The death of the artist : how creators are struggling to survive in the age of billionaires and big tech

The death of the artist How creators are struggling to survive in the age of billionaires and big tech

William Deresiewicz, 1964-

Book - 2020

"Over the last twenty years, art has become more accessible than ever before. A painter can post their latest creation on Instagram and wait as the likes pile up; a budding filmmaker can shoot a clip on their iPhone, then upload it to YouTube for thousands to view. The digital landscape has fundamentally altered what it means to be creative, as well as how consumers interact with artistic production both economically and curatorially. William Deresiewicz, a leading critic of contemporary culture in America, argues that we are in the midst of an epochal transformation within art. Whereas the nineteenth century considered artists to be craftsmen and the twentieth century treated them as professionals, artists today are uniquely dependent... upon themselves. The internet, along with decreases in art funding and the growing prevalence of gig economies, has forced artists to become responsible for every aspect of their work, from conception to promotion, from sales to legacy. In The Death of the Artist, Deresiewicz profiles those struggling to make a living through the arts, from the twenty-something college novelist with a multi-hyphenated job title to the midlife painter who must utilize social media to stay relevant. Deresiewicz shows what the birth of the "creative entrepreneur" signifies about our evolving society at large and what might be done to keep artists thriving, because we need them"--

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Subjects
Artists > Economic conditions > 21st century.
Arts > Economic aspects.
Creation (Literary, artistic, etc.)
Entrepreneurship.
Art and business.
Art and the Internet.
Published
New York, New York : Henry Holt and Company 2020.
Language
English
Main Author
William Deresiewicz, 1964- (author)
Edition
First edition
Physical Description
x, 355 pages : 24 cm
Bibliography
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN
9781250125514
  • Part I. The Basic Issues
  • 1. Introduction
  • 2. Art and Money
  • 3. Never-Been-a-Better-Time (the techno-utopian narrative)
  • Part II. The Big Picture
  • 4. The New Conditions
  • 5. Doing It Yourself
  • 6. Space and Tune
  • 7. The Life Cycle
  • Part III. Arts And Artists
  • 8. Music
  • Six Musicians
  • 9. Writing
  • Six Writers
  • 10. Visual Art
  • Six Visual Artists
  • 11. Film and Television
  • Seven Creators of Film and Television
  • Part IV. What is Art Becoming?
  • 12. Art History
  • 13. The Fourth Paradigm
  • Part V. What Is to Be Done?
  • 14. Art School
  • 15. Piracy, Copyright, and the Hydra of Tech
  • 16. Don't Mourn, Organize
  • Notes
  • Bibliography
  • Acknowledgments
  • Index
Review by Choice Review

This book is about the changing relationship of art and money and how art is changing as a result. Deresiewicz (formerly, English, Yale) documents the struggles of visual artists, musicians, writers, and other kinds of creators to survive a brutally unequal economy. Two conflicting narratives have emerged. One comes from Silicon Valley and the relevant tech sector, with its laptops and iPhones along with GarageBand, Photoshop, Final Cut Pro, and so on, and, of course, the internet and social media. Their message is that it is a great time to be an artist. The second narrative, provided by the artists themselves, is less optimistic. Digital tools and the internet have facilitated some aspects of art, but a question remains: with so much free or on the cheap, who is going to pay a person to be creative? The internet provides unlimited access to art and artists and favors a content that is fast, brief, and recognizable. This is ushering in the "golden age of the amateur." The professional artist has become increasingly rare. This is unfortunate, for it is precisely these professional creators, whose whole energies are dedicated to their calling, who are best suited to speak genuinely new truths. The title of the final chapter offers a suggestion: "Don't Mourn, Organize." Summing Up: Highly recommended. All readers. --Ralph M. Davis, emeritus, Albion College

Copyright American Library Association, used with permission.
Review by Library Journal Review

Distinguished critic Deresiewicz, a New York Times best-selling author (Excellent Sheep) and winner of National Book Critics Circle honors for excellence in reviewing, reveals how 21st-century technology has changed the artist's life. Painters and poets now post on Instagram, and filmmakers record their work on iPhone and upload to YouTube. Creators are no longer simply crafters but entrepreneurs, and what's the personal cost?

(c) Copyright Library Journals LLC, a wholly owned subsidiary of Media Source, Inc. No redistribution permitted.
Review by Kirkus Book Review

In defense of artists of all varieties, most of whom face daunting challenges in making a living. Cultural critic Deresiewicz astutely examines the state of the arts in contemporary culture, arguing convincingly that to be an artist is not to be a practitioner of a "secular religion" but instead a producer within a market economy. His book, he writes, "attempts to make visible…the two things that the arts have long concealed about themselves: work and money." Drawing on articles, books, and essays by artists, scholars, and critics as well as 140 lengthy phone interviews with artists who work in music, writing, visual art, film, and TV--he profiles 25 in detail--the author paints a vivid picture of the challenges involved in making art, finding an audience, and being self-supporting as an artist. Noting that the term "fine arts" dates to 1767, he traces the cultural identity of artists from Renaissance artisans supported by patrons to Enlightenment creators of art "as an autonomous realm of expression" to bohemians who defiantly rejected the marketplace, as if the very idea of money tainted the purity of their endeavors. Today, artists working in every genre must be constantly aware, self-marketing to audiences or finding intermediaries, such as agents, to market them. Most artists, Deresiewicz shows, earn subsistence incomes, with their biggest financial pressure coming from rent, both for living, working, and performing. The author examines a wide range of topics relevant to artists' lives, including MFA programs; the rise of Amazon and possibility for self-publishing; opportunities in TV, which is "rolling in cash"; the dearth of philanthropic support of the arts in favor of projects with social impact; and the internet, which has made art accessible, offering "unmediated access to the audience" but also putting artists in competition with many others. A savvy assessment of how artists can, and should, function in the marketplace. Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

Copyright (c) Kirkus Reviews, used with permission.

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