"People on the internet are jerks and they're going to say mean things because it's really hard living in your moms basement playing Everquest and Halo all day after getting fired from Wal Mart two years ago"
Oh? I don't live in my mom's basement. I don't play Everquest and Halo, or anything else. I have never worked at Wal Mart and I have never been fired. So take another guess.
"I don't care if he calls it "art" or not. Anyone who would spend their time making stuff like that, especially in that quantity...There's something deeply wrong with them."
And you think it matters whether you care or not? It is art, whether you care or not, or whether you agree or not. Also, even if you dislike the artist's choice of subject, he is very talented and skillful at his job, and he supports his family with it. That's good enough for me. He could be doing things that are really sick, like filming children being raped.
"Why is it the people who aren't artists always the ones so loudly criticizing art? What is and isn't art. What is and isn't proper. What is and isn't normal.
The average person is an idiot and not qualified to give an opinion about anything. They should just keep their mouth shut until they bother getting an education."
I'm an artist and not bad at it either, and I have expressed my opinion on what is art and what is not, and I stand by it.
99% of scrapbooking is not art.
Dusting bodily fluids with colored powder is not art.
Trashing public transportation is not art.
99% of graffiti is not art.
Pretending to be psychotic is not art.
A toilet seat is not art, even when you sign it, and a museum is stupid enough to buy and exhibit it,
and neither is an armchair cats have used as scratching pole.
Making photocopies of someone else's art and coloring it is not art either.
Perhaps it is because I'm jealous of how some people can be so insolent and get away with it, while I actually put time and effort to produce things and get nowhere.
"She seems like a bit like a bored, possibly talentless person herself who could't find anything better to do than pick on other people."
LOL Yeah... well, she isn't.
"people who rip you down... ...are defining themselves as people who need to be mean and critical, they are not defining you."
Actually, no-one was ripping HER down. People were expressing their opinion on an object, a thing, with no feelings, my dear, an inanimate object, one of many the artisan had made.
They weren't defining themselves, YOU do that. You really cannot define a person by a couple of words said on the internet, how ever hurtful the words are. Most of the people commenting items at Regretsy are hard-working artisans themselves, who actually help others frequently, and that's more than can be said of the majority of the people at Etsy.
And - what if what I do IS crap? There IS something called beauty and good taste, and even though we might disagree on what is beautiful and what is of good taste, most people agree on these things most of the time. I mean, even the "artists" who make art by squirting paint from the different cavities of their bodies, or by smashing the museum floor and walls in, or kill animals and so on, they do understand that what they are doing is not beautiful nor of good taste.
And, sure, even if I were a crappy artist, that doesn't define me. It defines my artistry, and I should be prepared to accept that I'm a crappy artist. Also, not everyone in the world is going to like what I do, how ever good I am at what I do.
"The only part that's unexcuseable are the nasty comments that try to hurt our businesses or sabotage our hard work. Some of the comments were slander and you could tell they were meant to be mean!"
How can people's opinion, how ever rudely and nastily expressed, hurt your business or sabotage your work?
Opinion is not slander, neither is truth.
"some people have so much *PLECK* inside them, they have to jump at every opportunity to let some out"
"small minded ppl band together to form a force that "can" hurt."
Small minded? It's small minded to call a turd a turd?
"Yes, regretsy is a mean, snarky place. If you let their meanness get to you, they've won. Just consider the source, try not to let the opinions of a few people who don't even know you get to you, and enjoy the extra shop exposure. If you do that, then you win."
Unless you are a reseller or pushing real crap, then you will get flagged, not your stuff sold, with the exposure at Regretsy. And as we are not out there to push people down, crash their fragile dreams and kill their shops, we all win, if you actually take it as it is and enjoy the sells, if you are selling something worth selling.
"The real joke is on Regretsy, and the commentators. They'll bash something time and again, but more often than not, that item sells."
Yeah... again, the real joke WOULD be on Regretsy, IF we tried to see no-one ever bought the items.
"I find internet bullying of this sort abhorent. who you are and your talent has nothing to do with the comments of these miserable creatures."
Miserable bullies... Isn't that rather harsh thing to say about people you know nothing about? Internet bullying is not when a thing you have made is being criticised, how ever harshly, meanly, hurtfully, even unfairly.
"a few random people on the other side of a computer have nothing better to do than be a-holes for no reason at all."
"people are asshats wherever you go and don't stop making your art. Eff the petty small minded bored losers who have nothing better to do"
"people that have nothing better to do with their lives than to hang out on a website talking smack about someone else's art are the ugly ones. Apparently the only way they can feel good about themselves is to tear others down, really immmature behavior. "
I do a lot of things in my life than hang out on a website talking smack about someone else's "art".
Frankly, I don't think Chinese resellers are the poor victims of the wicked us, I think it's the other way around, and I'm pretty sure you would agree, if you stopped to think about it. I also don't think people who steal someone else's work and then sell it as their own, are worth any kind feelings or words.
Also, if you take deserved critique as "tearing you down", I think you might need to grow up a little. Sometimes things look bad, even when they were made with all good efforts, and it should be okay to say so, and not need to call turd chocolate, so as not to hurt anyone's feelings.
