Competitions are for horses / Béla Bartók Quote

I recently came across a supposed (can’t be confirmed) quote by Béla Bartók, a famous Hungarian composer and pianist: “Competitions are for horses, not artists.”

Bartók Quote

Bartók 1881-1945

This statement may or may not have come from Bartók; I could not find any reputable origins or interviews on the topic.  Regardless of its accuracy, the phrase struck a chord (no pun intended) with me.  I’ve recently been delaying the work on my latest fine art series following Slice of Life.  I think what happened was I was too hung up on what other people would think and if the series would be able to contend in more prestigious photo competitions such as the Prix de la Photographie Paris. I lost sight of why I do my work; to create something truly self-expressive for me.  Of course, we are all influenced by the world around us and it helps shape the work we do as artists.  However, I started to take the competitions as my main motivator and ignore my true muses.  A good friend of mine (also an artist) who I really respect and admire said she uses competitions to get her work out there and viewed by important people in the industry.  I think that’s a great way of looking at it.  It’s easy to get sucked into the swing of winning but when winning is all that matters you may find out that it’s a slippery slope.

Taking Sides - Lately I've had to be a bit of a mediator of sorts. Taking sides is something I really can't and don't wish to do in this case. Being with Aiofe has really helped me to listen more to others. Communication is really all about exchanging information. In order for communication to happen both sides need to listen. Communication is so important to a happy relationship and I hope as I get older that skill will just get better and better; I've experienced what happens when it doesn't.

Taking Sides – From Slice of Life Series

The Slice of Life series is drawing to a close and I only have a few more images left to finish before I start work on my newest series.  I hope to give you an update on it real soon!

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This entry was posted on Wednesday, June 15th, 2016 at 11:09 am. It is filed under Personal and tagged with , , , . You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed.

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