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Originally Posted by
D Akey
Not quite sure about the why and wherefore of this. Have traditional artists been giving you grief (as usual) and being from the Pacific Northwest, are you pulling a Chief Joseph of the Nez Pierce Tribe who was famously quoted -- "I will fight no more, forever. . ."? (Los Angeles version is Rodney King's "Can't we all just get along?" -- Incidentally, in both cases there was spilled blood before getting to that point.)
That traditional Art thing vs. Digital is an old saw that keeps coming up. I don't think there needs to be an apology for doing Art any old way you want. . . if the process is expressing a vision. If someone is marketing the same art or about ego it can digress into a pissing contest, whether overtly or hidden. And no matter what you do, people will respond how they respond. You have less control over that than you do over yourself.
Around 11yo I had just moved into a new neighborhood and I was trying to fit in. So I picked the older kid and at his behest we had a 'fun' fist fight where we were trading blows in and around the chest, shoulders and arms -- no faces, groin etc -- "just for fun". He, the older kid, was wearing football shoulder pads. I was not. What does that tell you about how it went? I learned a lesson. It was more an academic test of toughness on my part and I was new and wanted to make some friends no matter what. I was at dinner with my parents that evening and my mom was horrified at all the bruises running up and down my arm and when they asked if I had been fighting, I said honestly that I had not. They gave me a weird look and went back to eating.
The point of that is that while I was playing around, I got a practical lesson. The other kid and I were certainly closer matched physically, and had it been more equal without gadgetry, the exercise might have proven something other than lessons in how to frustrate yourself and look stupid in the bargain. Going in to it I knew it would not go well, but it was a way to show I could measure up. All I really showed them was that I was kinda stupid. I mean, we weren't enemies or angry. Just we had different agendas. And because of the age difference, we didn't end up being friends. We went to different schools and all that. So "friends" wasn't on the table in any case. Plus I looked too much like the classic needy younger kid trying to get accepted, I think.
Take that how you will in relation to your comment. I can see why they don't want to associate with digital artists. They would totally lose face and look incompetent very likely. . . and their moms would ask about the bruising. . . (no, wait. Scratch that last part about the moms and the bruising). . .
So as to your idea, whether putting a different name to traditional and digital without saying 'traditional' or 'digital', would making a new category term keep them from letting you play in their Art world? I doubt it because at the end of the day the Art gets compared and more to the point artists keep a green eye on other artists. The only thing I could see as opening the door would be to do traditional art of you want to hang with traditional artists. Be careful though, hanging with them, in order to be one of the crowd, they're going to be looking to see how fast you're growing, or how good your stuff looks compared with theirs, no matter what you're painting with. And knowing people as I've observed, the human survival instinct will seep in. So you may get a lesson of your own when it comes to talking behind your back while they smile in your face. (Listen to the O'Jays if you want to get a witness. . . but I digress. . .)
Find or build your own world and or merge with one that's sort of similar where you're playing the same game, or join their game and play by their rules and see where it goes. Honor that. But if you're true to yourself, even if you play with their game ball and their rules, you may not have to humble yourself just so you can meet them half way.
What's more important to you at this point in your life? You have to ask yourself what you want out of your Art, or your retirement. And it's okay to want your art to be a social thing where you meet on common ground (ie. where are your priorities, as Wayne Dyer (RIP) had said in one of his lectures on finding who you are and customizing your life to match that). If it's to be social, own that, have fun with it, but just realize there's rules to every game.
Changing to traditional painting may satisfy what you want your life to be producing for you. And within that, once you're accepted, you can start slipping in the digital ideas. Or. . . you can just hang with digital artists and the traditional artists either get it or they don't. I originally got into Art looking for a community. Personally, I was also sort of following the NASA space race kind of model as well. But in the earliest days they only managed to send one astronaut up at a time. Social stuff came later. But you're not a beginner. Haven't been for a long time. So now what?
As to your original point, I don't personally think that traditional artists need to be coddled with subtle rhetoric or slippery jargon that skates the issue. You're an artist and there are worlds out there. Your call which sandbox you want to play in. There will be other kids playing there, very likely.