Life After Art School, Part 3 (Conclusion)

by Justin Barnes

Part 3: I must sell a painting!  Urban Outfitters is having their spring sale! –or– The Painful Overarching Truth

Last week, I drove over an hour out of Chicago to somewhere in suburbia hell to interview with a real estate company looking to get some web videos made.  For my two and half hour round trip, I interviewed with the HR person for five minutes.  She was interrupted three times, and on the third time, she had to leave the office and end the interview.

I share this story not to bitch, but rather to illustrate that, “it sure is tough out there“.  Perhaps that’s the one point I forgot to hammer home in the last installment.  Chicago does seem to be bright and hopeful, and I do believe that Mrs. Schutta’s helpful words can lead those willing down some positive paths, yet that hard truth remains unchanged.   And to be honest, I’m not sure I was ultimately ready for this transition.

I don’t think the institution of art school is to blame, but I do think, in general, most graduates aren’t necessarily ready for it.  The transition to the void of the “big out there” was never very prevalent when I was in Art School.  I was too busy having the time of my life to worry about it.  There were too many success stories out there, I was getting a phenomenal education preparing me to be a sensation in my field, and thus, I never figured I’d land anywhere but exactly in the right spot where I’d be happy and triumphant.  I’m sure many readers feel the same way, and even as I’ve stated in earlier installments, the future does look bright, and it still seems possible that whatever problems arise, they will probably happen to someone else.

But years and years of experience since Art School has told me that that sentiment isn’t true.  So here’s the cold bucket of water: There is no immediate success found in Life After Art School.  Reminiscing perhaps on Bobby, Malcolm, and Martin, John Lennon said, “the dream is over.” I’m reminiscing that all I’ve eaten for the past week is canned beans and spaghetti sauce so I’m saying to everyone, “the dream is over.”

Now wait, and let’s actually look at what that means.  Again, I’m not trying to bitch, and most certainly, I’m not trying to be serious, but honestly, what I thought was going to happen to me after Art School doesn’t exist.  If the only message received from this long tome of hilarity and knowledge is that statement, I’ll feel very satisfied.  So, to re-reemphasize, TO ALL READERS: when you leave Art School, things won’t work out the way you planned!

That being said, the general – and by general, I mean me – consensus is that this can go one of several ways.  Please notice, “everything working out exactly the way planned” isn’t one of the options.  Off the top of my head, the various paths to take are: 1) Life Around Art, 2) Life In Art, 3) Graduate School, or 4) Quitting the game all together and checking out that supposed great future in plastics.

Going backwards, the last option – Quitting – surely must seem the least appealing and the most ludicrous.  So much time and effort put into years of study should be worthy of at least some attempt or investment.  Yet, as unappealing and bonkers as it seems, there does seem to be a fair amount of art school graduates who ultimately go nowhere.  Bummer central…

The third option – Graduate School – seems to be in the difficult position of simultaneously being the most and the least pragmatic choice.  In economics, there’s some garbage bullshit about the law of marginal returns and for all the intensities about graduate school discussed in the previous installment, the effort does appear to merit a pretty positive return.  Teaching positions, advanced knowledge of an art practice, and lengthy lists of contacts made possible by an M.F.A. certainly seem to be worth it.

The second option – Life In Art – for those not interested in further organized education – is a bit more dangerous for me because commenting on it veers awfully close towards a republican mentality.  This is where a person abandons all commercial luxuries and conventions to move into some dump warehouse, live with twenty smelly dudes, and dress like they’re fresh from the methadone clinic.  The goal of which is to immerse one’s self so heavily in their art and their “scene” that they avoid the distractions brought on by the world around them and focus just on art.

To be truthful, certain warehouse scenes operate like art school part two, an extensive breeding ground of creative and inventive artists who absolutely are making art that will be remembered forever.  But that percentage of successful warehouse scenes is very, very small, and I find those admirable ideals of the successful few are tarnished when they are co-opted by the unsuccessful many. There are so many who feel that adopting this outsider life style automatically equals artistic talent.  There’s nothing wrong with wanting to be safe and healthy, and it’s very annoying when people wear their superiority of a self-oppressed lifestyle like a badge of honor.  Likewise, there’s nothing honorable in trust fund babies playing hobo dress up and using their excuse of “living outside the system” as a way to mask laziness and privilege.