Frankly, I don't express my opinion to feel good about myself. In the case of Regretsy, I express my opinion because I'm offended, upset, sad, angry, abhorred, disgusted or confounded.
Considering a well made and pretty object, that unfortunately look as if it was made of crap, I don't think it was Regretsy-worthy either, so there were no feelings and no opinion either. I just jumped over it and moved on to the next item. You see, I don't hang out on the website, I visit it like 1-2 times a month, and read it in chunks.
"people with nothing better to do than type out (un)witty comments criticize others who are at least trying to be creative and unique."
Yeah... trying to be creative and unique is the universal excuse to produce crap and waste the resources.
Try not. Do or do not. There is no try.
Either you are creative or not. You are creative if you create something.
Just putting two things together to make a third thing is not itself creating.
Assembling IKEA furniture is not creating.
It has to evolve from your thought, your imagination, and the work created must be art or an invention, a work of beauty or insight.
The first person who attached a chain on a metal octopus created something. The nth person doing exactly the same thing, especially, if she does it the nth time, is not creative. That's copying and mass-producing. There is no element of creation involved, nor design, not even a thought or imagination.
It is definitely NOT unique, not even TRYING TO BE. It's trying to earn some money by copying someone who succeeded. It's not original, not creative and not something that warrants you immunity against your peers negative comments - because we are your peers.
"never mind those miserable cunts. theyre just mad because the have huge saggy vaginas. "
Oh? Hysterical, perhaps?
"what kind of person has the time to sit online and search for items to post on regretsy anyway? someone with a bit too much time on their hands."
Oh... I better stop looking at items at Etsy, then. Now, I have been adding tons of things to my favorites, and wasting my time in making treasuries, but it takes the same amount of time as looking for crappy things, and just as fruitful - to me... so I must have too much time on my hands as well.
"I'm not buying the theory that it's perfectly ok - and should be expected - to viciously comment on another's work. It's not ok. It's not funny."
I think you have misunderstood the theory a little.
Firstly, you WILL get your work criticised, commented, talked, and sometimes this is harsh, rude, hurtful. This is reality, and expecting anything else is living in a fantasy fairyland where unicorns poo sweetly smelling rainbows. You should realize and accept that not everyone is going to like your work, and not everyone is going to express their dislike in a polite and proper manner. Shit happens, and one has to accept that it does happen. Sure, it is hurtful, sure, you are going to cry over it, but it doesn't change the fact that shit happens. Sure, it shouldn't happen, of course the world would be a better place if it didn't happen, but it does happen.
Secondly, people have the right to hold any opinions, and alse express them, the way they choose. They also have the right to take the consequences as well, and that means the people who express their opinions on-line will be called rude, mean bullies, miserable people with no lives and nothing better to do but be mean and so on and so forth. But is that in any way kinder or more appropriate, acceptable, correct or polite as sarcastic, even mean comments about someone's work? Now, if someone has actually worked on the piece, created something, given something from inside oneself into the piece, then I can understand people get hurt, but come on! Most people who get their "work" criticised, laughed at, mocked, frowned upon or abhored, haven't even tried. Some of them were very well aware of the possible negative reactions of people.
And, yes, sometimes mean is funny. It is not considerate nor kind to laugh when people are getting hurt, whether it is AFV or Regretsy, but it is funny, if you laugh.
"Now I have no problem with one individual going 'oh man, that's bad crafting' in private, to themself. I have a problem with an individual posting the bad crafts for hundreds of others to ridicule at once--and write the meanest things they can think of, pass judgement on the seller, harass them...."
Er... it is very rarely the seller is being passed judgement on, and never harassed. Nevertheless, there is an easy solution to your problem. Avoid sites like that. People are different. Some people go to Cute Overload, others to Cakewrecks to find some entertainment.
I expect people who are selling things they make, whether it is on Etsy, in a bakery or elsewhere, to be adults. It means, that they should know that sometimes someone says something that is not nice to hear. They should be old enough to have created a strategy to deal with the feelings born of the hurtful words. They should know that for every person who doesn't like what I do, there are others who do. Can't please everyone, and shouldn't try either. No, it's not nice, but it's life, it happens, shrug it off, move on.
I expect people who are selling things they make to be professional artisans and artists, like I am. It means that I understand sometimes things don't work out as I thought they would, accidents happen, and so on, but I should at least do my best and not accept anything less. If I know I'm not very good at something - and I should know, if I am an adult artisan - I also know that someone is going to notice it and also say it.
I should know I cannot ask the same prize and reputation for a beginner's work, as I could for a master's work. All crafters are not equal.
I also shouldn't try to sell something most people can make themselves as well - or better.
I am pretty demanding customer, because I can do most things myself, and I can do them better than most. I am also interested in many things, so I know quite a bit about the things I'm interested in buying, so I have a pretty good grasp on what is original, creative and unique and what is not. I'm an artist and an artisan, and I know how hard it is to earn a living in this field. I find it offensive that there are people out there "trying to be creative and unique" by copying what I do, and because they don't need to use time to actually BEING creative and unique, they can steal my market and thus my livelihood. Then there are hundreds of people who act as if I were the bad guy, and defend these little thieves, when I try to get a release of at least some of the frustration, anger and resentment. I do it by getting mean, like a lot of other people.
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