Resisting Satisfaction: The Artist’s Process

The purpose of life, rather the inquiry of how to find meaning in life has been a question stumping humankind for decades. People often wonder how they should be spending their short time here on Earth, questioning if their choices are ever truly enough to satisfy their lifetimes. Philosophers have debated this topic for quite some time. How can one be satisfied and find ease knowing they led a meaningful life? Philosopher Susan Wolf laid down one of the most appealing answers in her essay, Meaning in Life. Wolf expounds that people can have meaningful lives as long as they are actively engaging in projects of worth. She continues to define active engagement: “A person is actively engaged by something when she is gripped, excited, involved by it” (Klemke & Cahn 205). While this theory fails to address what type of project should be deemed worthy of meaning (or how they can be measured), one can acknowledge aspects of the statement that are sensible. The constant pursuit of an activity one finds worthwhile will give meaning to their day-to-day life. This can be most understood in addressing the feeling of reward or accomplishment one may gain from any given activity.

People believe their lives have meaning from the feeling of success. As a society that prospers on the desire to obtain immense success with time and age, one’s career becomes the activity they are actively engaged in. In this regard, reward and satisfaction are often correlated with financial income. When one enjoys their career and can obtain fulfillment from it, specifically its financial payoff and the act of receiving higher amounts of income, they may feel a greater sense of satisfaction within themselves and their lives. Alison Bain, Professor of Urban and Social Geography at York University, describes this in her article Constructing an artistic Identity. She writes that, “Waged work can be a principal source of individuals' self-confidence and self-fulfillment, while it can also be crucial to the establishment of their standard of living and to their status as citizens (Bain 2005). This explains that the amount of money one has greatly affects their outlook on life. It’s possible that this comes from how focused people have become on materialized items such as: owning a nice house, driving a fancy car, wearing expensive clothes, etc. Bain goes on to describe how the situation is different for those who pursue an artistic career. That not all artists find reward in money or material items (Bain 2005). The passion behind pursuing art may be the most rewarding aspect of it. An exploration of this ideal uncovers a deeper understanding of those who pursue artistic careers.

Looking past the concept of financial success, many careers validate one’s sense of fulfillment based on their passion for the line of work alone. While income helps, some jobs don’t and never will guarantee heaping amounts of money for those who have them, yet people spend their lives engaging in them. Living as an artist is driven by a deeper meaning. Elena Martinique, an art theorist and Editor-in-Chief for WideWalls, writes, “As the concept of art has been changing through centuries, its purpose has been defined as to represent reality, communicate emotions or ideas, create a sense of beauty, explore the nature of perception, explore formal elements for their own sake, or for simply being nonexistent” (Martinique 2016). Here, one can understand the role of the artist as a vessel to express the modern day through creativity and storytelling. In return, their work impacts audiences through emotion and causes reflection. Addressing Martinique’s emphasis on art as an ever-changing concept through the centuries, one must realize that there is always room for innovation and growth within art. While artwork may be created and thought complete one day, it may be built upon the next. Martinique addresses the nature of this and explains how it's caused by the consistent change within the outside world and society that humans inhabit (Martinique 2016). In understanding this concept, one can begin to see the importance of resisting stagnation in an art career. How artists must continue to innovate their work if they desire to be successful within their careers, and avoid satisfaction: the antithesis to the artist’s process.

Now, what truly is the deeper meaning behind being an artist? While there are many different answers to this question, one perspective prompts meaning coming from an internalized place within each individual artist. Specifically, the meaning of any artwork comes from the artist’s intention behind the work. EDEN Gallery, a global network of high-end art galleries representing a selection of international artists, released the following statement: “The emotions, skills, and creativity poured into each piece are what makes it invaluable. Artists aim to leave a lasting impact, ensuring their creations resonate and endure” (EDEN Gallery 2022). In this, one can understand how the deeper meaning of being an artist lies within the passion artists place into their work in order to impact something greater. Expressing personal emotions through creativity requires a deep level of vulnerability from anyone, but artists accept this challenge and crave judgment along with it– they want viewers to criticize and think about their work. Artists are not only creating art for themselves, but for the society around them. The intention extends beyond the piece. In other words, artists will use their lived experience, tie in emotional connection, and tell a story with immense skill to reach an audience. Here, the worth of an art piece is born.

