Why Steemit is the Premiere Environment & Tool for Artists 2: Create an Audience
On Monday I went over how Steemit is a great way to catalog your work so you don't have to shuffle through hundreds of computer files every time you need a set of images or information. Not to mention how it'll save your life when you spill beer on your laptop keyboard... I admit I like to drink while I draw...
Establishing an Audience you can Engage With
From the bit of experience I have in the professional art world, I'll let loose a secret that I learned early on.
Picasso isn't famous for his paintings. Neither was Monet nor Pollock nor Haring.
“Blasphemy! There are lines of galleries and museums dedicated to him!”
Sure, Pablo Picasso's prolific career hits practically every major museum of modern art that stands today. But the argument that I'd like to put forth is his talent to establish an audience that supported such a career. Pablo Picasso was a charismatic socialite from Spain. He often held dinner parties, mingled in high circles, and attended major Salons all around Europe. His ability to explain and present himself and his work is what allowed his creative career to flourish.
A great deal of success in the art world comes from being able to accompany good work with rich material and narrative.
Much of that is lost in today's art industry. Artists are more likely to huddle in communes, cut off from other sectors and industries of their communities. Residencies and artist complexes enforce the notion of a creative bubble. Less and less do we have ongoing opportunities to explain our creative processes and give value from procedure.
The Modern Gallery. Source: Retail Hell Underground
Unfortunately, social technology solidifies this idea that art is a singular object.
It is common now to post snapshots on Instagram and Facebook or self-build a website portfolio on Squarespace or Cargo Collective. These image-driven platforms dissuade from some of the more compelling verbal/written presentations and explanations of creative work.
This is where I see a clear role and value for the platform for creative professionals in their day-to-day work. We're encouraged to reveal each step, each inspiration, each technical change, each move towards establishing a body of thinking and work. With this paradigm shift, we open ourselves up to more discussion and innovation.
And Steemit offers 'compensation' from the process itself, some indicator – whether in Steem dollars/power or comments and upvotes – that your process is valuable to a certain audience. If anything, it's a quantifiable metric that allows you to snowball a definable momentum.
Go Steem go!
follow me @hansikhouse! | design collective @hitheryon
yes go steem go! I'm still "in" and believe in this forum for the personal challenge and development each posts holds for me. Yes it's great to make money, I love meeting people here and reading other content, but fundamentally I like learning and expanding and steemit is a great platform for it!
Absolutely, I think it really creates a great nexus of learning/making. Go go!
Blasphemy! Just kidding. Really well said, hansikhouse. Steemit does provide a unique opportunity for artists to engage socially and gain a different kind of momentum for their art. I was wondering while reading this... what kind of user-rating would Picasso have? What about Van Gogh, who only sold a single painting during his struggling career? I wonder how different artists of the past would have engaged (or not) with a place like Steemit...