What is an artist?

CelticRambler, sorry to read you got hassled by some customs officers.
Ah, there was no hassle, and for once my motorhome was (relatively) empty as I'd just delivered a load of non-contraband to my son over the border.

Anyhow :

The real artist are the ones who leave the paved road to drive off into the forest, clearing their own path forwards to get to a place where no paved roads go. It's about whether you're following the crowd, or blazing a trail to a new destination.
... or they may just be total headcases who have no sense of direction, or who can't control their vehicle, or mindless idiots who think that driving a 4-wheel-drive across a delicate ecosystem is great fun, and f**k the consequences. I would say a lot of "modern" art falls into this category, peddled by self-proclaimed artists who are mostly recognised as "artists" only by people with a vested interest in promoting them as such.

Sometimes the best, most creative art is produced not by blazing a trail to a new destination as a leader, but by tagging along behind the crowd - following, if you like - and finding a way to beautify the path that's been churned into mud by the trail-blazers.
 
Personally I think that I included the context...
I said "So, unless we can define what art is" in your quote, so IDK how that is taking you out of context but whatever, I'm not being too serious in this thread i was just answering your question on why nobody else was participating. It's seen as a pointless waste of time by me, even if you define art.
I mean, aren't all discussions of semantics pointless? Any time you don't have a factual or scientific basis for a point of argument, it's basically bullshit. Is a tree "beautiful"? Some would say all trees are beautiful, some would say they are an eyesore that's crashing the neighborhood property value, and some would say that only some trees are beautiful, like the weeping willows in Savannah, or the Redwoods in NorCal. If I assign myself with the role of "hero of the trees" and start badgering anyone who says anything negative about any tree, isn't that conversation also pointless? It's all in the eye of the beholder, so there is no clear end point for logic.

My point is really that almost all conversations are pointless, so why single this one out, and label it as repulsive? I don't think there is a person alive who hasn't questioned the meaning of the word artist, considering how nebulous and subjective it is at the same time. Keep in mind that people also get really serious about it, while not being able to actually define it without referencing opinion or hearsay.

I don't know if I'm an artist or not, nobody does, but ultimately, it doesn't matter. If I can provide entertainment for someone, and they can enjoy it, then I've accomplished something real.

What is an artist? It's any creator who YOU FEEL respect for. It's meaning changes from each person to the next, so I'd answer it as "what shape is sand?" It's bucket shaped, it's castle shaped, it's beach shaped. It's relative.
 
You do you, if you think its fun to find a stranger on facebook and then try to correct them and then get into an argument for 3 hours ,if thats whats fun for you then go do it. Or philosophize about how many teeth a horse has or whatever, but not everyone is gonna want to contribute to those kinds of threads. I definitely do things that are a waste of time, like sometimes i play video games when im already relaxed
 
Because the thought of contributing to it gave me feelings of repulsion?
My feelings are valid, im allowed to have them.
No one said otherwise. It's kind of a straw man argument for me to ask "why did you feel that way" and then you respond "don't tell me I can't have feelings" I never said anything of the sort.

If anything my question was respectful of your feelings, in that I was curious to know more about your perceptions and understand your viewpoint better.
 
No one said otherwise. It's kind of a straw man argument for me to ask "why did you feel that way" and then you respond "don't tell me I can't have feelings" I never said anything of the sort.

If anything my question was respectful of your feelings, in that I was curious to know more about your perceptions and understand your viewpoint better.
Yeah it's possible to go deeper and ask why do i feel a certain way, where do those feelings come from, probably from time in my 20s spent talking online that I now regard as unfruitful.

I didn't take your question as disrespectful, my answer was more like... sometimes going with your feelings is enough and it's really that simple as that. you don't have to justify why, if you spent your whole day introspecting everything that you regard as disinteresting, you're going to have the most dull and boring existance on the planet. I'll probably have a heart attack at 63 or something stupid, there's not that much time left to write books and film movies.
 
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.......I just stopped by to say that I won't be stopping by.
Sean, if you ever make it to Utah you've got to look me up. I'd love to split a 6 pack with you.
 
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.......I just stopped by to say that I won't be stopping by.
Sean, if you ever make it to Utah you've got to look me up. I'd love to split a 6 pack with you.

Perhaps but I made a commiment to only drink Artisan beer, so first we are gonna have to define what Artisan beer is.
Kidding, I don't actually drink any beer I have interstitial cystisis and for some reason beer is particular excrutiating to my bladder.

I do like talking to people on here, it's basically my only social life, so it's good for my mental health, and at a bare minimum i skim every post on here as a moderator and lack the self control to ignore direct questions addressed to me, I just don't want to attempt to define what art is.
 
Indietalk, I really don't understand. You say nothing when one of your moderators verbally assaults me then caps the thread to keep from ironing out any misunderstanding yet you laugh at this thread as though asking a group of creative people something about art is a joke. By the way, I did apologize to Mara for our misunderstanding.... She responded by telling me to fuck off.
Not trying to revisit this, but I closed that thread, not the moderator. I thought I should clear that up so you can direct your frustration accordingly. But hopefully you have moved on.
 
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