Art Quote of the Day: Once Upon A Time, Artists Made Art

From SFMOMA’s Open Space Blog comes this piece of blistering brilliance from Chris Cobb:

Once upon a time artists mostly produced art. These days however, artists are supposed to put on shows, curate shows, deal with media, with marketing, with galleries (and with gallerists!), with designing their own websites, with photographing their work, with not dressing like a slob, with paying rent for both their apartment and their studio, buy supplies for their art, do their own carpentry, know their own cultural context, understand art history, be hip to whatever current famous European philosopher is popular (was Derrida now it’s Slavoj Žižek), be aware of what’s going on in the art scene (extra points for knowing what’s going on in the literary scene too), maybe speak at least one other language (two is better), having basic working knowledge of a guitar or piano is another plus, be able to outdrink other artists, and if need be, should have enough stamina to stay up all night at parties…

Read the entire post over at SFMOMA’s Open Space.

Why make art? Richard Serra at SFMOMA

In a short interview at the San Francisco Museum of Modern Art, Richard Serra explains his view of the process.

My own experience has been almost the opposite:  I always thought real life was my alternate existence.  Reality was that tedious thing that had to be got through in order to spend a few hours or minutes living my true life.

Maybe growing up in a bitterly dysfunctional environment helped to shape that experience, though.  I used my creative ability to escape.  I still do.

Reality isn’t good enough for me.

Why do artists make art?  Share your thoughts below.