Despite the negative tone of the title, I know the following list of things I hate as an artist is relevant to many of you out there. And while I love being an artist, I’m grateful that art is no longer seen as a luxury. However, I just can’t seem to find peace with some things in the current creative scene.
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Disclaimer: This article could be nonsense to you as it is my opinion and what I personally think. Although I may sound like I am blaming most of these frustrations on the internet when I am obviously present online myself, I still think that artists especially (creatives in general), were offered a lot of great opportunities and stripped of a lot of meditative and mindful aspects of art practice because of being online.
1- Feeling the pressure to record myself while I am painting
This tops the list of the things I hate as an artist and is hands down my finest form of self-sabotage. Whipping out my phone to document myself takes me out of the zone, it disrupts my flow and it’s such a sick intrusion on a safe space. Yet, I have to do it. Why? because the art process is no longer private, meditative, experimental, or personal. Instead, as artists we need to show our process to the internet in order for us to exist. To prove that our art isn’t AI-generated or made in Photoshop, we must share the entire creative journey. Every part of it!
2- As an artist, I hate having to put on a show
I see other artists making art online in beautiful aesthetically pleasing studios, wearing fancy fashion that matches their aesthetics, sitting down correctly in front of their canvases and just looking perfect. And I realize, it’s no longer about the finished product, it’s about us as individuals, about the decor, the fashion, and everything else that never mattered in the past.
Being an ‘Artist’ is no longer about the creator’s thoughts or creative decisions regarding their creative process but is instead based on how flawlessly they appear while creating their art.
3- If you don’t share what you create, you don’t exist
Imagine meeting someone who introduces themselves as an artist and when you ask to see their art, they tell you that they don’t have social media and that you’ll have to walk to their home studio/gallery to see what they create. That instantly makes them less of a successful artist. Because the successful ones have viral TikTok pages, aesthetic IG feeds, and online portfolios or websites. The rest are just wannabes.
4- My success depends on the algorithms I don’t control
Although this is one of the things I hate most as an artist, I feel like everyone relates to this nowadays.
To have your art seen and your creative decisions valued, you, as an artist, must submit to the algorithms created by others. Following trends, creating a persona, and commodifying yourself is what you should be doing if you wish to be recognized. The size of your paintings and the complexity of your process are irrelevant to the internet; what matters is how frequently you post and interact, as failing to do so will lead to being forgotten and your art losing its significance.
5- Shock value/going viral >>> creative integrity
To be noticed, you must shock your audience and go viral. In 2023, quality is secondary as humans have shorter attention spans. Despite the innovation and high-quality, online creators are indistinguishable as everything’s been done before. Online, it’s challenging to create something new due to the abundance of creative expression.
The art that meant money in the past vs. now
Quality no longer matters, the only thing our world cares about now is shock. Creating at your own pace risks obscurity as you won’t be viewed as a money-maker in the industry.
6- Nobody has time for creativity and if you wanna give time to your art, people will be triggered
The sheer volume of music, films, fashion, and art being produced is astonishing to me. Today’s creative industry prioritizes quantity over quality, as people require excessive stimulation to feel stimulated.
I spend months creating intentional artwork, but to some people, it’s pointless because I should be making entertaining, easy art and producing more content quickly. And this is detrimental to creative endeavors and just very sad to artists like myself. Art that comes from our soul requires self-reflection, analyzing the world, and devotion to connecting with others.
Conclusion
I may come off as harsh, but I’m tired of art being laziness with a price tag. There are of course amazing artists that create pieces that evoke feelings and all of that but it’s just rare. Anyways, let me know if you relate, and add your own frustrations in the comments.
Oh my goodness I totally agree with all of your frustrations and more. My heart is broken every day by the lukewarm or completely blank reaction to my heartfelt art that I spend countless hours laboring over-in private!. I will never film myself in the intimate and sometimes humbling process of creating art. I am totally untrained and I believe I am only doing it by divine help, and even with that, my technical skills are very weak at best. But, I have a unique and specific “signature” and I will not let it be spoiled by the world. Try not to get too caught up in the worldly hubbub! It’s all noise anyway! I have an art historian friend who is always reminding me that many artists we consider as masters today, were literally only discovered after they passed away!!! Unfortunately, it is the terror of the artistic lifestyle to go unrecognized and unvalued, for the most part. We artists need to stick together and raise each other up!! Bless you for having the courage to say what’s on your mind!
I absolutely respect your choice and relate so much to every word of yours! It is terrifying to go unvalued after all the time and effort we invest in our paintings and this fear is causing artists to not live up to their full potential which either leads to artists driven by money instead of potential, or to distracted artists who have to make a living from a different career path.
I don’t think anyone has so eloquently put my frustrations to words before! And some of these, I didn’t even deeply think about, until you mentioned them! I feel this in my soul, so thank you for calling attention to these!
I am so glad you related to my article <3
You took the words right out of my mouth… I don’t think that I’ve ever read an article so true. It’s really a shame nowadays, that you need to be viral with millions of subscribers to be considered a real artist… It also completely breaks me as an artist to see pictures generated from AI get more recognition than real artworks made by real artists.
I totally agree with you! such an irony