I'm an art nerd. I know you might not be able to tell by the art that I make. That's because I love both high art and low art. I don't differentiate between disciplines or styles. I love the photorealism of Chuck Close, and I am obsessed with the witty drawings of Saul Steinberg. You won't get me to pick sides.
I don't consider everything art though. A lot of things that claim to be art are simply not art. A lot of illustrators and painters alike are not making art. They are merely making decoration. There is a distinction between making an object that looks good hanging on a wall next to your couch, and something that exists to be grappled with. Art is a force that demands a reaction. Decoration washes over us like a relaxing shower.
Some months ago I wrote a couple of pieces about trolling (The Art of Trolling I and II). I thought it may even make an interesting book at some point. I'm an art nerd, because I was a comic book nerd first, and an art student second. I fell in love with the process, and the mental masturbation that went into the lifelong endeavor. It became the way I processed the world, and made sense of its chaos. Most artists don't make money off of their art; most artists become a number of things in order to support themselves; sometimes they use their art skills to decorate for a client.
I've been asked a couple of times this week if I work in the arts; I have to answer "no" to it. I've only made a couple hundred dollars off of some drawings, and commission work. They then asked me, "why not?" I have to respond that it is very difficult, and also I'm outspoken so I am not ideal for corporate work. I'm an outsider artist, and that's fine by me. I don't like doing commissions, and art is a part of my very being. I need to make these images as a way of life. It would be cool if I could live off of it, but it's not going that way. Monetary rewards may compromise my work. It wouldn't be the worst thing, but I know I would end up censoring myself. I can't do that. What would be the point of being an artist in the first place.
Art has been the called upon in times of revolution and war. Art is a way society confronts the abyss, and doesn't get sucked into despair. Art is one of the best ways to communicate complex ideas in a single glance. I accept my role as an underground maker of art. I don't know any other way to be so this is what I do. I'm an art nerd first, and I'm so many other things second. Money doesn't trump the path I signed up for. Most artists are the same way. So few of us do it with the rewards that come with recognition. We learn to love the process first, and we accept whatever will be.