All the Bullsh*t Artists Believe: A Conversation with William Deresiewicz, Author of Death of the Artist

This is an episode of the old podcast, called Artists on the Verge. I decided to keep these conversations up in the feed because they are, in fact, part of what led me to create Classically (Un)Trained. I have taken down all except the artist interviews - but you can check out an expanded archive here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/former-podcast-archive/ Check out the current podcast here: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/ Video version here: https://youtu.be/v1pvdmWkQ90 A spirited chat with William Deresiewicz, author of /Death of the Artist: How Creatives Struggle to Survive In the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech/. This book argues that artists have a harder time making a middle class living today than in previous generations - but is this true? And how does it effect the art and entertainment made today? 00:00:00 Intro: The two stories told about being an artist 00:01:05 Why did /Death of the Artist/ need to be written now? 00:02:31 But hasn’t it ALWAYS been hard to be an artist? 00:05:03 How is all this unique to artists? Aren’t a lot of middle-class professions in danger? 00:06:08 What is Art with a capital “A” and why is it under threat? 00:09:06 The TV Renaissance is Over (Amending the section on TV in /Death of the Artist/) 00:11:06 Is it helpful for individual artists to look at the bigger picture of the arts industry ? 00:13:21 Is the sample of 140 artists used to write Death of the Artist really representative? How were they selected? What about other research? 00:15:37 What are the goals of the book? What does William Deresiewicz want artists to know? 00:17:49 Is art really “boring” now? And why does William Deresiewicz not watch movies in movie theatres? 00:22:49 The chilling effect in the arts - is THAT why everything is boring? 00:27:24 What if you’re depressed after reading /Death of the Artist/? Is there an actionable takeaway? 00:30:59 How do you value an arts education? How do you repurpose creative skills? And why William Deresiewicz would encourage you to go for the artists life despite everything! 00:38:09 Accepting that some art just doesn't have much market value. 00:40:16 The 1000 true fans model - does it work? 00:41:45 “Everyone is an artist”: The Romantic myth that led to the Silicon Valley myth (ft. David Graeber and Nicka Dubrovsky’s essay “Another Art World”) 00:46:41 The lifecycle of an artist and how artists are discouraged as children Links to stuff we talk about: The Death of the Artist by William Deresiewicz: https://us.macmillan.com/books/9781250125514/thedeathoftheartist “We’re all Bored of Culture” by William Deresiewicz: https://www.tabletmag.com/sections/arts-letters/articles/bored-of-culture-william-deresiewicz “On Not Drinking the Kool Aid” by William Deresiewicz: https://salmagundi.skidmore.edu/articles/434-on-not-drinking-the-kool-aid 💋👁👂🏼 Website: https://classicallyuntrainedpodcast.com/ 👀 Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/ema_katrovas_podcast/