Once, an actress friend and I were chatting about some criminal thing one of her acting friends had done, she let me know that “artists live by different rules.”
Another time I was on the train from Stratford-on-Avon to London and the theater critic for “What’s On” explained to me the reason actors so often cheat on their spouses is because they have a greater need for attention and love than the average person.
In that same vein, I am reminded recently if society says, “Uh, what are you doing having those sleepovers with little boys?” or “Sure there’s no law against sleeping in a hypobaric chamber,” or “I’m sure if you hide your children behind veils no one will ever notice they aren’t bi-racial” – if you are an artist it’s kind of expected.
Sometimes it bothers me and sometimes it doesn’t.
On the one hand, I agree there are no rules for art. I was in a closet alone with a nude man for the sake of art in figure drawing class. If you are composing a song about love and one line ends with “muck” then what else are you going to do? No restraints on art, no censorship, I’m all for that.
But artists? Somewhere the artist has to draw within the lines. I’m generous, I didn’t mind when MJ dangled his baby off the balcony. (Don’t babies die if they fall from your arms anyway?) Now, sleeping with boys, maybe not a crime but against the rules, surely. Borrowing 7 million from your friend the Prince of Bahrain? The rules say you have to pay it back.
Dying at fifty from prescription drugs? I have to say I’m with Deepak Chopra on this. Don’t ask Deepak Chopra for an Oxycontin script, Michael Jackson. That’s right out. And I know somewhere in all this was a hanger-on cooing, “Oh, you’re an artist, you don’t live by the rules.” Maybe the rules are there to protect dangled babies, trusting tweenboys, and Bahrainian princes who worked hard for that 7 million dollars.
And if those are society’s rules, what happens in artist communities? Are there no rules? Taos and Sausalito are the only artist’s communities I’ve heard of. Is it all free love out there? Do people toss babies from rooftop to rooftop? What about money and parking and sleeping with children? I want to know Sausalito Dots, Taos Dots, people everywhere, do artists have to follow rules?
5 responses to “Artist Rules”
Yeah, the debate of why artists “live be different rules” is much like the debate of “do artists need to be a little crazy and/or tortured and/or have a drug/alcohol problem to be considered genius”. Like Van Gough and that whole ear thing. Which really, a lot of the classic painters, well, their paint was basically poison and toxic goo with pigment. Breathe that in for 8-16 hours a day, and have almost no health care because it is the 1700’s and well, YEAH-CRAZY SAUCE.But nowadays, if money can be made the focus on the artist producing stuff to make money. The baser instincts in us all are not tempered or frowned upon because that MIGHT STOP THE FLOW OF MONEY. Jackson Pollock was an asshole and an alcoholic. Andy Warhol was a narcissistic and warped individual. It should be noted a lot of these guys had enabling women, helping them further develop their assholery. It’s a matter of pruning. Most errant behavior, antisocial tendencies, all of it is pruned up by us regular folks because well, we need to get along with others. And make our way and or living in this world. Artists who make money, well, there are no constraints such as this. And the degree of money they make equals the level or errant behavior allowed. WORD UP!Mrs. Hall has spoken!BTW Pollock is an excellent biography film-really, it’s a must see!!!
Hard to say. I don’t think an adversion to following The Rules is limited to artists. Anyone is free say “screw the rules” if they want to, don’t you think? It just happens that artists are the most noticed when they do it, perhaps.
Mrs Hall – Yeah, I’m going through some corporate pruning at work. But, they have families. Do the families just give up? Erin G – True, just most people can’t just tag themselves as a artist. “Abused as a child” is the talentless man’s “artist” maybe?
Artists are probably artists because they see things differently, and the rest of us enjoy the results of that vision often without knowing that the person producing it is someone you wouldn’t let through your door.
They shouldn’t be allowed to do bad things, but they do because some of them don’t see them as bad, and others pretend they don’t know they’re bad, and the worst ones claim to be exempt. The wicked old media have the only real control over them, how ironic is that.
Interesting question.
NOT bi-racial???
Big Dot – Well, or perhaps he bleached his DNA too. Those kids don’t resemble him. They dont look like 10 -yr old MJ. Then look like pasty pale MJ with his pointy nose.