A short time ago I saw a posting from Brain Pickings on Facebook, quoting Oscar Wilde as having said, “A True Artist Takes No Notice Whatever of the public. The public are to him non-existent.”
Listed amongst the comments which followed were such remarks as:
“No finer definition of art and artists has been written.”
“Pure Genius.”
“fuck yes! true words.”
And so goeth generations of gullible artists to their narcissistic vacuums to create art for an audience that, according to Oscar Wilde, does not matter.
To this I say, “PPPTTTHHHHHTTTTTT!”
I call BULLSHIT on Oscar Wilde. Bullshit I say! Because not even Oscar Wilde believed this nonsense. The fact is, he was acutely aware of his audience and went to great lengths to attract, shock and sustain them through not only his writing, but his personal behavior as well. Don’t forget, he is also the father of this precious word baby: “The only thing worse than being talked about is not being talked about.” Does that sound like a guy who doesn’t give a whiz about his audience? He was the epitome of an artist in search of attention. Why else would he walk around Victorian England with a lobster on a leash? A LOBSTER, PEOPLE!!!!!!!
This is just one of several moronic yet persistent myths about successful creative people that I’d like to take out back to the shed and put down with a shotgun before it mauls another innocent bystander.
Here is a list of some other insidious myths that are on my hit list: Continue reading
Fight Like A Writer 