… if the artist stands as an endangered species in the face of contemporary economics and marketing, we are face with a perplexing question: why does the myth of the individual artist—the loner following his own heart—arise so predictably with each new generation? One possible answer is suggested by looking at the things that have made art worth doing in the past. Work that was driven by issues arising from the relationship between the artist and the work, or the artist and the materials, or the artist and the subject matter, rings true. Such work, regardless of whether it fits with then contemporary attitudes, seems to continue to make sense over time. p. 76
Art & Fear
Artists… are a crafty lot, and surprisingly adept at getting the system to foot the bill for letting them do exactly what they wanted to do anyway. p. 74
Art & Fear
Fear that you’re not getting your fair share of recognition leads to anger and bitterness. Fear that you’re not as good as a fellow artist leads to depression… Obsessive competitors simply equate rank with self—a chancy gambit… p. 72
Art & Fear
It’s easier to rate artists in terms of the recognition they’ve received… And when that happens, competition centers not on making work, but on collecting the symbols of acceptance and approval… p. 71
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Art & Fear
The urge to compete provides a source of raw energy, and for that purpose alone it can be exceptionally useful. In a healthy artistic environment, that energy is directed inward to fulfill one’s own potential… artists are not in competition with each other. Unfortunately, healthy artistic environments are about as common as unicorns. p. 71
Art & Fear
Finding your place in the art world is no easy matter, if indeed there is a place for you at all… someone besides you is deciding which art—and which artists—belong in it. p. 70
Art & Fear
One of the ordinary problems artists face is finding a way to make peace with the arts network and the issues it holds dear. Not necessarily joining it, mind you—just making peace with it. At least you need to if you want assurance your work will likely be shown, published or performed in any reasonable length of time. p. 70
Art & Fear
By leading the viewer to experience the world through the very different sensibilities of the artist, a good work of art inevitably calls the viewer’s own belief system into question. Is this threatening?… The more effective the art, the more likely the viewer’s first reaction will be anger and denial—followed immediately by a search for someone to blame… the artist is the most likely candidate… p. 67
Art & Fear
The hardest part of artmaking is living your life in such a way that your work gets done, over and over—and that means, among other things, finding a host of practices that are just plain useful. p. 61
Art & Fear
For most artists, making good art depends on making lots of art, and any device that carries the first brushstroke to the next blank canvas has tangible, practical value. p. 61
Art & Fear
The details of artmaking we do recognize tend to be hard-won practical working habits, and recurrent bits of form that we can repeatedly hang work on. p. 60
Art & Fear
Most of the myriad of steps that go into making a piece (or a year’s worth of pieces) go on below the level of conscious thought, engaging unarticulated beliefs and assumptions about what artmaking is. p. 59
Art & Fear
The dilemma every artist confronts, again and again, is when to stick with familiar tools and materials, and when to reach out and embrace those that offer new possibilities. p. 59
Art & Fear
One of the best kept secrets of artmaking is that new ideas come into play far less frequently than practical ideas—ideas that can be reused for a thousand variations… p. 56
Art & Fear
If, indeed, for any given time only a certain sort of work resonates with life, then that is the work you need to doing in the moment. p. 53
Art & Fear
Decisive works of art participate directly in the fabric of history surrounding their maker… you have to be there… Making art is bound by where we are… p. 52
Art & Fear
The truly special moments in artmaking lie in those moments when concept is converted to reality… it connects to that wonderful condition in which the work seems to make itself and the artist serves only as a guide or mediator, allowing all things to be possible. p. 51
Art & Fear
Naive passion, which promotes work done in ignorance of obstacles, becomes—with courage—informed passion, which promotes work done in full acceptance of those obstacles. Foremost among those obstacles is uncertainty. p. 50
Art & Fear
The world displays perfect neutrality on whether we achieve any outward manifestation of our inner desires. But not art. Art is exquisitely responsive. Nowhere is feedback so absolute as in the making of art… there may be no reaction to what we do; in our artwork there is nothing but reaction. p. 49
Art & Fear
The difference between acceptance and approval is subtle, but distinct. Acceptance means having your work counted as the the real thing; approval means having people like it. p. 45