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to Main Course PageA. U.S. and Europe: a high demand for artistic products, and a relatively open system for recruiting artists
1. if you have the time and the $, you can get into one or another of the recruitment system's institutions
2. but people don't just drift into it
B. Selection Mechanisms & Socialization
1. Generally not parents
2. Schools & Teachers have been key
a. identify talent
i. differentiate them from other students
d. by the time they reach high school, they can begin to take classes that specialize in art -- drawing, sculpting, etc
i. there, teachers suggest art school, generally, and specific schools, in particular
ii. offer info on scholarships
e. for the students: a clear FIT between encouragement and reward
3. Generally early, in their collegiate (art school) careers
a. Art students pick a primary area of concentration within art
i. education
ii. fine art
iii. commercial (or applied) art
b. This is a vocational choice, as well
i. it often entails a trade-off between making a living and loftier aspirations
4. Impact on Identity
a. hinges on the artistic role with which they identify (as detailed in the table below)
|
Role Identification |
|||
|
Fine Art Role |
Commercial Art Role |
||
|
Fine Artist |
Experience no conflict between work and aspirations (may starve, however) |
Not likely to happen |
|
|
Commercial Artist |
"This is just temporary work. Society forces us to make these accommodations. I do my real work at home on my own time." |
"All art is commercial anyway, so I feel fine with what I do." |
|
5. the way in which the artist understands him or herself (or is understood)
a. is a function of their relationship to the art world of which they are a member & participant
b. Becker’s "integrated artists," "mavericks," and naive artists
i. the terms are descriptions of a person's relationship to an established art world
Artists have been socialized into a set of established judgments and practices which serve to orient them in relation to a tradition and to the definitive characteristics of that tradition. That is how they understand themselves and what it is they are doing.