I think an artist is born, you can't be made into an artist, though you can make 'art' and not be an artist. What I'm trying to say if you have no idea what I'm talking about, like you do, is if you are made into an 'artist' you should be put on a seperate level from those that are born artists, because I don't think anyone can simply or complexly create a talent of that level.

1) Talent doesn't exist, that's just a way of hurting other people from what I can see. Thoughtless, subtle criminal negligence!

2) you can only pretend to be an artist because it's a useless, meaningless label. Art, as in, creativity? But could anyone ever have imagined anything that actually exists? No one could ever have possibly, POSSIBLY imagined how perfect an ant is. It can lift like a million times its weight, or whatever. And exoskeleton? Nobody could have come up with that. (I'm also an atheist.)

3) Everyone is an artist because everythought one has is drenched with everything that propels it - the real question is, are thoughts (or, 'art') propelled into an empty universe, where they'll become their own fort, or do those thoughts come from this world and seep back into it, like the sand in an hourglass?

Art will never be perfect but I think the most admirable thing to do in life is try because, as leonard cohen believed, once you get perfect you will have achieved balance. and as some greek philosopher said (might have ben socrates) we will always be searching for knowledge. as I say, once we get balance there will be some other unimaginable goal, and since we seem to seek it, then who cares about anything else? Maybe art is the transcendence of our bodies.

I CAN'T IMAGINE THAT, THOUGH.

"the gift and curse of an artist is that they can never settle for their work to be good because they would become too comfortable and nothing new would emerge. so with dissapointment comes inspiration."

the fact that no artist will step up and say that anything they've ever produced is good or acceptable to them brings up whether or not they can be called an artist. after all a person who takes up a career is the only one who can exactly say that career is. so if an artist puts out no art in his/her eyes, they can never truly be an artist to themselves but people will see it as a career path.

talent does exsist. not everyone has the ability to do the things an artist can. not everyone can sing. not everyone can draw. not everyone can paint. not everyone has the eye to pick up on a perfect photograph. not everyone can write a captivating story. those who can, posess a natural talent to do so. its not a way to cut down people. its not even that great of a thing to the people who can do it. its been the force thats drive many into insanity. its a torment of sorts to the artist because of the fact that there is a feeling of never being able to achieve their ideal piece of work. there's always something wrong, something that is better, other artists with more talent, people who will critique and question, people who will destroy their works, people who will continously misunderstand the perspective. its a frustrating thing for the artist itself and the only thing more frustrating is people who wish they had that "talent" because you think: "why would anyone want to drive themselves into insanity?"

which leads to the topic question... can an artist be made? no. you cant teach someone how to be an artist. you cant teach someone how to look at something in their own way and take a media like pencils or paint and tell them to display in any fashion how they see it and get their message across to every peer. an artist is someone who uses their work to show the world how they see something. it show what they think. it shows their character. you cant create a talent in someone, you can only perfect a pre-exsisting talent. artists are born. just like buisnessmen... just like politicians... just like someone who has a talent to debate. not everyone can put out a good arguement, not everyone can put out a good piece of artwork. its just something that a person is born knowing how to do.

the label "artist" is far from meaningless. while it may kill some, it serves as an outlet for many saving their lives and in some cases the only way they can function. people live art... they breathe it they see it they speak it they cling to it they dream of it they eat it they shit it... the beauty of art is that no one has to understand a piece to make it have value. the only person's opinion that matters is the artist's. apparently people could have imagined what exsists. all of the things we use... computers, cell phones, movies, words... someone at some point imagined these things and through that they came to exsist. we can imagine what exsists but true creativity is imagining something that doesnt exsist and bringing it to life. so our thoughts are like blueprints to a building... they may only be lines on paper but with motive and action that building will rise to stand and become the house you live in.

nothing is perfect in this world and thats not because of a lack of talent, its because everyone has their own standards and perspectives of what is perfect to them. no two people are alike in how they think... similarities exsist which is how we get statistics, but there awill always be differences. balance can be achieved, not through perfection, but through realizing you have your view of perfection and others have theirs and then bringing those two together in acceptance. i agree, when we achieve that we will strive for a step further. its only natural to progress, it's been done all throughout history.

in short: being an artist is a natural thing and whether or not they want it, artists will have their talents turn into careers. its a calling born to be a career.