo editor for Fortune magazine and hates her boss... the list goes on.
Art jobs are sexy... so sexy, many people go for an MFA and end up without work. Still, this option is not open to everyone. I remember when I first got my BFA. I wanted to go for an MFA, but I did not have enough money, even with a loan. So, I moved on. For many people who can do it, it's worth the gamble when you see the way of life when you are successful creating you're own work... what a great life that would be... to just do art and nothing else. It's like you're not working. However, many people end up compromising, going for commercial art jobs and/or forgetting about it all. Some people have more drive, more artistic talent or more of a need for stable living conditions. People are also starting from different places in terms of social support, knowledge, skills and financial support. I think that there are many, many factors that go into the career choices of people who are interested in the arts and many many factors that go into the result. This post is just a glimpse of the paths that a few creative people decided to take.
No comments:
Post a Comment