Chatfilter: how do you navigate creativity in an age of Infinite Content
August 24, 2023 6:59 PM Subscribe
Snowflake details within, but I'm curious to hear from creative (or not!) people who continue to create things, for whatever the reason. It feels like a particularly difficult time to create (though was it ever easy?), and I think it would help work through my own unhealthy views on creativity
so first off I really am curious to hear about you and how you think about your own creative endeavors. so feel free to focus on that and just sort of punt on the below!
for me personally, basically...it feels overwhelming to think about creating anything at all when there is so much incredible stuff being created all the time. I imagine that people are going to talk about sort of...creating for its own sake and nothing else, and maybe this thread will help knock that into my head! but it feels like in the current age there is not only endless amounts of content, there is SO much amazing content, and the value of that content is...zero. endless artists on twitter making more and more and more incredible art for free (though I do commission lots of artists to try and support them!). people writing endless amounts of fanfiction. people creating all sorts of amazing video games. I'm not saying that nobody is making money off art, or off of writing, or off of video games, more just that the trend seems to be: more more more. more incredible content
in college I took a lot of photography classes. it was fun! the format really worked for me...you get assignments, you work through an idea, you critique each other. it was as I graduated college and thought about whether I'd keep taking photos (spoiler alert: I did not) that I had a sort of horrifying epiphany that haunts me to this day...think about all of the cameras now out there (phones), think about all of the photos being taken...hundreds of billions of photos a day. just by sheer luck, a handful of those photos are probably better than anything you will ever take, ever (of course, I think part of the problem is thinking about it in terms of "better" like this). but like on whatever dimension you personally care about...technical? composition? serendipity? art? whatever it is, I mean...there's just too much
these days I'm more interested in writing than in photography, but the same ideas hold. anime criticism? does the world need more tepid takes? more fiction? I mean heck, I already have 100 lifetimes worth of stories that I won't have the time to read
so for me personally, it leads to me focusing a lot on trying to find "the good stuff", because there's already too much good stuff...and the odds of me creating anything in any context that is worthwhile seems so fleeting and lot and arrogant ("oh, you haven't finished reading ulysses? how about proust? maybe you should get your priorities straight before writing your shitty little story"...I realize this is not a healthy way to look at it!)
this sort of thinking has infected my relationship to a lot of things and I kind of hate it! part of me yearns to create, but the rest of me finds it to be an inherently doomed, pointless, even arrogant exercise. I deeply love lots of media, but it's led to me feeling like I'm...extremely passive, becuase I'm always Consuming Consuming Consuming and nothing else
that's chatfilter, baby!!
so first off I really am curious to hear about you and how you think about your own creative endeavors. so feel free to focus on that and just sort of punt on the below!
for me personally, basically...it feels overwhelming to think about creating anything at all when there is so much incredible stuff being created all the time. I imagine that people are going to talk about sort of...creating for its own sake and nothing else, and maybe this thread will help knock that into my head! but it feels like in the current age there is not only endless amounts of content, there is SO much amazing content, and the value of that content is...zero. endless artists on twitter making more and more and more incredible art for free (though I do commission lots of artists to try and support them!). people writing endless amounts of fanfiction. people creating all sorts of amazing video games. I'm not saying that nobody is making money off art, or off of writing, or off of video games, more just that the trend seems to be: more more more. more incredible content
in college I took a lot of photography classes. it was fun! the format really worked for me...you get assignments, you work through an idea, you critique each other. it was as I graduated college and thought about whether I'd keep taking photos (spoiler alert: I did not) that I had a sort of horrifying epiphany that haunts me to this day...think about all of the cameras now out there (phones), think about all of the photos being taken...hundreds of billions of photos a day. just by sheer luck, a handful of those photos are probably better than anything you will ever take, ever (of course, I think part of the problem is thinking about it in terms of "better" like this). but like on whatever dimension you personally care about...technical? composition? serendipity? art? whatever it is, I mean...there's just too much
these days I'm more interested in writing than in photography, but the same ideas hold. anime criticism? does the world need more tepid takes? more fiction? I mean heck, I already have 100 lifetimes worth of stories that I won't have the time to read
so for me personally, it leads to me focusing a lot on trying to find "the good stuff", because there's already too much good stuff...and the odds of me creating anything in any context that is worthwhile seems so fleeting and lot and arrogant ("oh, you haven't finished reading ulysses? how about proust? maybe you should get your priorities straight before writing your shitty little story"...I realize this is not a healthy way to look at it!)
this sort of thinking has infected my relationship to a lot of things and I kind of hate it! part of me yearns to create, but the rest of me finds it to be an inherently doomed, pointless, even arrogant exercise. I deeply love lots of media, but it's led to me feeling like I'm...extremely passive, becuase I'm always Consuming Consuming Consuming and nothing else
that's chatfilter, baby!!
