Myth of the Artist

Q: NM art is usually made by teams of people, has NM finally destroyed the myth of the artist or has the myth just been changed to accommodate computer programmers and designers?


A: The myth of the artist will always exist, because the title will be given to the "New Thinkers" of each day. New Thinkers are renown and chastised at the same time in this way by being called "brilliant" and "strange" at the same time.

Anything can become an art. A traditional profession which we now associate as being "arty", the Painter, used to be seen as common place craftsman in the Western world of art (Baroque era and before), not creative geniuses and intellectuals. They were only seen as very skilled or gifted at their craft in most cases.

Painters were on the same level as a woodworker, a blacksmith, or a stone worker. They were not intellectuals.

However this eventually changed. The painter become and intellectual and skill based profession. The myth of the artist will always exist, and is capable of change as shown by this example. Computer Programmers and Designers are a more stable and normal profession today. It does not mean that they cannot turn what they do into art.

The myth will continue to change to include professions we previously did not expect. In fact, it will change at a greater pace than ever as more and more technological advances occur.

Tutorial Paper

I am doing "Hypermediating the Game interface: The Alienation Effect in Violent Videogames and the Problem of Serious Play"

Week 14 Due Wednesday April 20, 1011