“The thing I hate most about advertising is that it attracts all the
young, bright, creative people, leaving us with only the slow and
self-obsessed to become our artists. Modern art is a disaster area.
Never in human history has so much been used by so many to say so
little.” – Banksy
Banksy voices a common lament and he is recycling ideas from the previous century. Ironically his artwork is a coy recycling of old visual ideas as well.
When times are good, a person with very modest abilities can make quite a nice living in the sales-support industries. The wheels of commerce must be kept decoratively greased. However, in the best of times barely a soul can make anything resembling a career within the Arts.
There is no shortage of talent. Talent is as common as salt. There is not a lack of talent, but within the Arts there is a lack of support. Talent is a commodity, and just like oil or electricity it is distributed to those that are willing to pay for it. There is so much talent in the Arts and so little support for creative endeavors that only rare individuals can attract sufficient supporters to survive. Sooner or later, most of the successful will drift into other areas of endeavor to make a living. Most employment opportunities don’t require talent, they require showing up on time and going through the repetitive daily routines of industry.
Only the most neurotic and driven individuals will persist in the Arts. These quirky personality disorders are not necessarily connected to talent and internal turmoil often stifle growth and development.