Do You Need an Artist’s Statement?
Consider the nature of the question. Consider what it all means. What is a mission statement or statement of purpose as a creative individual? Often with words. An articulation of where you stand and where you’re coming from in why you create what you create and what you anticipate the effects will be, perhaps. It’s another way to add a unique signature to who you are as someone who is involved in creative work.
It overemphasizes a certain mapping of creative experience to advocate for just one approach. It’s good to consider what it all means. The metaphor of the map as a way to understand what we do to clarify (or not) the various features of cross reference for what we’re doing creatively.
There might be a positive tension with the question of what are we doing in our creative work. The emphasis on the need for the artist’s statement might undervalue this approach of the positive struggle with definition. Sometimes we want an answer. Understandable. Sometimes this overshadows a true reverence for the question. And sometimes that means the difference between “the” answer and “a” answer.
The full complexity of what it means to map the creative experience… requires a reverence for this complexity of the question. The overemphasis on any paradigm has the loss of what other blueprints can do for us.
The prizing of uniqueness over originality, or as a branding of originality.
Originality = you created it, though it might resemble many expectations within the genre that you’re working in.
Unique = the work stands out.
Uniqueness is not a necessary quality of originality. One can be original and it’s possible that work might not stand out uniquely. Our reasons to show up to a particular creative practice need not be unique and in fact can resemble the reasons of many others who have done such work.
May correlate to a false notion of inventory that we need to create unique work. The inventory exists already. You need to differentiate. This is the metaphor of selling, product, branding. These ideas can overemphasize a particular mapping of experience that isn’t always right for everyone at all times.
There’s something to be said about a creative practice where you give yourself permission to not be unique in terms of why you show up to enjoy it.
Why could it be beneficial to have an artist’s statement? Maybe we need to put our unique pathways into a language, to articulate it. This explanation might help draw us to our own reference point. And, if there are aspects to our work that we want audiences to get that they might not get unless they’re told, then telling might be beneficial.