Becoming an Artist: the Analysis of Artists' Careers and Art Works

• Main Authors: Liao, Han-Yu, 廖涵羽
• Other Authors: Wu, Chung-Shen
• Format: Others
• Language: zh-TW
• Published: 2010
• Online Access: http://ndltd.ncl.edu.tw/handle/31561345566096858188

碩士 === 輔仁大學 === 社會學系碩士班 === 98 === The number of graduates from the field of art has been substantial in Taiwan for years. Yet, studies focusing on art creators’ career development are sparse. From a sociological point of view, this study examines the young artists’ role as a mover in the art world, using the data of the employment analysis of Taipei National Art University Fine Arts Department graduates, supported by accounts from some in-depth interviews with a number of young artists. We also look at the process of an art creator’s becoming a professional artist, starting from their education in the art school. The study shows that only a very small number of the fine art graduates would become a professional artist, either defined by the art market’s angle or other related data. It usually takes more than a decade after graduation for the art creators’ to identify themselves as an artist. Thus, there are indeed certain distinguished characteristics of art itself when people taking it as a profession and a form of work. For the young artists, the differences of seeing art as a “vocation” or an “occupation” are reflected in their strategies of running and pursuing the art career. Looking from a different angle, the distinction between a vocation and an occupation may become blurred as the art environment has changed. Thus, we would like to establish a “semi-artist” concept and integrate it into the theory and the thread of thought. It would help us further understand the art creator’s activities and their relations with the society.