This one is an extended note for all artists, lovers of art, and myself. Fair warning it gets a lil rambly but that’s what you signed up for!!
I don’t often post detailed explanations of my personal artistic intent or subject matter for each work. Sometimes no such grand intention exists. However, that is quite rare lately and there are usually layers upon layers of intense thought, experience, research, contemplation, emotion, intuition, and practice naturally imbued into every work. Each piece has great subjective meaning. Even if I am simply playing, that is pretty damn grand. Word to my guy Rick.
Yet I find myself conflicted when it comes to dissecting and revealing the layers - not because I imagine myself as a mysterious, conceptually elusive artist figure… and not because I don’t want to say what I feel…
Plainly, I feel a bit stifled by social media (who doesn’t, but allow me to explain). It seems that for people to enjoy an image nowadays, they need to imagine some artistic intent behind it. A compelling story is best, particularly one involving a pertinent social issue. A lukewarm narrative works just fine too. Any derivative of a marketing strategy really. Aaaand in the age of social media, you are encouraged to share every last detail behind each brushstroke. Your process, your personal history, political alignment, what you had for breakfast, and what color your enlightened shite was. All of this, of course, is what makes creating such a vitally special act - the weaving of meaning from the mundane - a transposition of your soul as you find it - the trail of your ordinary but unique goop.
However, if I write a lengthy blurby blob caption to tell you every single thing about my goop and what it means to me and why it’s special blableh blimey blah..
Does that diminish or enhance the experience of the viewer? Does it broaden or narrow their perception? Does it allow for new revelation?
Even worse, what if I make some of the blurby blobs up? Not intentionally of course, but even the old fisherman by the dock embellishes his stories— we naturally succumb to egoic tendencies, and the online environment exacerbates this dynamic tenfold.
Social media exposes us to a MASSIVE number of incredible artists, some more talented than I could ever imagine. If one is viewing it from a competitive standpoint, it is fierce. In order to survive, you need to stand out. In order to stand out, you need that riveting story, that defining characteristic, a HOOK. At least that’s how it can feel as a little human pigment pusher in the endless metaverse.
Ergo, artists dedicate themselves to analyzing their own works, penning eloquent prose-ntations as captions, and EXPLAINING a lot. When I read them, it kinda feels like I am drowning in bullshit. I too, am guilty of contributing to this digital cesspool. In fact, that is definitely what I am doing right now but I already spent a lot of time trying to make this article work so… shall we?
In the words of Alex Gray: “If we could understand and clearly define everything about art, it would cease to be art.“ Perhaps it is along these lines that one may prefer to leave some aspects up to interpretation.
The most powerful works I have encountered needed no introductions. It was only afterward I would find out they were Picasso, Cezanne, Kandinsky, Bacon, Monet, Rodin, etc. (granted I also had the blissful ignorance of a virgin when I discovered art as a 22-year-old manchild). While context can often enrich a work, the instant illuminations, the satori-like experiences that are possible through art— these occur far beyond any literary knowledge.
“People should look at the work itself and determine its meaning to them.”
-Clifford Still
One can find rebuttals in favor of social media and the empowerment of global art, but it is evident to me that the sacred scales are properly f*cked. The forces of monetization and commodification have grown to dominate the landscapes of the art world, and art is suffering as a result while dwindling in cultural relevance.
When content is king, even titles can become like loudspeakers drowning out the essence of the work, reducing it to a bite-sized nugget of digestible merchandise.
A commercially palatable commodity infused with bullshit meaning.
The perfect package is tied together by a curated personality that has been consistently captured and presented in well-written captions. Sheesh!
"There is more power in telling little than telling all.” -Mark Rothko
Despite this, I acknowledge that the process outlined above is almost a necessity for being able to reach people. It is up to each of us to determine the extent we wish to engage with the machine. I begrudgingly participate but it feels nearly impossible to be authentic and effective in the space. Butt, I’m still a human. I want people to see my work and have an experience with it and possibly even be nudged in the right direction, guided inwards, the way I was by my favorite artists. I remind myself to return to a basic truth that applies to everyone:
“I won’t find myself in the eyes of others”
We mustn’t needlessly prostrate ourselves at the feet of our digital overlord Kim Jong Algo in hopes of maximizing reach. It can be so stressful and frustrating lol. We mustn’t fall for the trap.
The name of our beautiful reward is not ‘profit’
Its name is ‘freedom’
-Ursula K LeGuin
To alter the holy process, the creation of your soul, in hopes of being perceived by others is a riotous failure of faith, a groveling misunderstanding.
A dirty cheapening.
A transformation, a spiritual stoning, a stripping of meaning, a commodification of your only existence, a burning reduction, executed for others, carried out by your own hand, a fatal fatal mistake.
What is the goal of life? To create yourself a soul
-Jodorowsky
And yet, here I am, trudging along, collecting dopamine, memes, and depression. Well shit. Perhaps I should abandon any hope of authentically communicating my ideas and art and connecting with viewers on such a banal, trivial platform?? In any case, I still think you ought to bring your own brain and imagination to the work as the viewer. and artists ought to stop conjuring up marketable profundities to spoon-feed to the masses via social media. Is that too much to ask?
I am simply your humble hypocrite. There are definitely more succinct and thorough examinations of the power of context, social media, and influence in relation to modern art and the role of the viewer, but thank you for reading this thing that is somewhere between critical thinking and a cynical rant.
and never forget…
go get ‘em kid
and a note from the author:
Thank you for reading Playground. Feel free to send this column to like-minds. Follow me on the hell app. And of course, consider a paid subscription below.
Cheers,
W