What does it take to be an artist? In the short film above by Jakub Blank, artist Bill Blaine medÂiÂtates on the quesÂtion as he strolls around his home and stuÂdio and talks about his work. Blaine has aged into the realÂizaÂtion that makÂing art is what fulÂfills him, even though it probÂaÂbly won’t bring him immorÂtal fame. “I’ve thought about this,” he says. “I would probÂaÂbly be a hapÂpiÂer perÂson if I were paintÂing all the time.” BloatÂed egos belong to the young, and Blaine is glad to put the “absurd” ambiÂtions of youth behind him. “In the old days,” he musÂes, “your ego was so big, that you wantÂed to be betÂter than everyÂbody else, you wantÂed to be on the cutÂting edge of things… at least with old age, you don’t have a lot of that.”
And yet, though he seems to have everyÂthing an artist could want in the mateÂrÂiÂal sense – a palaÂtial estate with its own well-appointÂed stuÂdio – a melanÂcholy feelÂing of defeat hangs over the artist. SadÂness remains in his ready smile as he genÂtly interÂroÂgates himÂself, “So then, why the hell aren’t you paintÂing all the time?” Blaine chuckÂles as he conÂtemÂplates seeÂing a therÂaÂpist, an idea he doesn’t seem to take parÂticÂuÂlarÂly seriÂousÂly. Aside from a few outÂliers, maybe the psyÂchiÂatric proÂfesÂsion hasn’t takÂen the creÂative impulse parÂticÂuÂlarÂly seriÂousÂly either. One psyÂchoÂanÂaÂlyst who did, Otto Rank, wrote in Art and Artist of the imporÂtance of creÂativÂiÂty to all human develÂopÂment and activÂiÂty.
“The human urge to creÂate,” Rank argued, “does not find expresÂsion in works of art alone. It also proÂduces reliÂgion and mytholÂoÂgy and the social instiÂtuÂtions corÂreÂspondÂing to these. In a word, it proÂduces the whole culÂture.” EveryÂthing we do, from bakÂing bread to writÂing symÂphonies, is a creÂative act, in that we take raw mateÂriÂals and make things that didn’t exist before. In WestÂern culÂture, howÂevÂer, the role of the artist has been disÂtortÂed. Artists are eleÂvatÂed to the staÂtus of genius, or relÂeÂgatÂed to mediÂocÂriÂties, at best, disÂposÂable deadÂbeats, at worst. Blaine sureÂly deserves his lot of hapÂpiÂness from his work. Has he been underÂmined by self-doubt?
His vulÂnerÂaÂbilÂiÂty and the sharp canÂdor of his obserÂvaÂtions leave us with a porÂtrait of a man almost in agony over the knowlÂedge, he says – again using the accusatoÂry secÂond perÂson – that “you’re not going to be the next PicasÂso or the next Frank StelÂla or whatÂevÂer else.” There’s more to the negÂaÂtive comÂparÂisons than woundÂed vanÂiÂty. He should feel free to do what he likes, but he lacks what made these artists great, he says:
You have to be obsesÂsive, you realÂly do. ComÂpulÂsive. And I’m not enough, unforÂtuÂnateÂly. Had a cerÂtain amount of talÂent, just didn’t have the obsesÂsion apparÂentÂly. I think that’s what great artists have. They can’t let it go. And evenÂtuÂalÂly, whatÂevÂer they do, that’s their art, that’s who they are.
Blaine conÂtrasts greatÂness with the work of unseÂriÂous “diletÂtantes” who may approxÂiÂmate abstract expresÂsionÂist or othÂer styles, but whose work fails to manÂiÂfest the perÂsonÂalÂiÂty of the artist. “You can see through it,” says Blaine, wincÂing. Shot in his “home and stuÂdio in Mount Dora, FloriÂda,” notes Aeon, the film is “full of his origÂiÂnal paintÂings and phoÂtographs. Blaine offers his unguardÂed thoughts on a range of topÂics relatÂed to the genÂerÂaÂtive process.”
Artists are rarely their own best critÂics, and Blaine’s assessÂments of his work can seem withÂerÂing when voiced over Blank’s slideshow preÂsenÂtaÂtions. But as he opens up about his creÂative process, and his perÂcepÂtion of himÂself as “too bourÂgeois” to realÂly make it, he may reveal much more about the strugÂgles that all artists — or all creÂative peoÂple — face than he realÂizes.
RelatÂed ConÂtent:
Josh Jones is a writer and musiÂcian based in Durham, NC. FolÂlow him at @jdmagness
I realÂly enjoyed his musÂings about being an artist. Although he laments that he nevÂer stayed with any one genre of paintÂing to the point of develÂopÂing a “perÂsonÂal style”, I found his work very enjoyÂable and interÂestÂing because it realÂly seems like a wide exploÂration not only of the mateÂriÂals but of himÂself. As an artist of sorts myself in a comÂpleteÂly difÂferÂent genre and for a difÂferÂent purÂpose I enjoyed seeÂing this through his eyes.
We own a paintÂing, “Icarus”, and the artist is Bill Blaine from WinÂter GarÂden, FL. It won first prize at the 16th SouthÂeastÂern AnnuÂal ExhiÂbiÂtion in 1961 in Atlanta. We bought it at a neighÂborÂhood estate sale in the 1970’s.
Any chance the artist is the same Bill Blaine feaÂtured in your film?