Being “poor” doesn’t inherently make an artist better.  Nor does politically correct white-liberal-guilt about having money.  Remember, Picasso, Matisse, Monet – they all came from affluent backgrounds.  Jean-Luc Goddard’s seminal, groundbreaking, status-quo-challenging films were funded by his wealthy, doctor dad.  Matthew Barney went to Yale to play football.  It’s talent that makes a person a better artist, not their bank accounts or lifestyles.

Some incredibly talented artists have found immense success while following the Life In Art option (Dan Deacon, Fort Thunder), and I find that because of their success, it would miss the point to wholly discredit this way as just being a bum.  Beyond my understanding (and personal taste), the warehouse way of life is appealing to some.  To them, my only requests are to please keep a level head, don’t get sucked up in the revolutionary-by-way-of-trust-fund “brainwashing,” and actually focus on art.

Finally, the first option – Life Around Art – seems to have the greatest potential to actually work and to yield the quickest results.  Despite some criticism towards the sentiment of the last installment, consider it a success to find a job that allows for time around art.  For instance, taking a job as a graphic designer for a catalog, as a commercial videographer, a website designer, a printmaker, or a gallery assistant offers a way to leave art school and go right into work.  No, it’s not a month long solo show at the MOMA, but at least it’s still possible to have the occasional waft of artistic stimulation, and trust me, it’s worth it.  Maybe art school is just a training ground to be successful somewhere else.  Rather than taking that negatively, realize it is possible to enjoy some level of success (albeit small) with a B.F.A.

An incredibly narrow, feeble-minded interpretation of this editorial would be to assume that the only option this life path grants an artist is something in advertising, but I cannot stress how dumb I find that to be.  Advertising is just one way to go.  I seem to recall writing that it no longer is business as usual, and the skill sets learned in Art School can work for a wide variety of things.  Maybe the jobs available have nothing to do with art, but maybe those jobs can fund the art.  Perhaps what needs to change for Art School Graduates are expectations for Life After Graduation.  See the incremental steps towards things such as a small gallery show, or an acceptance into a film festival as worthwhile – see that as success.

So to conclude this long, three-part musing: nothing ever works out the way it’s dreamed to, life sucks, and no Art School Graduate will ever be happy.  And to me, those are the EXACT reasons we went to Art School in the first place.  For us, hearing those words has brought nothing but contempt for the generations before us who told us that these sentiments were true.  Perhaps things won’t work out the way we hoped, and perhaps despite seeming like its a positive time for employment, none of us will find satisfying jobs.  But by having gone to Art School, we have actively chosen to be the part of our cultural makeup that works to challenge those principals.  If enough people can get together, change – however incremental – can happen.  As artists, it is our responsibility to be part of that cultural change.

So I say, let’s use this Time After Art School to become part of the culturally responsible who shift the landscape significantly enough so that the old bullshit norms that make us unsuccessful are replaced.  Let our actions as artists be influential on shaping a culture that does not limit our Lives After Art School but rather expands them.  Let’s set it up so that one can be successful after Art School.  It should be possible to make that transition, and the result doesn’t have to be a big empty void.  I know!  Let’s use creative license to make NEW bullshit norms that give us everything we want!

And let’s let the next generation figure it all out for themselves.

Chicago musician and installation artist Justin Barnes is a gradate of the Savannah College of Art and Design.  His numerous highlights include a three week run of his senior thesis documentary/installation at the Starland Arts District in Savannah, creating a video that was an official selection of the 2010 SXSW Film Festival, touring the country with his music, working as IMAX film projectionist and technician, cleaning industrial ink wells at a candy wrapper factory, and working on a trans-national oil pipeline construction project.  In his spare time, Barnes enjoys spending time with his dog Ogden, being smelly and unattractive to women, growing a sensational beard, and Batman.