Questions to Ask

The boldness of asking deep questions may require unforeseen flexibility if we are to accept the answers.

- Brian Greene



I feel like I haven't blogged in forever and this is mainly because my research has taken me here, there and everywhere. I'd be looking at research methods, then dip into my topic, a bit of philosophical methodology, back to dancing around my topic...

For the last couple of weeks I seem to have read a lot and made lots of notes but it's taken me this long to have things finally start to come together and connect just a tiny bit. I was hoping to book a 1-2-1 this week to talk through my ideas but my uni email is currently not working... so all I have is my blog and here I am!

In exploring different areas of artistry, a great deal of questions have surfaced. As a little point of reference and reflection for myself, I'll cover some of these below.


ARTISTRY AND THE ARTS


  • What do the Arts consider artistry as?
  • What distinguishes an artist from a professional?
  • What does artistry involve?
  • What do dancers think artistry is?
  • What's the hierarchy around artistry?
    • Do the arts separate themselves from sport/business/society?
    • Is this to their own detriment?
    • Where has this come from?
  • What makes artistry, artistry?
  • What is artistry to different cultures?


LEARNING ARTISTRY


  • Can any person / any discipline learn artistry?
  • How can they learn it?
  • What are they learning?
  • What do people think are the 'hallmarks' of artistry?
  • Are there barriers to learning?
  • How do you overcome these?
  • What is the result if they do learn?
  • Is it a good or bad thing?


ETHICS AND ARTISTRY


  • What are the intentions behind making art / artistry?
  • Who does it impact? 
  • What is the impact?
  • What is the purpose?
  • How should art be ethically judged?
  • Should it be ethically judged at all or only aesthetically? - Aestheticism vs Moralism
  • What is the truthfulness in storytelling?
  • What is the truthfulness of the perspective? 
  • Where is the audience positioned?
  • Are there issues of ethical criticism? Of censorship?
  • What are the rights of the artist? Of the audience?


MY ARTISTRY

  • What do I consider my artistry to be?
  • Where do I use / should I use artistry in my practice?
  • How do I view the artistry of others?
  • What are my preconceptions of artistry?
  • Could I develop my artistry?
  • How would this help me?


A lot of the literature I have read seems to agree that artistry is in fact attainable in many disciplines outside of the arts and makes the case that each has its own version built on a knowledge base of the practice at hand. Some are industries that traditionally rejected the arts as valid at all, but once their progressive potential had reached quantitative saturation - i.e. possible knowledge and technology advancement relative to time - our relentless culture-driven demand for 'better' and 'new' saw them turn to qualitative elements found in the industry they had been sidelining for so long.

What is assumed, however, is that all artists have artistry by virtue of the fact they are labelled artists. Other fields look to 'artists' because they have what the others want. Apparently. 

But if every other discipline can do the 'job' with or without artistry, and if artistry universally depends on quality rather than doing of specific 'things', can we really say artists are exempt from the potential of not having artistry? By virtue of the fact that as artists we must be trained, we must surely have to train artistry, mustn't we? We surely depend upon this?

If artists must train in that which all others consider they automatically possess and want to emulate, the question is how do we develop artistry? And not just discipline-based artistry, such as artistry in dance and artistry in singing, because that seemingly makes it no different to artistry in politics or artistry in business (if qualities are universally built on field knowledge).

The question is, how do we develop artistry in practice? 

Comments

  1. Alys Davies11 March 2021 at 07:41

    Hi Roanne,
    This is a great blog, my head is spinning just thinking about all these questions! I think perhaps an idea could be that artistry is innate in artists that really connect on a personal level with their art, as opposed to those that simply partake in an art form because they enjoy it and they have a level of talent. For me that is what separates professionals from amateurs. In addition, in order to market and thus work as an artist, sometimes your artistry has to become your 'brand', given that, in the dance world at least there are so many dancers with technical ability that it is vital for dancers to find their unique quality (which could well be their artistry) and make it marketable and presentable so that it can be identified immediately via a video application or in a packed audition room. Of course then we get into the argument of whether we compromise some level of artistry by making in marketable and therefore perhaps just pandering to the preferences of one particular company/choreographer. I loved reading this blog and best of luck for the rest of your research!
    Alys
    x

    ReplyDelete
    Replies
    1. Roanne Cox11 March 2021 at 08:52

      Hi Alys,
      Thank you for your comments! Connection to, and personal investment in the art has certainly come up a lot in my research and I would definitely be inclined to agree with you there. Perhaps this stems from a deeper purpose and/or fulfilment than just the enjoyment aspect. I love what you have said about artistry and marketing, this is a really interesting point in such a competitive industry where you have to have a unique point, but you could stand out to one person and not to another simply because of their preferences and experiences - like you say we may make sacrifices somewhere to cater to the decision-makers if it means securing the job. Is this acceptable and necessary or biased and unfair? To be debated!
      Thank you for reading x

      Delete
  2. Alice Pettini13 March 2021 at 06:36

    Hi Roanne, amazing blog! There are so many interesting questions revolving artistry, I can't wait to see where this journey will take you. To be honest, I have never really thought too much into artistry before. I assumed that an artist will hold their artistry, but never thought about what this really means, whether this develops over time and if it's dependant on what life throws at you. However, I particularly like what you have said about how other industries look to artists for 'quality'. In my work environment, when I tell people I am dancer, they suddenly assume I am 'sporty' and 'creative', therefore give me responsibilities that fit these skills. I would be inclined to say it is a transferable skill. But what an interesting question to conclude on. Good luck with the rest of your research x

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    Replies
    1. Roanne Cox14 March 2021 at 22:23

      Hi Alice, thank you for reading! I completely understand what you mean about how people label you with qualities when you say you're a dancer, which thankfully are usually positive things, and it's interesting to see what these are. I think one of our biggest strengths is adaptability - it's okay having transferable skills but if you yourself are not adaptable then those skills won't serve you - and I think this is how we are able to thrive in other environments! x

      Delete
  3. Laura Vyas18 March 2021 at 03:03

    great blog, all your questions are so great and i'm really looking forward to see where this takes you!

    ReplyDelete

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