Big Think Interview with Milton Glaser

http://bigthink.com/videos/big-think-interview-with-milton-glaser
Quotes from video interview

'The nice thing about a career in the visual arts is there is an accurate record of what you once thought about the world and how you perceived it.'

• This implies that the work you produce is a reflection of your own thoughts. 
• Is this truly relevant in the field of design when you are working for clients or a cause whose beliefs and view of the world differs from your own?
• Does this, in turn, imply that creatives should only work for cause and along with beliefs that match their own?

'...one hopes that the change is to become broader, deeper and simpler and more compelling.'

• Speaking about the change and evolution of your perception of the world, as mentioned before, Glaser suggests that it becomes more enriched over time.
• It suggests that there is a learning process so maybe at the beginning of your creative career you need to work alongside various viewpoints to decide which ones truly fit in with you. 

(speaking about the progression of his own practice) 'more effective in communicating ideas in a way where they remain potent.'

'less involved with issues of style and more involved with issues of clarity and effectiveness.'

• Again, it is a process of learning and growing. 
• The second quote implies that it becomes more important for the work to fulfil its purpose and less about what it actually looks like. (Links to Lawrence Zeegen quotes from 'Where is the content? Where is the comment?' in my proposal.)

'Everybody wants to be an artist because in terms of status there almost nothing better you can be.'

• I am intrigued by the concept of status around art and design. Some designers would say the status is low whereas others, like Glaser, disagrees. Is this social status? Or is it the power they have to change things?

'Art at its fullest capacity makes us attentive.'

'...beauty, which is very often something we confuse with art, is merely a mechanism to move us towards attentiveness.'

• I love this first quote, it really gets across the idea that art can make people pay attention and listen. Surely this itself tells us that art does have the power to make a change, and in turn, there must be a responsibility that comes with this for creatives to do the right thing. 
• Glaser describes beauty as coming secondary to the art itself but shows that it is still important. I can see links here to Zeegen's 'eye candy' quote which shuns work that has nothing more to offer than just beauty. 

'The art world is concerned primarily with money and status ... that is not the standard way which people really interested in art would judge art.'

• When hearing Glaser say this I immediately thought of gallery culture but have been thinking now about how this can relate to commercial artwork. People who design and create for a living need to be concerned with money to earn enough to live. However, is status really necessary. 
• Its hard to find the balance between creating 'good' work and also running a viable business. 

'...it is also a real exploitation of the innocent, people are so desperate to find a way of becoming visible that you can get anybody to work for nothing.'

'You wouldn't go into a butchers shop and ask for a pound of steak without anticipating that you would have to pay for it.'

• This basically says you are being exploited if you work for free.
• Is it fair to say that a creative practice is a business and whatever that business produces deserves payment? Is this always true? Is it every ok to work for free?

'People spend their entire life trying to learn how to draw ... and then finally you learn that you can represent what is in front of you accurately, at the same time you learn that is not the point, that is only the beginning of the real point which is how to engage what is real.'

• This links to the previous quote about beauty. Visuals come secondary to the concept and purpose of the work.  

'Simply don't get stuck in your own belief system. Continue to understand the issues not about style or whats going on at the moment but things can be deeper, more profound and more influential and you can't stop working.'

• Is it ok to turn down work because it doesn't fit in with what you believe?
• I think this quote might be suggesting that you can learn new things and broaden your views if you step into the unknown. Maybe being too caught up in your won beliefs and opinions is how you 'get stuck'. 

I found watching this interview really interesting and here I have written about the quotes I picked out that are relevant to the topics I am reading around at the moment. However, Glaser has so much to say about so many interesting topics relevant to the creative industry and I definitely feel that I would benefit from listening to or reading more of his material.