There is no "better" or "worse". There is what you want to do, and how you feel when you do it, and my ability to feel that with you.
posted by amtho at 7:37 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by amtho at 7:37 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I think it’s the opposite - it is an amazingly easy time to create. Thanks to the internet you decide to do something, order the materials and tools online, watch videos on how to do the thing if you’re uncertain, do the thing, then show everyone what you’ve made, all with a smartphone in the safety of your own home.
I think your definition of “worthwhile” is the problem. It sounds like you think your art is only worthwhile if it gets general acclaim. What’s more important is that you did it. That’s creativity. Getting acclaim for creativity has long been a rare thing, aside from survivor bias.
Also, name a famous artist who did a thing once, got money fame and awards, and that was that. Every artist made a metric fork ton of art, and the good stuff floated to the top where you could see it. You can’t get to that point if you don’t start creating now.
I’ll channel my Ms Frizzle and say take chances, make mistakes, get messy. That’s creativity.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:49 PM on August 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
I think your definition of “worthwhile” is the problem. It sounds like you think your art is only worthwhile if it gets general acclaim. What’s more important is that you did it. That’s creativity. Getting acclaim for creativity has long been a rare thing, aside from survivor bias.
Also, name a famous artist who did a thing once, got money fame and awards, and that was that. Every artist made a metric fork ton of art, and the good stuff floated to the top where you could see it. You can’t get to that point if you don’t start creating now.
I’ll channel my Ms Frizzle and say take chances, make mistakes, get messy. That’s creativity.
posted by AzraelBrown at 7:49 PM on August 24, 2023 [14 favorites]
of course, I think part of the problem is thinking about it in terms of "better" like this
Yes! Yes yes yes! If there were just one axis of bad-------good, and everything fell on that scale somewhere, then sure, don't bother adding anything. Just go to the most goodest one and stare at that all day!
However! While there are hundreds of billions of [medium of choice] out there, there are also bagrillions of axes! And any new creation will fall somewhere on each one of those axes, often in a way that is exceptional for some one axis or for some collection of axes. For example, someone recently set out to make a movie that was higher on the Barbie axis than had ever been achieved before. The jury is still out, but they may have succeeded! I'm not sure anyone has tried to make a movie that maxes out both the Barbie axis and the Film Noir axis while having a substantial spike in its rating on the Velociraptor axis but only in the third act. You could be the first!
And you know what? There's one big important axis: the "wooh made this" axis. Getting a high rating on that axis matters, but it is not easy for most people. A high rating on that axis complements and augments the ratings on lots of other axes. Especially axes that wooh cares about.
I like making things. They usually aren't the best things out there, on any particular axis. Sometimes they are, in some really specific direction, because it turns out I'm a relative expert in a few really (really) specific directions. Maybe that's because no one went in those directions before. But even when things I made aren't the best on any axis, I think they're pretty great because I made them, and I enjoyed that, and I can share that.
posted by whatnotever at 7:50 PM on August 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
Yes! Yes yes yes! If there were just one axis of bad-------good, and everything fell on that scale somewhere, then sure, don't bother adding anything. Just go to the most goodest one and stare at that all day!
However! While there are hundreds of billions of [medium of choice] out there, there are also bagrillions of axes! And any new creation will fall somewhere on each one of those axes, often in a way that is exceptional for some one axis or for some collection of axes. For example, someone recently set out to make a movie that was higher on the Barbie axis than had ever been achieved before. The jury is still out, but they may have succeeded! I'm not sure anyone has tried to make a movie that maxes out both the Barbie axis and the Film Noir axis while having a substantial spike in its rating on the Velociraptor axis but only in the third act. You could be the first!
And you know what? There's one big important axis: the "wooh made this" axis. Getting a high rating on that axis matters, but it is not easy for most people. A high rating on that axis complements and augments the ratings on lots of other axes. Especially axes that wooh cares about.
I like making things. They usually aren't the best things out there, on any particular axis. Sometimes they are, in some really specific direction, because it turns out I'm a relative expert in a few really (really) specific directions. Maybe that's because no one went in those directions before. But even when things I made aren't the best on any axis, I think they're pretty great because I made them, and I enjoyed that, and I can share that.
posted by whatnotever at 7:50 PM on August 24, 2023 [9 favorites]
I create because I can't do otherwise. I just can't. Take away my paint, my yarn, my pencils, and I'll pick up a stick and draw on the ground.
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:15 PM on August 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
posted by OrangeDisk at 8:15 PM on August 24, 2023 [5 favorites]
Response by poster: I'm processing these great responses...I really do enjoy hearing about people and their relationships to their own creativity because I find it very inspiring
reflecting a little, I think for me honestly I don't really want "accolades," or well, that's not the thing that depresses me. I just want like...3 people (who aren't just my friends, lol) to read what I write. I think if even just a small number of people seriously engaged with what I wrote, I'd be pretty happy. it's when you write something and nobody cares...that is a pretty depressing feeling!
actually looking up, I think that's perfectly encompassed by this sentiment by AlexiaSky:
But there is a teeny tiny subset of people who like what my brain does in its spare time and I get to share that with the world. I think that is fucking awesome.
