Artists work in a certain way. They usually have no boss. They get on with their work in a self-directed way. Nobody thinks they won’t. Nobody needs to direct them. There is usually no committee. There are no meetings. They studiously avoid distractions and create an environment in which their work can flow. Artists rarely report progress and their art is done when they say it is done. Their work is an expression of their soul, their integrity and is the best they can produce at the time.
People who aren’t artists may want to criticize, but they know that each artist produces individual work, that isn’t easily replicated by somebody else. Artists know that their work has value, even if those around them do not approve of their results.
Artists work in creative surroundings, conducive to their art. There are stimulating and eclectic things and fascinating objects around and on the walls. Music plays, or the view is inspirational. Usually both. There is light and space and room to move. There are the scents of their work. Senses are engaged.
If the artist goes off for a moment to think, that is recognised as a necessary part of the creative process. An artist that doesn’t have these moments of reflection actually isn’t producing their best work. Imagination is required.
In an office, you have to deal with the unwelcome input of supervisors, office politics, bad lighting, small cubicles, dead décor, endless trivial interruptions, the opprobrium of the designated fridge monitor for the capital crime of leaving an out of date yoghurt in the communal office refrigerator, competing priorities, interference, the threat that you can be replaced at any moment for someone cheaper, people running around “creating a sense of urgency”, constant demands asking “is it done yet?”, chatter and din instead of music, grey walls, no windows, identical work spaces for replaceable worker units. Nobody even trusts you to complete your work. You are thought to have no integrity. Imagination is not required.
I wonder which way is wrong?
Is it any wonder that the products of commerce and industry so often lack soul, integrity, personality, authenticity, originality, novelty, honesty and quality?
And if the products of commerce and industry HAD soul, integrity, personality, authenticity, originality, novelty, honesty and quality, would they sell better? Would the companies concerned make more money? I think the answer is self-evident.
