Why Create Art When No One Will See It?
Fritz Kistel was a reclusive artist who produced a body of work so fabulously unproductive—in the capitalist sense—that I can’t help but admire him: He created for himself.
[Outsider artists] create art “as a way to realize their inner vision and to deal with the possible trauma or hardship that they’ve lived through.”
*
Gazetteunproductive
Liam Greenwell is a teacher and writer, currently based in Mexico City and originally from Cambridge, Mass. You can read more of his work at liamgreenwell.com.
Enter your email address to receive notifications for author Liam Greenwell
Success!
Confirmation link sent to your email to add you to notification list for author Liam Greenwell
More in this series
Why Bathing Is More Than Self-Care—It’s Art
To be female and to bathe is to always be prepared for onlookers.
Aug 13, 2020
Why Do We Only Value Artists Once They’re Dead?
It is hard not to see that the conditions in which an entity like ‘Immersive Van Gogh’ thrives are the same as those that devalue and exploit the labor of living artists.
Nov 08, 2022
Unraveling the Perfectionism of Christmas, Ballet, and ‘The Nutcracker’
I aged out of leotards and ballet—not perfectionism. But tight buns suck. And so do tightly scripted holidays.
Dec 13, 2022