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The Word "Talent" and Why I Dislike it
10 years ago
General
Note: Just some of my thoughts on the word "talented". You are absolutely entitled to your own opinion, this is just my opinion.
I've disliked the word "talent" for a long time now, and I don't like to be called "talented". When you're an artist, be it visual or performing, you hear the word talented applied to you and what you do very often. Most think of it as a compliment and I'm sure a lot of artists take it as a compliment, but it irks me to think of my skills, hard-won skills that took years of meticulous practice and refinement, reduced to the product of "talent".
Talent implies that a person is born with an innate skill to succeed at certain things. It suggests that a talented person is naturally gifted and so is somehow elevated above the normal and "mediocre", and that no matter how hard that "mediocre" person does, they cannot possibly be as successful as the "talented" individual. Most of all, it completely marginalizes all the hard work, training, practice, and struggle that each artist goes through in order to succeed and improve at their craft. No one is born with the ability to paint masterpieces, and I assure you every great artist started by drawing the same scribbly doodles that every child has the ability to draw. What makes the difference between someone who becomes an artist and someone who doesn't is how passionate that person is about their art and how much time they devote to it. I can not count all the times I've heard something along the lines of..."You're so talented. I could never do that." My first thought is..."Have you tried? So you failed? Did you try again? Did you fail so many times but kept practicing until you got it right? No? Well then how do you know that you can't do what I do?"
Athletes get the same treatment, though I think to a lesser extent. People usually acknowledge that athletes have to work very hard to be successful even if the have that elusive "talent". I've tried to make the comparison between athletes and artists to get my point across that art requires practice, but most people just don't equate athleticism as being comparable to artistic ability.
So when someone calls me "talented" I consider it insulting. As if I didn't have to do anything to be as good an artist as I am. I, and I think a lot of artists, would rather be described as "hard-working" or "dedicated" or "passionate". Are there any artists out there who agree with me?
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I've disliked the word "talent" for a long time now, and I don't like to be called "talented". When you're an artist, be it visual or performing, you hear the word talented applied to you and what you do very often. Most think of it as a compliment and I'm sure a lot of artists take it as a compliment, but it irks me to think of my skills, hard-won skills that took years of meticulous practice and refinement, reduced to the product of "talent".
Talent implies that a person is born with an innate skill to succeed at certain things. It suggests that a talented person is naturally gifted and so is somehow elevated above the normal and "mediocre", and that no matter how hard that "mediocre" person does, they cannot possibly be as successful as the "talented" individual. Most of all, it completely marginalizes all the hard work, training, practice, and struggle that each artist goes through in order to succeed and improve at their craft. No one is born with the ability to paint masterpieces, and I assure you every great artist started by drawing the same scribbly doodles that every child has the ability to draw. What makes the difference between someone who becomes an artist and someone who doesn't is how passionate that person is about their art and how much time they devote to it. I can not count all the times I've heard something along the lines of..."You're so talented. I could never do that." My first thought is..."Have you tried? So you failed? Did you try again? Did you fail so many times but kept practicing until you got it right? No? Well then how do you know that you can't do what I do?"
Athletes get the same treatment, though I think to a lesser extent. People usually acknowledge that athletes have to work very hard to be successful even if the have that elusive "talent". I've tried to make the comparison between athletes and artists to get my point across that art requires practice, but most people just don't equate athleticism as being comparable to artistic ability.
So when someone calls me "talented" I consider it insulting. As if I didn't have to do anything to be as good an artist as I am. I, and I think a lot of artists, would rather be described as "hard-working" or "dedicated" or "passionate". Are there any artists out there who agree with me?
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It's more of the fact you pick it up faster and have a passion for it so you continue, rather than what happens with some (trying over and over again and again and just never improving, or just not being able to make the process 'click' in your mind somehow). I also find people use the term "talented" to mean "good at what you do" - not particularly implying that you have it easy or never had to train or struggle, but that you've managed to pick up the skills and use them in a way that improves what you're doing.
I think talent isn't so much about an heightened ability to learn, but instead it all comes down to what we find interesting or are passionate about. I love drawing, ergo I draw a lot, ergo I get better at drawing.
Thanks for commenting
What I always had a problem with growing up was not the compliment but when someone seems to have a and their recognized for a talent it's like everyone else that's working hard is forcibly faded into the background and the person that's been claimed to be 'talented' is placed on a pedestal
Excuse me? Did I wake up one morning with a pretty box in my lap? Did I just open it up and receive this amazing ability? No offense to anyone religious but I am responsible for my own achievements. I wasnt born with it and it wasnt given to me. I took it ;)
For me, my only 'talent' is mimicry and an ability to mentally pull things apart and put them back together, both of which helped when I was actually trying to learn. But when it comes to actually drawing? That is skill, muscle memory and a catalogue of mental notes and information.