Art for Oneself

One topic that has always been interesting for me is whether or not artists make art for themselves or the viewer. Is it possible to make art specifically for oneself? The answer usually seems obvious, but the more you thing about it the less obvious it becomes. I've always been kind of back and forth on this so perhaps with this blog I can clear things up for myself.

The most obvious answer would be to say yes, you can make art for yourself. You often hear stories of reclusive artists who shut themselves up and make art that they never show anyone. The art is never found until after the artist has died. This may seem like they are making art for themselves, but one could argue that the art is still being made to be seen by others. Through the artist's death the art becomes available, probably even more so than it would if the artist tried to show it while they were living.

When thinking about it more personally, I thought that I made art that I never intended for anyone to see. I often fill up notebooks full of sketches and doodles done at work or school when I'm by myself. The more I think about it, however, I think that at some point in time they were seen by someone else. Whether a person happened to see me when I was drawing it or someone stumbled upon it later, they have been seen one way or another.

The only way I can think that art could be made for oneself would be to create something and completely destroy it. If the artist themselves were the only person to see it and then all traces of the artwork's existence are completely removed then I think one could argue that the art was being made for the artist. This brings up another argument. If the art is made and nobody sees it, is it really art?