On Talent and Determination

A thought occurred to me while listening to some music. Okay, it didn't just occur to me but like most ideas had been swimming around for some time and finally came to clarity. I was thinking about how it's such a disappointment when a band puts out an excellent album and then produces nothing on par with it again (in specific I am thinking of whole albums, not songs. Much easier to write a couple of good songs than it is to write a good album). My example (of course there are many) would be Cursive, though maybe not since I just looked at their discography and realized they have more albums than I knew about. Anyway, Domestica is a decent album which shows promise. Ugly Organ is a great album, and among my favorites of all time. Happy Hollow sucks and was utterly disappointing. You get the point. A pretty common story, common enough to get me thinking about why it happens (this of course applies to all things in life but music is just the example here).

What makes a good artist? Seems like there are two common paths. The first is natural talent. You are born with a proclivity to doing your art. The second is hard work. Perhaps the Gods didn't gift you with innate skill, instead you work your ass off and become skilled.

Where this two paths can end badly is pretty well established. For those born with it, success can and does often lead to distractions. They've never had to work hard to do their art well, and suddenly all this crap is thrown their way, be it groupies, money, drugs, whatever (In sports, injury can be a good example of this). Suddenly they do have to work hard just to maintain what they had been doing. Turns out hard work is hard, most end up succumbing to the distractions and their works falters.

For the hard workers, the problem is different but no less sad. To put it bluntly, there's a ceiling to their ability. Despite what many of us have been taught, not all of us are capable of the same things. So work as hard as you want, you're eventually going to max out your ability. After all, art, as with most things, is only partially about the physical skills needed to do it. There are always things that just can't be learned be it vision, aesthetics, insight, etc.

So then, how come there are great artists in all fields? Simply some people take both paths. They are gifted with the innate abilities and the drive to work hard. Distractions don't derail them. Their ceilings aren't as clear cut. They give themselves to their art and achieve greatness. Of course this isn't how artists are portrayed. The artist is often shown as a living frivolous lives, partying it up with drugs and women. While I won't deny the truth in this, what they miss is the artist devotion. They are married to their art. Only through the luck of genetics and the dedication of a devotee can an artist achieve greatness.