daring? influence?

                Okay, so we have two questions for our blog today. The first is, “what’s the most daring thing you’ve ever done?” the second is, “how do we determine who our audience will be? And how does that influence the decisions you make as an artist?” well there is one experience in my life that I can say has really affected the person I am today.

                While a senior in high school, I attended an AP Studio Art class. In choosing this class I knew it would be hard work and test my abilities as an artist. I found while taking the class, it was harder than I expected, A LOT harder than I expected. For the first semester, we had to do assigned breadth projects. What these were, were themed art pieces with a rubric, and we had about two days to complete them. For the second semester, we had to come up with a concentration for the rest of the year’s projects. I chose something a little more personal. The only issue with this was I had to show some part of my life through my pieces, and each piece was due the very next day. Because of the very short time I had to come up with a concept, and then pic the media I wanted to peruse in my art work, I wasn’t able to make the best of what I had in store for my projects. With unsatisfactory work, and so much personal thought behind them, I was in no condition to be showing anyone my work.

At the end of the year, I was told if I wanted to pass my class, I had to put up my art work and display it to professional art critics. I can honestly say, I was shitting bricks. Afraid of being judged for my art work and the style of art work I displayed, I refused to show the work. I was told I was going to fail if I didn’t. Going home that night, I thought really hard about it. Thinking in my head the style of art that I was displaying wasn’t what those artists wanted to see, I was scared of the decision I was going to make. I decided to enter the art show and display what was truly me to the rest of the world, well to the rest of the school. Setting up my display was the most daring and the hardest thing I’ve done, and then to watch all the people looking and judging my art, I began to sweat. The critics finally came to my art work, make notes and moved on. I knew right away that I had to change what I was doing to fit what my audience wanted. Going home that night I vowed that there would be change. When I got back to school the next day I was told to come down to the office. Being the delinquent I was, this was natural. When I walked in I was startled to see that same critic from yesterday standing there with a check and a reward. He asked me if he could buy my display for his own personal liking and handed me a reward for the art show. He paid me only 60 bucks, but the feeling was exhilarating.

Found that there are opinions all around you, but you have to choose if those opinions are going to change the person you are, and the art that you make. I’d have to say that after my experience; I would never change who I am or what I do for anyone or to fit anyone’s standards.

The book, They Poured Fire, these three small children show so many examples of how daring they are. At such a young age they are forced to live in unthinkable conditions. There is one instance before they were run out their village, where there was hyenas attacking and eating their cattle. The father told the young boy to wave a stick above his head to scare it off. (to be continued….)