Rob Sigafoos -
Saturday, January 26, 2008 - 6:01am
Jake-
I think the difference between artist and technician can be most clearly defined by looking at the extremes. If I assemble Ikea furniture or do a paint-by-numbers painting, am I an artist? I may have accomplished something, but not in the creative or artistic sense.
I think that for many accomplished artists such as yourself and so many others on this site, it is hard to distinguish between the artist and technician because so much of the creative artistry occurs during the physical (technical) production of the piece, independent of the original "paper" concept. In my opinion, if the sculptor is strictly following a design without adding aesthetically to the final piece outside of the original design, then they are technicians. This is not to discount the value of these technical skills; these skills are simply different from the artist's skills.
On the other extreme, imaging contracting a disease or injury that left you physically incapacitated but mentally alert and functional. Is someone such as Steven Hawking less creative in the world of particle physics than an able bodied person? I believe that the artist is the aesthetic creator. However, as Arcaff mentiond above, just as with theatrical arts work can have multiple artistic contributors.
Rob
Jake- I think the difference
Jake-
I think the difference between artist and technician can be most clearly defined by looking at the extremes. If I assemble Ikea furniture or do a paint-by-numbers painting, am I an artist? I may have accomplished something, but not in the creative or artistic sense.
I think that for many accomplished artists such as yourself and so many others on this site, it is hard to distinguish between the artist and technician because so much of the creative artistry occurs during the physical (technical) production of the piece, independent of the original "paper" concept. In my opinion, if the sculptor is strictly following a design without adding aesthetically to the final piece outside of the original design, then they are technicians. This is not to discount the value of these technical skills; these skills are simply different from the artist's skills.
On the other extreme, imaging contracting a disease or injury that left you physically incapacitated but mentally alert and functional. Is someone such as Steven Hawking less creative in the world of particle physics than an able bodied person? I believe that the artist is the aesthetic creator. However, as Arcaff mentiond above, just as with theatrical arts work can have multiple artistic contributors.
Rob