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The value of ‘bad’ art

Explore the notion of creativity for creativity’s sake. With Covid-19 isolation, we are seeing a lot of people filling time by making things, from banana bread to paintings. What is the value of making stuff, even if it’s not ‘good’ aka. not pretty, or moving, or delicious. You could also explore what makes people identify as ‘creative’ or not – what is the difference between an ‘artist’ v. ‘someone who makes art’?

  • Interesting topic! Creating is therapeutic in itself. It does not have to be pretty, or yummy--the process of creating is in our own human nature and within the process we find things out about ourselves. Instead of the value of bad art it could be The value of the process of creating. The artist and someone who makes art is a whole other debate and topic--that makes something "art" and something just a creation. I think that depends on your training. Anyone can pick up a drum or some kitchen utensils and play a beat or sing to make music, but a musician is someone who studied and trained in music for years---but everyone and anyone can make music. The same with art. The title of an artist and musician comes with level of education I believe, but that does not mean you can't be an artist by just drawing at home. Anyone and everyone can be a creator and an artist of some sort. Maybe narrow down the topic to either the benefits or what makes the difference between an artist and someone who makes art. – birdienumnum17 5 years ago
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  • Well, the advantage of "bad" work (whether so-bad-it's-good or just plain bad) is that it provides an example of what not to do. For instance, the example of the Twilight series shows that if you want to write a supernatural romance, you should NOT make the supernatural partner abuse or lord it over the more "ordinary" one. More generally, for someone who is creating just because they want to, an initial work, for all its faults, provides a jumping-off point that they can use to refine their craft, by learning from their prior mistakes. – Debs 5 years ago
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  • In order to get good at anything we have to go through the initial stages of learning. Writing off the abilities of people in the initial stages of harnessing their craft will stunt their growth. How about an article about the importance of amateur creativity, which is is so often undermined in the bid for commercial success. Not everyone will "make it" big in the industry but that dosent de value the joy in the embodied experience of the creative process. Let's move away from the neoliberal obsession with perfectionism and embrace humanity. – MayWoods 4 years ago
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  • I like this topic, because I'd argue that bad art is very important. You have to accept it as part of growing and improving, and being committed to any kind of art practice at all. This quote from Vonnegut is particularly relevant to the argument that I'd make: "Practice any art, music, singing, dancing, acting, drawing, painting, sculpting, poetry, fiction, essays, reportage, no matter how well or badly, not to get money and fame, but to experience becoming, to find out what's inside you, to make your soul grow." Also worth mentioning is the Museum of Bad Art in Boston. There's a lot of directions you could go with this article :) – Cleo Newling 3 years ago
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