In this regard, measuring the success of an art piece is quite impossible. As a subjective landscape built upon different opinions of judgment and criticism, how can an artist truly determine if their work or intention is promising enough to leave an impact? Surprisingly, the answer does not lie within the effort put into the piece. Sidney Gendin, a previous Instructor of Philosophy at New York University describes this in her article, The Journal of Aesthetics and Art Criticism. She writes, “No one seriously believes that artistic merit is simply proportional to the degree of dedicated effort. While this dedication may have been an aid to the painter, it is not an aid to us in understanding the painting” (Gendin 1964). Here, Gendin explains that an audience member or viewer of any given art piece will never know how much work was put into the piece. That one can not measure art by the effort put into it, but through the message perceived from the presented product. This enforces how vital the intention behind an art piece is. If the intention for the art piece is to make the worst art possible, the final product will reflect this. If the intention is to be beautiful, there will be beauty found within it, it doesn't matter how hard an artist tries, the end result is measured upon what the artist and viewer intend to gain from the piece. The audience will always form a connection due to art’s personal subjectivity. For the viewer, this is where the worth of a piece lives: within themselves. Still, how can the creator find success from their art? To find the answer, one must first accept the need for innovation.

Looking back on Martinique's discussion of how art acts as a changing landscape over time, artists must find success by changing along with it. They must keep up with their industry. To be more exact, artists must continue discovering how to connect with modern day audiences, never getting stuck crafting art the way it was in the past. For an example of this, one can look towards the cinematic art medium. Movies have gotten more and more “spectacular” over the years. Meaning, they’ve gotten flashier with bigger budgets and more movie stars acting as eye candy for any potential consumer. In this, they’ve often lost the deeper meaning towards the real world, sacrificing the ability to truly impact audiences for a means of pure entertainment. While this can be acceptable for film, as it is the most widely perceived form of entertainment, the intention behind the craft is limited to only being entertainment. Cinema holds much more power when the intention is placed back on achieving impact.

A recent example of this can be seen within Greta Gerwig’s film, Barbie. As the director and writer of the film, Gerwig was able to use the spectacle nature of modern-day film as ammunition, drawing audiences in with it and then exposing them to themes of modern-day sexism. This is an impact embodied through awareness. Julia Shapero, reporter for The Hill, conducted a study in which she polled male and female viewers after watching Barbie. Out of the male viewers, Shapero found that, “82 percent said the Barbie movie increased their awareness of the patriarchy in the work environment” (Shapero 2023). Now, everything about this is innovative. Gerwig completely flipped the spectacle nature of the film on its head, using popular actors like Ryan Gosling and Margot Robbie, alongside immense production value, brought audiences in and successfully made a statement that stuck. Barbie presented something fresh for the entertainment industry. In an interview with Eliana Dockterman, reporter for Time Magazine, David Heyman, a producer for Barbie even stated, “I believe our film is distinct and stands out and hopefully will forge its own place.” (Dockterman 2023). With the film being one of the most successful of the year financially (Box Office Mojo 2023), it's clear to see that Gerwig's innovation as a filmmaker was rewarding. However, as previously established, art is not to be pursued for financial gain. While Gerwig's success with the film is admirable, it does not amount to her success as an overall artist. Her true success, and the success of many artists alike, builds from innovation and amounts to a distinction between satisfaction and fulfillment.

