***Don't Just Work, Create!

What does it mean when someone claims his or her work is art? Some people actually do make their work into an art form. In addition to competence and real talent, their accomplishments stem from their strong belief that what they do is art. Raising one’s every day work to the level of art is, as much as anything, an exercise of will.

Art takes the mundane and transforms it by infusing it with something special. To raise one’s work to a level of art means bringing to it a transcendent quality that distinguishes it from everyday work product. The standards for art are higher than the standards for mere competence or utility.

People’s ideas about what makes their work art vary. Richard Portman, one of Hollywood's best sound mixers, labors at one of the more utilitarian (certainly less glamorous) aspects of filmmaking. Yet, he sees his work as an art form, and he is an uncompromising perfectionist. He believes that when sound mixing is done right, movie viewers don't notice anything. The footsteps on the sidewalk, the cars going by, the slight rustle of leaves all blend together to make the soundtrack real. Portman's work creates the mood and tone of a film

Commerce does not determine what is and what isn’t art. There are plenty of hacks who believe they’re artists just because they’re not making money and not actively participating in a commercial system based on financial reward. There are also field goal kickers and plastic surgeons whose work, while obviously well-paid and unambiguously part of the marketplace, could be considered art.

A lot of jobs that require special skills or training require the person doing it to be much more than an employee. A degree of specialized skill and careful, consistent application to regular tasks, as well as innovation and resourcefulness, are what define the artisan. But art is something different, something entirely new.

There’s more than one way to approach work in any profession. Some workers are meticulous and unerring in the day-to-day stuff--which is quite valuable. Some are quick and accurate; others are quick and less than accurate; and others work slowly and see the task as something that simply must get done. Yet, there will always be a select few who are unusually deliberate and approach their work as an art form

What a barren place the world would be without artists. For those who have managed to take their work to a level beyond the mundane, the standards are exceedingly high, but their work proves by example that something bigger and better exists.