This week I have been participating in the “art challenge” thrown down on Facebook. I don’t know where these things come from, (likewise memes, where are they born? who runs the meme factory?) but this one seems to have started in the illustrator community and crossed over into the artist world that is my social media life. Unlike the chain letter of old in which a tattered mimeograph threatened karmic harm and financial ruin if you didn’t pass it along with five dollars to the next person, this benign version simply asks that you post three images for five days in a row, each time tagging a new artist. In the currency of the chain letter, five dollars is worth approximately one ‘like’, as one ‘like’ can, if you are fortunate accrue interest and become forty, and perhaps even lead to a comment. Which of course will not buy you a cup of coffee.
Putting aside for the moment the riddle of how Facebook can manufacture actual dollars for an artist, I’d like to focus on the other currency, what you could call the stocks and bonds, or perhaps more accurately the less tangible stock options of love and encouragement. This treasure can be rare in the cut-throat world in which the creative class competes to make an increasingly scarce living. Artists compete for grants, for galleries, for sales, and for awards. An artist can work alone in the studio for weeks or months – or even years – and hear absolutely nothing back. In this void, creative encouragement, community and inspiration are vital. Although the common perception is that Facebook encourages lifestyle competition, envy and general bitchery I have found the exact opposite to be true. My Facebook is a stream of extraordinary images and thoughts from my friends and the ever-widening circle of visual thinkers my friends expose me to.
The challenge week brought new eyes on my own work but also introduced me to a flood of brilliant work from artists I had not been aware of. Many artists posted mini retrospectives, with work going back decades and showing the evolution of their style, which gave me a huge appreciation of the depth of their work and their commitment to it. I chose the retrospective approach as well, and it was a powerful experience to line up the past and the present and see how it all makes sense, as well as to link to influences, that personal list of my favorite obscure dead people, (speaking of which, Ben Nicholson: go give his drawings some love.)
I find my online community to be an increasingly rich and inspirational environment, a kind of daily graduate school into which I can wade and learn and test out ideas. I don’t think this is what Mark Zuckerberg had in mind when he invented this thing to figure out if your roomate’s sister’s cousin was single without asking her. Facebook has also served to be a galvanizing and very effective political force when issues arise that challenge the arts community’s ethics. A situation arose with a non-profit last year that many artists saw as shockingly exploitative and damaging to the arts community. Within 48 hours the issue went viral and the situation was resolved. Yes a few comments were needlessly spicy, but for the most part it was a genuine public conversation resolved immediately and politely with satisfaction on all sides. Much as I favor face to face communication, I doubt that a town hall with microphones and people shouting would have led to such a harmonious resolution. Although some people will say vicious things online that they never would consider offering in person, the reverse it also true—shy people will push a button from the safety of their armchair, and the collective ‘likes’ of those shy people can be very effective. In this recent situation artists, who can be notoriously self-involved, got a glimpse of the effectiveness of collective action.
What I think of as a virtual art bar of has helped to create a sense of community that I have never felt before. Particularly in Seattle, known for its chill culture, the difference is noticeable. It could be my imagination, but it seems like First Thursdays gallery nights are far more social and friendly and less cliquish. I have made many aquaintances online who become offline associates and friends. As a daily practice, the online community allows us to see into each others’ creative lives, offer support, pass along show announcements, recommend each other for shows and yes — I do know someone who sold a piece of work from the art challenge just this week….) All this, and I doubt any of my artist friends has ever voluntarily clicked on an ad for ****** shoe company. Sorry, Mark. So it’s ‘free’ although one’s time is expensive, and there is the rabbithole one can go down of never getting offline.
Speaking of which I have to get back to the studio. Stay tuned for a show coming up in April (!). Before I go, here are a few links to artists I became more acquainted with this week, all extraordinary and worth taking a look at:
Noni Boyle, painter, make of luscious charcoal drawings
Ian Macleod, abstract seer into the nature of phenomena
Emily Gherard All I can say is the Stranger Genius Award folks knew what they were doing
P.S. I hope if you are watching the “Game” today, even if you truly are the 12 Man/Woman eating organic black bean chips and swigging fine craft beer in font of the television that you take time during the ad breaks to read this and pass it on. I’ll be watching it all from the treadmill in my empty gym.
Peggy Solberg says
Well said. Thank you.