Nice to meet you. I'm currently studying art at a university (focusing on research and production, not creation). The university professor says artists are needed in society, but I don't think so at all. I believe what's truly needed isn't artists, but the ability to think deeply about things, the relationship between oneself and others, and how to survive within the environment surrounding Japanese art. However, students around me who are focused on creation stop thinking, believing that 'it's enough to become an artist.'
Professor Sakamoto, do you have any conditions for being an artist? And do you think art and artists are necessary for society going forward?
I look forward to your reply.


Go your own way, regardless of societal needs.

Art is not necessary for society; it is superfluous.
Therefore, trying to become an artist that society needs is the height of folly.
Artists must be outsiders, and one becomes an artist because one wants to, not because society has any need for it.
Art is used for ecology, to alleviate poverty... but there's no more absurd notion. I believe that's brainwashing through art and music, and that art should not be used as propaganda.

I recently read the book "Sade, Goya, Mozart" (by Gwy Salles, translated by Kei Takahashi, Hayakawa Publishing) and realized that these three men were alive during the storming of the Bastille on July 14, 1789, though in different places.

Until the collapse of the monarchy and the old regime during the French Revolution, art forms like music and painting developed under the patronage of the powers that be – the church, royalty, and nobility, essentially the wealthy. This continued through the bourgeoisie and, while transforming into modern corporations and paying consumers, persists to this day.

In other words, for a long period, up to the absolute monarchy, 'craftsman' and 'artist' had the same meaning; they were employed by the wealthy, and no one questioned it. The idea of 'doing something for art' is very recent, only emerging around the time of the French Revolution as society began to change.

Paradoxically, art only flourishes where there is wealth.
Therefore, go your own way, regardless of societal needs.
There are no conditions for being an artist, and the very idea of studying art at school is fundamentally flawed from the start.