Sell out, cash in? The artist’s dilemma

The phrase ‘selling out’ implies compromising your creative or ethical freedom for a safer job, more prestige, or more money. It isn’t necessarily as bad as it might seem, and most art and design graduates are likely to make the judgement that it’s a lot better than not being able to continue to produce creative work at all.

It’s all complicated by the fact that there are two different views of selling out; external and internal; public and personal.

Public perceptions

Johnny Rotten’s Country Life butter commercial first appeared on 1 October 2008. The endorsement was seen as a distinct divergence from the anti-consumerist tendencies commonly linked to punk culture.

In the world of art and design the phrase ‘selling out’ has negative connotations and is commonly used to stigmatise those who gain success or notoriety by using unconventional methods. A good example is Damien Hirst. His ‘Beautiful Inside My Head Forever’ auction smashed records for the most money ever raised from a show, but received criticism for the fact that it bypassed galleries altogether.

Fortunately, this kind of condemnation is something that few recent art and design graduates are likely to encounter, and if they do meet some magnitude of public condemnation, it is actually relatively easy to ignore. Neither Damien Hirst nor Johnny Rotten have felt the need to prove they are ‘for real’.

Personal perceptions

The personal perception is what will really affect you. Art and design is a hard sector to break in to, and many will find that they have to set their idealism aside in order just to get a job. Temporary jobs can lead to frustration and guilt, especially if they become long-term rather than short-term measures.

Some degree of work-for-money compromise is necessary for those who intend to build a career in art and design. For those who aren’t artistic prodigies it will be hard to make a living from selling their art when starting out. Sideways routes include teaching, advertising and other career paths that might seem less than ideal. Francis Bacon earned his living for a time as an interior decorator and designer of furniture and rugs.

It may be that you go on to do something completely different. You might even find that your day job feeds into your night job. Being an artist or designer does not mean you have to use just one medium. Ultimately, most people know roughly where their own willingness to compromise ends. The decision of whether to cross that line or bail out rests in your own hands.

Why you should sell out

There are a number of reasons why this is actually a perfectly reasonable route to take.

1. Making ends meet. Keeping yourself in the manner to which you have become accustomed is a perfectly legitimate reason to sell out. After all, in hunter-gatherer terms, ‘survival’ ranks higher than ‘cultural endeavour’.
2. Job security. This is very similar to making ends meet, but it also has some influence over how stressed you are. Danger and excitement is all very well, but living in day-to-day fear that your position might be axed is not a positive existence.
3. Making a name for yourself. Director Darren Walsh may not be the most famous name in television. Nevertheless he has won many accolades for his popular ‘compare the meerkat’ adverts, and has since started working on his first feature. Jobs in advertising are not for everyone, but they can be a route through the mire for those with the creative spark.
4. Continuing to exist. Sometimes selling out is the only way to stay in the business. It can come down to either changing your policy or going to work in an unrelated dead-end job. In those sorts of situations ‘selling out’ can be the lesser of two evils.

How to do it

1. Get over your self disgust quickly. As we have already established, you have justifiable reasons for your actions, and nothing to gain from regretting them. If you want to capitalise on your decision, be prepared to start working right away.
2. Don’t be half–hearted. In a tough employment market, even non-graduate jobs can be competitive, and no recruiter wants an employee who is reluctant to work for them. If you want the job, you are going to have to compete for it like everyone else.
3. Don’t give up the ‘night job’. Keep a notebook, a sketchbook or a camera to record ideas, so you can get to work on them when you go home. Stay in touch with your course-mates and other friends within the artistic community too.

Keep on going

For art and design students, the road to full-time employment that builds on what they learned in their degree courses can be difficult. A lot of people want to study art and design at degree level, but unfortunately, the competition for work in these fields is exceptionally tough. Determination and patience are crucial if you want to get there in the end.