The Little World

I just read a meme-text put up on Facebook by an artist that has really resounded with me. Most social media philosophy is so much eyewash, but this one actually made sense.

The gist of his post was that art is not a competitive event. There are no contests that should be won or lost. There is no best or second-best art…there is just art.

Of course this doesn’t march with the commercial art world…they run contests all the time and transfer large amounts of public money to selected recipients thereby. Medals are awarded, certificates are presented, and dinners are held. Competing is big-time and even the mechanical arts like photography and hot rod building have some winners…and lots of losers.

These losers do not win the applause of people who want to applaud winners. Yet the losers have still painted, sculpted, or welded their Ford roadster just the same and have it to show for their effort – with or without anyone else approving.

Turn to the scale model. We all make ’em, and if we’re lucky, they make us…happy. We always find difficulties, and sometimes find ways out of them. We hope we can do the next one better. We don’t need someone else to pat us on the back and tell us they approve of us and our skill or vision…nor do we need them to mark us down for some flaw. We can live our own lives without remark.

Mind you, it’s still fun to show off…whether it’s at an annual exhibition or through a daily column. The reward is the show, and perhaps the friendships it may attract. It should not be considered a win or lose situation…by the time a model is being made, victory is already achieved.