To fully understand how satisfaction serves as a converse to the artist's process, one must first explore the difference between fulfillment and satisfaction. Fulfillment is an acceptable and positive aspect, while satisfaction is destructive. As previously established, art as a career is entirely subjective and any form of fulfillment is often received from the feedback of others. Jessica Myers, a Researcher and Journalist for Art Business News describes the importance of feedback in her article, How to Deal with Negative Feedback as an Artist. She is quoted saying, “Constructive criticism is crucial to becoming a better artist. Sometimes that feedback will, unfortunately, be negative. However, you can turn this situation into a positive thing and an opportunity to learn. We can find out some things we can improve and work on through feedback” (Myers 2022). When people express opinions on where an art piece could be improved, it gives the artists an opportunity to learn. When people express how a piece of art impacted them, it validates the artist’s efforts to share a message. Even though the types of feedback here are different in purposes, they display how an audience member receives the intention behind the art, granting the artist a sense of fulfillment. This feeling is the sense of reward or success that artists work for. With this mind, Greta Gerwig can find fulfillment within Barbie not solely because of the financial profit, but due to the impact she instilled and the conversations she started. Fulfillment acts as a fuel for motivation, encouraging an artist and reinforcing belief in their own craft.

Now, it’s vital that an artist does not confuse fulfillment with satisfaction. While they acknowledge and happily embrace the sense of validation, artists must maintain their connection to the outside world and keep creating to impact audiences through their own perspectives. When an artist forgets this and makes work to satisfy, the worth of the art piece dies. The intent and personal artist-to-artwork, connection, or intent, is lost which severs the importance between the artwork-to-consumer relationship. Sticking with the art medium of film, one can compare Barbie to movies such as Meg 2: The Trench. This film is an example of spectacle cinema that lacks the intent of leaving a proper impact on the audience, but only hopes to entertain. As a thriller-action movie based on the phenomenon of an extinct shark emerging from a hidden underground trench, this is understandable. Kristy Puchko, well established Film Critic and Entertainment Reporter for Marshable, writes about the movie in her article 'Meg 2: The Trench' review: Ben Wheatley hates you. She questions the purpose and meaning behind the film’s creation, even stating, “Meg 2: The Trench is begging to be treated like a goofy popcorn movie. And in some regards, it will satisfy there” (Puchko 2023). Her criticism highlights the problem with making art that only satisfies an audience through aspects such as entertainment. Art needs to reflect the time and be conversable for audiences. There is nothing to gain from watching an unrealistic shark movie, other than a quick and easy way to kill time. While films can be entertaining, they need to have a greater intent for the viewers watching them. This is what made Barbie way more impactful, and thus more successful than Meg 2: The Trench. As a form of entertainment, Barbie’s usage of innovation and intent made audiences reflect upon modern day society. Gerwig ignored the idea of settling upon mere satisfaction and did something greater with her art.

Now, some may believe that art can be used as a platform for the sole purpose of entertainment. That its success can be found within its completion alone. While this is subjectively true, the concept often limits the end product for the viewer. What is an audience truly to gain from a piece of entertainment without meaning? Sure, they will be satisfied from a flashy piece of cinema that keeps their attention for a few hours, but they will lack the same feeling of fulfillment that artists desire due to the inability to draw from the piece. In the same way that artists hope to get criticism from their work and impact audiences, audiences want to be impacted. This is where success can be found for any artist hoping to pursue their craft as a career. The work they create must be a two-way-street; fulfillment needs to be obtainable for the artists and consumer. Anything else, or artwork based on the means of satisfaction, qualifies the art piece as a hobby. Those who wish to pursue the craft for a career must work harder. Specifically, artists must give their work the respect and passion it deserves– staying innovative as time passes, knowing how to impact modern-day audiences through true artistic merit rather than temporary amusement.

Art and meaning is one of the most arguable topics to discuss. Finding meaning within art is entirely subjective itself; however, there is no doubt the overall landscape calls for active engagement and grants immense possible reward. Susan Wolf, introduced how people can only have meaningful lives as long as they are actively engaging in projects of worth (Klemke & Cahn 205). Throughout this essay, we have explored how this philosophy is inherently true for that of an artist. Artists must continue to create and explore the modern-day in order to deem themselves true to their careers. Their work is never done. An artist can never be satisfied and can never create to satisfy. Continuous evolution is the founding principle of expression, and there can be complacency towards expressing this with any style of art. Satisfaction implies a halt to this artistic process. While artists can accept the fulfillment, the work they create must allow and call for the viewer to do the same.

Published 10/14/23