Does Suffering Make For Better Art

Preface - This blog was written last year before I went on my hiatus, so some things may or may not still be relevant

Intro

Welcome readers. This is a blog I’ve been wanting to write about for a little while. I used to hear all the time about how an artists best work is linked to their suffering. I think this is a fallacy, and people are way too comfortable with letting artists suffer just because they assume the end result will somehow be magnified. Personally, I see this as an excuse to pay artists poorly because some people are simply cheap. In addition to that, I would disagree that an artists best work comes from suffering. I think it’s the opposite. Someone who is of healthy mind, body, spirit, and finances, will be able to make the best work that they can possibly make.

To Suffer Or Not To Suffer

When an artist suffers, the priority isn’t “this is a great opportunity to turn my pain into something beautiful”. Granted, I’m sure there’s a few out there who can harness that pain in such a conscious way, but for most artists, that’s not what happens. The default reaction is to stop the suffering, and in many cases that means to do whatever possible to make money. In an effort to get paid, the artist might attempt to become more adept at finding out what an audience wants and giving them that, so the artists work is discovered, but “better” is debatable.

When the pleasure of art is tied to survival, you lose on creative perspectives due to the fact that some of the things an artist might actually want to create are very niche, and not profitable. On top of that, the loss of creative risks lead to a sort of sterilization of content. A good example is how Disney movies that are inspired by old fairy tales are way more “clean” and uninteresting than their older counterparts.

When an artist doesn’t have to worry about surviving, they can use their creative prowess to connect with people on deeper and more meaningful levels. It is at this stage where art becomes medicinal, inspirational or transcendent. Sometimes it is better to give people what they need, as opposed to what they think they want or are used to.

Outro

I think art has the power to change the world. Becoming absorbed in a piece can be transformative, but if the content you consum takes you nowhere, you don’t come out of it as a different person. It becomes a hollow experience akin to eating empty carbs.

If artists can’t create freely, and are focused on trying to survive, they can’t transform people. The whole purpose of creating becomes meaningless in my opinion. 

Just some food for thought.