| OCR Text |
Show right path toward Artist, The Archetype. An additional bonus is that, now, a person can include how much Artist they are when discussing their background: 25% Irish, 50% German, 25% Latvian, 25% Artist. If a person is only 25% Artist it is unlikely that they have experienced much suffering in their life. If the 25% Artist wants to reach TAG status they must seek out opportunities for self-immolation. It must be noted that the title, Artist, has a reach beyond occupation, and is more all encompassing of personhood, rather than occupation. A person may suffer from many things, but that does not prevent them from holding the occupational title that they hold, whether it be Chemist, or Doctor, or Dog Groomer. Because of this, the occupational comparisons do not translate/transfer as cleanly as one would hope. Yet, to identify through suffering seems crude, regardless of what you call yourself, or why. The Scale of Suffering™ is clearly grotesque hyperbole, meant to criticize the use of pain as a measure of authenticity. Yet, that is exactly what happens when the tragedy of an unwell life hardly lived (just because, largely due to his sister-in law, the value of his paintings increased after his death) is considered the romantic ideal of the Artist. Suffering, of course, may be one of the many things that inspire or motivate the production of work. However, suffering should never be considered the root of genius, nor an entry ticket to true Artistry. To accept the Tortured Artist encourages the disrepair and the dissolution of the Artist, himself. To perpetuate the belief that there is some romance to this is to turn tragedy into a commodity. To use agony to legitimize the Artist is to say that one cannot be a True Artist until the tragedy of their life can be celebrated, or their Art appreciated, posthumously. The belief, or accepted notion, that Artists must suffer for their Art is a ridiculous, and frankly, dangerous melodrama that is simply untrue, and in no way should be continued or perpetuated. To do so is to encourage and seek out pain as Artistic authentication. Tragedy is not aspirational in any other profession, and still, the Arts (music, theater, fine arts, etc.,) herald it as genius. 13 |
