Meandering "artist" looking to settle down

October 1, 2007 11:19 AM

How do I, a perennial drifter between mediums and disciplines, pick an art form as a hobby?

I have dabbled in bunch of things—guitar, sketching, poetry, prose, photography—but never stuck to one. Usually, after I have reached a comfortable level of expertise in one medium (able to play most songs on the guitar for example) I let it go (maybe bored) and move on to something else. I have gotten fair bit of familarity with most mediums over the years but am at the point now where I want to pick up one form and get really good at this. But the same problem comes up: I love something about all the mediums and when I start getting bored or hit a learning bump with one, another calls to me.
I mainly want to practice an art so that it gives me that creative satisfaction that I may not always get in my day job every day (even though I love it). I guess I am not asking which art form I should take up; rather:

How do I stop my artistic meanderings? How do I just figure out one medium and stick to it?

posted by raheel to media & arts (8 comments total)

I had the same problem and found this book very helpful.
posted by drezdn at 11:36 AM on October 1, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

The point is not to choose just ONE thing. That will just make you feel trapped. The point is to get proficient enough with one thing so that it will inform and flavor what you do in other mediums later when you expand or move on. And so the photography you've been practicing for years brings out a unique flavor in your sketching, or your tap-dancing lessons wind up helping you understand more about martial arts than you ever thought possible. It's about building a frame of reference, becoming your own source of unique inspiration.

My work in photo-collage has certainly changed the way I make patchwork quilts. And my taste in antique furniture has changed the way I draw. A passing interest doesn't really influence or change the way one does anything.
posted by Julia F***ing Sugarbaker at 11:41 AM on October 1, 2007

Sketching.
posted by electroboy at 11:49 AM on October 1, 2007

I had the same dilemma, thought about it a lot, and eventually realized that every creative impulse of mine came from one of two places: I either had something to communicate (the message), or it was just something I wanted to try (the medium). With ideas that fall into the latter category, I'm happy to do them once and then never again. Ideas that are in the former category are the lasting ones that sustain a lot of delving and exploration (and, incidentally, feel more fulfilling), and end up naturally staying within one or two mediums because of the focus, depth and fluency required.

So maybe if you think about it in terms of a project or theme to explore (the what) rather than the medium (the how), you'll come up with something that'll give you satisfaction for quite a while.
posted by xo at 11:59 AM on October 1, 2007

But the same problem comes up: I love something about all the mediums and when I start getting bored or hit a learning bump with one, another calls to me.

I disagree with the notion that you shouldn't choose, although perhaps you haven't yet found the thing which you like enough to choose it.

The sentence above indicates, at least superficially, that you're not delving very deeply into the mediums that you have explored. There is a distinctly different set of problems to solve at each proficiency level for all different kinds of art. You indicate that you've gotten to a moderate level of proficiency, and that then you stop being challenged by the medium. At least to me this suggests that you haven't been putting yourself in a position where you can really learn. Perhaps what you need is to take a class at a higher level when you get bored, perhaps you need to find a community of like minded people who will challenge you, perhaps you need to set yourself projects and even boring tasks in order to develop particular skills. (You may have already done some of these things.)

In any case, commitment is commitment, a choice from which you don't let yourself wander. If you have a practice, and you recognize it as such, part of that recognition is that you will sometimes fail to be completely enamored of the thing you do, but that you are choosing not to abandon it because of that momentary set-back, but to find a way through it. Choosing a medium isn't unlike a committed relationship in that regard.

Of course, you may have no desire to develop the skills and overcome the challenges that come with a higher level of proficiency, in which case not specializing is a good idea. It can be really fun to learn new things all the time, too. That decision is your choice, but they aren't the same decision. Being able to make intermediate level drawings, photographs, songs and bread is not the same thing as being able to make one really fine rendition of a song on your guitar. They are different skills.
posted by OmieWise at 12:02 PM on October 1, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Maybe set more ambitious goals? Play guitar at a live show, write and record an album, show your photos/drawings in a gallery, etc.
posted by erikgrande at 12:19 PM on October 1, 2007

I'm the same way. Make some short films! Shooting/animating and producing a movie is super multidisciplinary and with some dedication you've got a pretty impressive final product. It sounds like you can cover all the component roles; get bored with one, switch to another:

guitar - write & record the soundtrack
sketching - storyboard, brainstorm shots, or animate
poetry, prose - writing storylines, dialog, voiceover
photography - soo much photography

...and with a decent PC and a copy of Premiere/AfterEffects you're all set. What always gets me inspired is cruising around ifilm, atom, resfest, ifc, motionographer, & watching michel gondry music videos.
posted by Xelf at 1:39 PM on October 1, 2007 [1 favorite has favorites]

Whittle them down to three:
1. Which do you do best? Do that.
2. Which do you like best? Do that too.
3. Which would you like to learn more about? Do it.

Don't flat-out give up on the other stuff; they're good for brainstorming. Just put special focus on these three.

(Neither I nor my interdisciplinary BFA see this as a problem.)
posted by Reggie Digest at 6:21 PM on October 1, 2007