Signature Assignment:

Argument Analysis on
The Financial Feasibility of an Artistic
Career
Ashley Westover
Dr. Jane Drexler
Fall 2014

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Financial Feasibility of an Artistic Career

In The New York Times Room for Debate, The Cost of Being an Artist
considers whether it has become too expensive to become an artist, with the cost of
housing and health care on the rise. Paddy Johnson, executive director of Art F City, a
blog, and an art critic for The L Magazine argues that artists are continually exploited
for their work. Artists will create art because its who they are. However, society and big
business are handicapping the artist way of life. Johnsons argument is deductive in
that she utilizes examples to demonstrate her reasoning, and thus, draws her
conclusion: artists should not be exploited, but paid.
Issue: With soaring housing and health care costs, has it become too expensive to
pursue the arts in the U.S.?
Conclusion: Yes, it has become too expensive to become an artist in the United States.
Burden of Proof: Paddy Johnson Burden of Proof lies with the person making the
claim.
Premises:
1. Artists ideas are exploited.
SP1: They support other industries within the city.
SP1: They make the city a more desirable place to live.
SP2: They make the city a more desirable place to visit.
2. Artists labor is exploited.
SP1: There are no federal, state, or municipal fee mandates.

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SP2: Artists must work nonprofits.
SP1: Some artists seek unemployment.
SP1: Whitney Biennial artist Dawn Kasper must seek
unemployment.
SP1: Kasper has a Masters Degree in Fine Arts.
SP1: Kasper must still pay off her student loans.
SP1: Kaspers degree is more of a liability.
SP2: Kaspers degree is less of an asset.
SP2: Some artists must seek low-paying grants.
3. Artists endure a subsidized quality of life.
SP1: Artists simply learn to do without.
4. Artists are being forced out of their workspaces.
SP1: Developers increase rent beyond the means capable of artists.
SP1: Developers knowingly solicit artists to workspaces.
SP2: Industry City, Brooklyn, increased rent by 50%.
SP1: Industry City needed to make room for displaced artists
of Hurricane Sandy exhibit.
Relevance: Premises are relevant to the conclusion, as they lead appropriately to it.
Hidden Premises/Assumptions: None.

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Diagramming the Argument:
Pursuing an artistic
career is too
expensive in the U.S.

Artists ideas
are exploited.

Artists labor is
exploited.

Support of
other
industries

More
desirable
to live

No fee
mandates

More
desirable
to visit

Artists are being

forced out of their
workspaces.

Learn to
do
without

Infeasible
rent

Must
work
nonprofits

Seek
unemploy
-ment.

Seek lowpaying
grants

Artist,
Dawn
Kasper

Knowingly
solicit to
artists

Industry City,
50% increase
in rent

Hurricane
Sandy exhibit
for displaced
artists

Masters
Degree in
Fine Arts
Pay off student
loans for
degree

More of a
liability

Artists endure a
subsidized
quality of life.

Less of an
asset

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Fallacious Response:
Dear Paddy So-and-So:
So you write for a magazine big whoop! Are you an artist? Do you realize that
they waste away their time drawing boxes and calling it art? Please, you look at art and
negate whether you think it has merit. All art is ridiculous and youre just out to make a
buck by putting in your two cents. You say that being an artist is who they are, yet you
neglect to realize that all artists are drunken hobos that live on the street, making art
out of empty beer cans and dog excrement. And you want to pay those no-good hobos
for the crap they create? Mandating artists fees is like paying a drunkard to get drunk
youre simply supporting a bad habit. If we were to mandate artist fees, why not just
pay the homeless for trash? Or how about paying for their rotten habits of addiction?
Lets set them up in mansions or on the hundredth floor of brand new high-rise
apartments in the city, and foot the bill to the honest tax-paying citizens of the red,
white, and blue! Oh, but wait! You must really be saying, We could de-clutter our
streets of all the trash! In which case: here, here! Damn the artist trash and the trash
they create!
Lets get those damn artists off the streets and out of the grand ol United States of
America!
Cordially yours,
The Fallacious Fool

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Fallacious Analysis: In my fallacious response, I include the following fallacies: Ad
Hominem Bias, Stereotyping, False Analogy, Slippery Slope, and Equivocation. Ad
Hominem Bias calls out the arguer due to a bias the arguer may have, such as Paddy
So-and-So out to make a buck. All artists are being stereotyped into drunken hobos
living on the street. A False Analogy is created when two concepts are being compared,
yet are not alike in relevant ways, such as mandating artists fees and paying a drunkard
to get drunk. A Slippery Slope takes one concept and builds it up into a far larger and
outrageous notion, much like paying an artist would lead to a rich and luxurious
lifestyle, paid for by the state. Equivocation utilizes one word and flips the meaning to
something else entirely, as trash refers to both a derelict human being and garbage.
Fair Response:
Dear Paddy Johnson:
First, I must certainly agree that artists suffer through exploitation of labor and
ideas, as well as their lower quality of life. While I am not so educated on whether or not
they have been forced from their workspaces, your arguments and examples have
convinced me. I understand that the forces of artistic genius generate and stimulate the
city within which they reside. I also understand that ultimately, it is difficult for artists
to maintain their expenses due to their lack of income.
While I do agree that artists often live the starved artist lifestyle to support their
work, I also find that these premises are not the only ones to consider in such an
argument. Society in general has an overabundance of artists. Therefore, it is simple
economics increased supply leads to decreased demand.

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However, I agree that it is nearly impossible for artists to thrive in todays society.
It is natural for an artist to create art. However, each artist also understands the income
issues and typically finds alternatives to supplement essentially their day job.
Furthermore, knowing the financial strife of an artist, I cant condone a formal
education within the arts. There may be apprenticeships or classes here and there, for
which I encourage the pursuance. Yet, a Masters Degree in the Fine Arts is rather
excessive. We must accommodate our lifestyle and set of skills to lead a fully functional
life.
Ultimately, art is a release of human emotion and in such a way an artist can
communicate with their viewers. I cant help but wonder: wouldnt you want to keep it
that way as a release? Having had a 9-5 artistic job, I know how difficult it can be.
Some days the creative juices simply dont flow. Overall, I love the experience, yet found
that I must pursue other courses in order preserve the sanctity of the art to maintain
the sigh of relief one feels when creating art.
Moreover, we must consider financial strife as a motivator for an artist. The
starving artist is a romantic ideal to which many artists flock to. While yes, I concede
that your arguments are convincing, in essence though, an artists financial instability
often spawns the creativity needed to endure an artists life. Therefore, we must also
consider povertys appropriate place among artists.
Sincerely,
A Starving Artist

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Reflection: I struggled to create an argument that made an impact. I feel I chose a
topic too close to home for me and therefore, came across as biased. Ultimately, I tore
down the argument due to the fact that I didnt agree with the conclusion. In essence, I
did, yet I find it to be beneficial to the life of an artist. I also struggled because I agreed
mostly with her statements, yet I did not feel that her premises offered enough to
uphold her conclusion. The premises I chose to strengthen her conclusion still did not
seem to do it the justice I feel it deserved. I found that most reasons were relevant due to
the subjective topic of the arts, which in retrospect made this far more difficult than I
had previously assumed. However, I am confident with the added premises and my
ultimate conclusion, that I might persuade Paddy Johnson to reconsider her premises
and therefore, strengthen her argument due to my considerations.