
Ask HN: An Artist's Philosophy - keehun
Hi Hacker News. I&#x27;d like to discuss something I wrote about the philosophy of an artist. I&#x27;m ready for some tough questions.<p>------------------------------<p>Being an artist is not to be taken lightly. When a patron either pays money or sacrifices time—or often, both—to participate in an artistic experience (such as attending a musical performance or visiting a sculpture garden), there is an unspoken responsibility placed on the artist to make the performance or the visit a meaningful experience. In order to fulfill that responsibility in the most respectful way, the artist must first understand the possibility of power and influence that his or her artworks can exert on the patron. Additionally, the artist is granted with implicit but clear trust every time a patron gives up something to experience a work of art by that artist, and it is the duty of the artist to neither take this trust for granted nor abuse it. The artist must be fully ethical and moral in his or her command of the patron’s experience. This in no way means that the artist must only deliver experiences that are pleasant to the patron. Meaningful and influential experiences that are worthy of art are sometimes—or frequently—unpleasant. To only feed sweet or pleasant experiences to the patrons would be unethical itself. These experience must contribute something constructive to the audience. Only through this transformative approach to art can any meaningful experiences can be made.
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lordkrandel
Sorry, I strongly disagree. Art doesn't have to be social, and it does not
have to have an audience. The artist can produce a work of art for it's own
sake. There is no social consequence or responsability. The artist doesn't
even have control over his piece - so many critics have found different
meanings where the author didn't mean to express anything in particular. So
many prayers have been chanted alone, to build links between one's self and
the spiritual world, with no one else listening.

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keehun
Thank you. I have been reflecting on your answer since last evening and today.

