Posted

Jan 5th 2007

Mood

Sad

Music

none.

Hmm so I was just reading some threads in the SA forum about the new rating system, and people not liking it.

And some of the responses kind of shocked me. Things to the effect of, "Well if somebody's art sucks then that's their problem and they should be told that it sucks."

Hmmmmmmm. See, personally I think this attitude completely fails to see the point of art. It's not supposed to be a competition. It's supposed to be a means of expression. People who put pieces of themselves into their art! That means that they probably will find it very very difficult not to take things personally when people are rude about their work.

This isn't directed at the rating system by the way (I realise the "yes/no" thing is for the front page system, though I'm not too keen on the "pleasing/displeasing" thing - seems pointless and harsh - but hey) but at the general spirit of such a system.

It seems to me that the whole concept of "rating" art is a little bit meaningless. It's not a production line. It's not just some industry where people churn out stuff for the pleasure of others. That's not what art is about.

Talent is something that grows with time and patience and positive encouragement.

OK, so some people do actually thrive on harsh criticism - out of spite, I suppose, more than anything, or some kind of rebellious "I'll show them!" streak - which is great if you have it but most people just get discouraged when people make very negative comments. Constructive criticism isn't tearing something to pieces and saying, "OK... well this is rubbish. Here is a huge list of everything that is wrong with it!" Most people will feel totally crushed and useless after a few of those.

I mean... when I listen to my first attempts at singing I cringe and cringe and I think, "Oh my GOD I sounded so bad!!!" (and I did sound very very embarrassingly bad!!) but at the time people were encouraging, and while they did make the necessary suggestions they did so in a helpful and positive and kind and sensitive manner, recognising my efforts and my desire to improve and that made me feel that there was some point in pursuing it further and practising and practising.

I honestly don't know if I would have continued my attempts to sing on my tracks if people had not been so sensitive, if people had straight-out compared me in their minds to professionals and said, "Ummmm ok you suck." I think first of all I would've cried. And then I would've got more and more insecure to the point that I couldn't bear to do it anymore.

And I know I am probably too sensitive a person but I'm not alone in this, I think it's quite common among artists because of the way we interact with the world and our imaginations.

So I think it's really important that we support each other and stop comparing work to the "best" stuff and looking at each individual piece of work as exactly that... an individual piece of work that somebody has put a lot of time and energy into and done their best on (unless, of course, they haven't, and that would probably be quite obvious from their attitude!). And it's VERY important to remember that talents are like little seeds that DO grow, for certain, and they always always need watering!! I just find it really sad that people can forget so easily what art is mentally turn it into something meaningless, goods to be marketed and rated without really understanding or even trying to understanding that it's connected to a human being and their imagination.