What makes an artist? When you ask different people, you’ll get a variety of answers, ranging from the straightforward (“someone who makes art”) to the profound (“someone who constantly educates themselves about art and the world). But for Filipino artist Marius Black, it’s all about how often you make art.

Marius Black’s post

In a viral Facebook post, Filipino artist Marius Black claimed that if you haven’t made art in two weeks, “you aren’t an artist.” He follows this up with another post, asking “If you don’t make art, are you still an artist? Maybe it’s time to accept you aren’t and not waste time to pursue”.

The art community protests

Many artists and even non-artists disagreed with the content of his posts. They point out a lot of reasons why artists take breaks from creating art, including:

• putting food on the table
• working day jobs
• experiencing burnout
• mental issues
• etc.

They also added how not everyone is as privileged as others, so it’s unfair to put pressure on artists to create when they’re worrying about their everyday survival.

Simula nung lumabas yung hanash ni Marius Black parang malaking kasalanan ang hindi pag art kahit isang araw. Yung epekto ng trash mo di mo naisip. Sobra na yung pressure na binabato ni universe. Dumagdag ka pa. Sana di mo maranasan yung depression para di mo to maramdaman.

— NASTYFEAT at Art to Cart Oct 14-15 (@nastyfeat_) August 24, 2023

Motivational message gone wrong?

A few, however, tried to explain what Marius Black meant, musing that he probably wanted to encourage others to start making art again and get out of their slump. Another also pointed out that the post was worded this way to create clout.

PSA: Consuming art is part of the artistic process

Another added that the long period where they don’t make art is spent coming up with ideas and consuming other people’s art. Here, Marius agreed that conceptualizing is part of the artistic process, which is part of the time you spend making art. But another netizen chimed in: “kami lang pala makaka-alam kung artist kami. Eh sino ka para magsabi kung sino ang artist at hindi?”

Some also shared their definition of what an artist is. One commenter said it’s an artist’s mind and not the physical act of creating artwork.

And in true Pinoy fashion, artists also responded with memes, including this hilarious comic from @indiokomiks:

sorry na Marius Black pls don’t revoke my artist identity 😭 pic.twitter.com/nSzUjdWjFS

— Indio ✍️ #KomiketU7 (@indiokomiks) August 23, 2023

But in all seriousness, while freedom of expression allows people to have their own opinions, sometimes there are some opinions that you best keep to yourself, especially when it’s this controversial. This is not the Miss Universe pageant. Art is fluid, and everyone creates depending on the best pace that fits them. So maybe everyone can just focus on their art, support other artists, and let artists make their art at their own pace.

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