08-16-2016, 09:36 AM
This came up in recent conversations on discord and I thought I'd just make a thread for it. What does it mean to identify with your art? It means to connect your self worth to how "good" or "bad" your art is. Some might say the negative emotions and thoughts about your own short comings will fuel your drive to improve. Or that the positive thoughts and emotions will allow you to keep going. Some might have lofty ideals of what art should communicate and their identification with those ideals will allow them to strive forward.
These are all bullshit beliefs to put it plainly. Having your identity wrapped up in your art will prevent you from being objective. If someone gives your their real honest thoughts about your work it will trigger all kinds of emotional reactions which will cloud your reasoning and prevent you from honestly considering what they say. Not to mention various other pitfalls. I'm sure a few others here will have plenty to say about this so I'll leave it at that.
These are all bullshit beliefs to put it plainly. Having your identity wrapped up in your art will prevent you from being objective. If someone gives your their real honest thoughts about your work it will trigger all kinds of emotional reactions which will cloud your reasoning and prevent you from honestly considering what they say. Not to mention various other pitfalls. I'm sure a few others here will have plenty to say about this so I'll leave it at that.