Being of an artist

Can you be an artist if you call yourself one? Who and when can we consider one to be an artist?

Last August 12-14, 2013, as coordinator of the Arts and Culture committee, I attended a meeting which reviewed and proposed guidelines of the UP's Arts Productivity System (APS). Held at the UP Diliman campus, I had the chance to meet respected national artists, UP artists, and heads of various UP academic units.  Special mention, in attendance were professor emeritus and National Artist for Literature Dr. Bienvenido Lumbera, professor emeriti Dr. Gemino Abad and Dr. Basilio Esteban Villaruz.

The APS is aimed at encouraging outstanding productivity in the creative arts or in arts scholarship for national development. Deserving artists in faculty and staff will be conferred the title “UP Artists” with a monetary recompense, the UP Arts Productivity Award. The honor comes in three levels: Artist 1, Artist 2 and Artist 3. Artist 3 as the highest level commands international awards and recognitions by an artist.

But let's take a look at who really is an artist?

It appears that everyone can be an artist these days. If I got a video or blog that I have written for the past seven years with people saying that if you want to be an artist, you can. And if you want to call yourself an artist, you can. You are an artist! Just because you made a handful of artworks, composed poems, written short stories or novels, performed onstage or acted on film from time to time, do you have the right to call yourself a true one?

There are many misconceptions about the art world. Ask someone to describe what it means to be an artist, and he will probably paint a picture of one of two extremes. There is no perceived middle ground, no stability, no security: there are simply those who make it, and those who don't.

Professional photographer and author Alain Briot offers a revealing, radical idea for aspiring artists that being creative is not enough. “You have to have a web presence, become a social media expert and sell yourself. You need to somehow combine Kurt Cobain with Donald Trump, and this is probably not why you became an artist in the first place. You wanted to write, to sing, to make beautiful music and images, not sit up late in the night grappling with coding and commenting on other people's blog posts in the hope they'll comment on yours.”

It seems daunting. Instead of trying to appeal to a publisher or editor or record label and letting them worry about finding an audience, you now have to go out and build your own audience. You worry that your muse is too delicate, that the pressures of day-to-day life and the rough winds of capitalism will destroy your art. The pressures of marketing will crush your creativity from coal to diamond-something rare, hard and beautiful. On a level playing field, quality wins.

What are other requisites for an artist? Inspiration is a key element for an art and the artist. The artist creates a work of art through and because of inspired emotions. An inspired output enthuses others in their respective future creations.

Being a true artist is about the discipline and dedication to your craft and putting in the time to mature! Oftentimes, others are very much influenced by the output-driven environment where results are highly valued. True artists take time to develop themselves-consistent, dedicated and focused on learning all the time.

The true artist is a man who believes absolutely in himself, because he is absolutely himself. Someone who believes in his potentials, capabilities, and his craft. He possesses a unique personal style, his personality. This personality enables the artist to freely express his being through art.

Art is a lifestyle not just an activity. One's art and one's life are eventually inseparable. One cannot be an artist without living a lifestyle which is conducive to being an artist.

Being an artist is sharing your view of the world with an audience. Artists are indebted to the audience because they need an audience to communicate with and for giving them the opportunity to share their works.

Artists' artworks serve as the reason so they can endure the ups and downs. They may have opposite socio-political and religious views but at least they know that ART is their common language. 

We have heard dejected stories about artists who after long meaningful years of serving as our nation's creative voices and souls through exemplary performance, have been forgotten-and in dire financial need. More than the national admiration and recognition, they deserve support in their twilight years because they are our national treasures.