Delusional or not, I decided it's important to reclaim the word 'artist' from artists as we were sat outside a gallery last Sunday. "It's like the term 'working-class'", I said. "There was a ridiculous period when 'everyone' disowned the term 'working-class' because they were frightened of being associated with commonly held misrepresentations of the working-classes, ie, the worst." Perhaps they still do, after all, it's the thing to be aspirational and give the impression that you're really trying to 'get on in the world', in other words, own bigger, better things and more of them.
I read an artist saying he was embarrassed by the description. Sorry, I can't recall who it was. I knew what he meant. But now, just as I unashamedly declare I am working-class, I also say I am an artist. Without knowing what I do, people will already imagine many possibilities, just as they might should someone tell them they are a Jazz musician. As you know, that could mean she plays anything from Trad to Modal or 'Free'.
In saying I am working-class I would hope to demolish a few preconceptions. Perhaps in claiming the word 'artist' I may do the same.
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