Holistic Marketing and Art - The Starving Artist

Article: The "Starving Artist" - Art Marketing

A Creative Output Dilemma

or **…. the “starving Artists”, living a Bohemian* lifestyle ?**

or .. Holistic Marketing and Art

Article by Dieter Luske N.D.-D.C.H.-D.M.H.-D.H

Author of It happened in the seventies

NOTE* The Bohemian lifestyle; living by oneself or with like-minded people, focusing on musical, artistic, or literary pursuits and creations.

With so many starving artists and an abundance of creativity, some artistic work may surface; most will stay underground, enjoyed by a few, but let's not confuse the term" starving artist".

A starving artist may mean different things to different people; what does it mean to you?

Is it an artist who has chosen integrity*, staying true to an inner vision, rather than possibly being corrupted by money, ego, fame and fortune?
NOTE* I am not saying, successful artist have no integrety.

Who knows? Despite creative conviction and staying true to oneself, well-deserved recognition and some capital would not go astray. After all, one has to live; a minimum of cash needs to be available, leading one to make choices, such as living with like-minded people, living off benefits, getting an art grant, getting a job or selling one's creations.

Looking at those choices, one realizes that only one or two could be appropriate to generate some extra cash.

The Art Grant: Unfortunately, the government has limited their budget for the arts, obviously not recognizing art and creativity's vast benefits in injecting vitality into our society. Furthermore, it was never easy for an artist to get a grant.

Art Grant: Unfortunately, the government has limited their budget for the arts, obviously not recognizing art and creativity's vast benefits in injecting vitality into our society. Furthermore, it was never easy for an artist to get a grant.
Grants are often given to people and organizations that know how to write a successful application. Still, on the positive side, they work for starving artists by providing events or platforms to show their art. However, this is a selection process, and only some artists will be selected for a possible event.
Getting a job can be soul-destroying or liberating, depending on the artists, their attitudes, and on the job. - Are call centres full of starving, frustrated artists? It could be, not sure; however, some artists may find less compromising jobs, while others may even contemplate a second career choice.

Lets go back for a second look to the definition of the “Starving Artist”:

A starving artist is an artist who believes in the importance of sacrificing capital income to focus on their artwork without compromises. They typically live on some essentials for lack of business or because all their cash goes towards art projects.
Other artists desire mainstream success but need help finding recognition due to the nearly impossible barriers to being accepted by a Gallery, Book Publisher or Music Label. These artists frequently take temporary jobs while focusing on breaking through in their preferred field.

Others may find enough satisfaction in living as artists to choose voluntary poverty, regardless of prospects of future financial rewards or recognition; those are the romantic bohemians.

After investigating the nature of the Starving Artist, let's now concentrate on our definition's second category: "artists who desire mainstream success but have difficulty finding recognition".

First of all, I think all artists should be given the opportunity to be recognized within our society as driving forces of creativity and as the creative lifeblood of our community.
How is that possible?
I guess no one knows precisely how to achieve that, but the more important fact is:
"There are always possibilities as long as creativity exists".
Let's investigate some of those possibilities.

There are two distinct pathways to get to those possibilities.

The first one is “Hope”, which is actually an emotion; you hope to win the lottery, you hope the sun is shining, and you hope to be “discovered”.
How does hope “feel” to you? Does it feel positive?
Nothing wrong with hope, after all, as the saying goes, you have to be in it to win it, but one needs to completely recognize, that “hope” is “passive”, it is virtually out of your control, the only control you have is to shift the odds into your favor, which we will address shortly.
The second one, another emotion, is “Anticipation”. Just say the following sentence: “I anticipate to be discovered”. How does this one feel?
I am sure, you agree, it feels much more positive, anticipation means action will follow, you feel compelled to do something … anything.

Hope and Anticipation can be used to your advantage, but they must not be confused, or you will wait for something forever.

Hope, even if it is passive, makes you want to shift your odds to heighten the possibilities and to keep that tickle of excitement; after it is possible, you will be discovered if you have done the “Basic Essential Steps” to shift your odds into the realm of possibility.

Whatever your creative pursuits are, you will need to define your art and accept one gigantic step: allowing and handing your creative outpouring over to someone else, who will see your work as a “product”.

I know that may hurt, but in marketing terms, anything that can be sold or exhibited is a product.

This step may be in part due to the inability of most artists to market themselves. However, by releasing your creative baby, you take a step back. It’s still your baby, but it will turn into a product in the hands of the marketing department of a Gallery, Publisher or Label.

Having come to terms with that conversion from Creative Baby to a Product, you may even see another possibility emerging: Would you be able to step away from your artist nature and take on the role of a marketing manager?

Can you separate yourself from your artistic nature, look at your creative outpourings from a new vantage point, see new possibilities, and maybe apply some of your creativity to find uses, niches or applications for your artwork?

However you decide, the next step is to prepare the essentials for letting your artwork become a product; your art, creativity, or style needs to be defined.

To get noticed, you will need a definition; just handing your work to the world is a shotgun approach, which is not the way to get seen or recognized.

We live in a world of communication overload, meaning whatever written word accompanies your work of art should be short.

... this ends part 1 ...