Art and Competition

[glimpses]

Firstly, my apologies for my English which is not my native language.

I created a website specialized in competitions of different categories, trying to cover the ground between classic photography and digital arts.

Some people don't like mixing Art and Competition and that was my feeling too before I had new ideas that I hope to materialize on my website sooner or later.

Still I do not have a complete answer to the following question: should Art and Competition be mutually exclusive?

I look forward to receive motivated answers in this thread.

 

[oriecat]

Some random thoughts that I won't be able to string together very well...

I don't see them as mutually exclusive, but I don't think an artist should strive to just win competitions. Art is always subjective, so what would be a winner to one person can easily be a piece of crap to another. An artist needs to create their art for themselves. But there is competition everywhere, so you can't be afraid of it. Every time you submit your work to a gallery or an agent, you are competing against all of the other work that has been submitted. So unless you just keep your work to yourself (or own your own gallery or magazine! ) then you will be competing in some ways, so then why shy away from an official competition? But I do think that it can be a tough spot for less experienced artists to try and compete too much, as a continued losing streak could get discouraging. So as long as they keep it all in perspective, then it should be ok.

 

[DanielK]

Some random thoughts that I won't be able to string together very well...

I don't see them as mutually exclusive, but I don't think an artist should strive to just win competitions. Art is always subjective, so what would be a winner to one person can easily be a piece of crap to another. An artist needs to create their art for themselves. But there is competition everywhere, so you can't be afraid of it. Every time you submit your work to a gallery or an agent, you are competing against all of the other work that has been submitted. So unless you just keep your work to yourself (or own your own gallery or magazine! ) then you will be competing in some ways, so then why shy away from an official competition? But I do think that it can be a tough spot for less experienced artists to try and compete too much, as a continued losing streak could get discouraging. So as long as they keep it all in perspective, then it should be ok.

Well, I was going to pretty much say what oriecat said, so I'll just quote it in my responce and say "ditto".

I used to manage a fine art gallery and sift through piles of submissions from people wanting a show. Yeah. Art is very much a competition. Good bad or otherwise, your work will always be compared to the next person's. Even if it's just going through a family album or comparing doodles on a napkin. This doesn't mean you sacrifice all integrity to win. You can learn quite a lot from winning, but you learn so much more from losing. Why did that couple by the piece that was hanging right next to yours but not really give yours a second glance?

Because yours didn't match the couch? Oh well, we can all live with that.

Because the other peice moved them and made them think of lost loves and past triumphs or some other such reason while your piece didn't really do anything for them? Ouch. Time to go back and re-evaluate a bit. Was it just their opinion or did most people think the same thing? Art needs feedback. Art needs refining. Art needs competition. I don't care that you may be doing art for yourself and no one else, you can still get your expression clearer with outside opinion and competition to refine your vision. Good art does not exist in a vacuum.

Not to mention the fact that competition can challenge you (me) and get you (me again) off your (my) lazy butt and get to creating some art.

That's the way I see it anyway. Sorry for any mispellings or flaws in logic. I'm in a rush atm.


Daniel