I do it mostly for me, but it's really neat to find people in the world who are totally willing to spend time on the things that I want to do to, and it brings me joy.
perhaps I just need to figure out how to find those people, for me
posted by wooh at 8:18 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
reflecting a little, I think for me honestly I don't really want "accolades," or well, that's not the thing that depresses me. I just want like...3 people (who aren't just my friends, lol) to read what I write. I think if even just a small number of people seriously engaged with what I wrote, I'd be pretty happy. it's when you write something and nobody cares...that is a pretty depressing feeling!
actually looking up, I think that's perfectly encompassed by this sentiment by AlexiaSky:
But there is a teeny tiny subset of people who like what my brain does in its spare time and I get to share that with the world. I think that is fucking awesome.
I do it mostly for me, but it's really neat to find people in the world who are totally willing to spend time on the things that I want to do to, and it brings me joy.
perhaps I just need to figure out how to find those people, for me
posted by wooh at 8:18 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
There has ALWAYS been someone doing creative things, and doing those things "better". It's just now that we see it. I create because I want things for myself. Clothing, artwork, home decor, whatever! And I'm working really hard on my relationship with social media.
I don't make content out of obligation. I ONLY make "content" about my creating things when it ADDS to my life. Like today, I've spent a few days on a project with speaker shelves and cord management in our den and it looks really nice! And I snapped a few pics for my Instagram stories for those who give a shit, but I'm not "creating content" about it.
I try to approach seeing people who are "better" as inspiration. They give me ideas, tips, things to improve, etc. If anything, it makes me want to do more. But that's after a lot of work coming to terms more with where I am in my life and skill and accepting that. And as a perfectionist, it's HARD. And I'm not great at it all the time. But I look at how much I've improved and how much I can keep growing. There is always someone "better." There is always someone "worse."
It's also helpful to follow people that encourage growth and creativity, rather than just sharing being "amazing."
And I create because I want to. But I've been jaded toward creating and art many times in my life and it has ALWAYS been when that creative spirit was turned into an obligation - like a job or school or social media. Sometimes people don't even see what I make, besides me and those close to me. And that's okay. My creative time can be meditative. There has been centuries of people creating just to create and I find that to be a very warm feeling, like I'm participating in something larger.
posted by Crystalinne at 8:26 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
I don't make content out of obligation. I ONLY make "content" about my creating things when it ADDS to my life. Like today, I've spent a few days on a project with speaker shelves and cord management in our den and it looks really nice! And I snapped a few pics for my Instagram stories for those who give a shit, but I'm not "creating content" about it.
I try to approach seeing people who are "better" as inspiration. They give me ideas, tips, things to improve, etc. If anything, it makes me want to do more. But that's after a lot of work coming to terms more with where I am in my life and skill and accepting that. And as a perfectionist, it's HARD. And I'm not great at it all the time. But I look at how much I've improved and how much I can keep growing. There is always someone "better." There is always someone "worse."
It's also helpful to follow people that encourage growth and creativity, rather than just sharing being "amazing."
And I create because I want to. But I've been jaded toward creating and art many times in my life and it has ALWAYS been when that creative spirit was turned into an obligation - like a job or school or social media. Sometimes people don't even see what I make, besides me and those close to me. And that's okay. My creative time can be meditative. There has been centuries of people creating just to create and I find that to be a very warm feeling, like I'm participating in something larger.
posted by Crystalinne at 8:26 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
There's tons of people making better art than me, which does get me down sometimes, but nobody is making art of my characters, so I have to make it if I want it to exist! Which I guess is a little cyclical because my own characters/stories aren't unusually amazing by any measure I could think of either, but I guess that was never the point. They're just... for me. Nobody is going to make things exactly to my own tastes except myself. So that's where the energy to make things comes from for me.
posted by space snail at 8:37 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
posted by space snail at 8:37 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
it feels overwhelming to think about creating anything at all when there is so much incredible stuff being created all the time. I imagine that people are going to talk about sort of...creating for its own sake and nothing else, and maybe this thread will help knock that into my head! but it feels like in the current age there is not only endless amounts of content, there is SO much amazing content, and the value of that content is...zero. endless artists on twitter making more and more and more incredible art for free (though I do commission lots of artists to try and support them!). people writing endless amounts of fanfiction. people creating all sorts of amazing video games. I'm not saying that nobody is making money off art, or off of writing, or off of video games, more just that the trend seems to be: more more more. more incredible content
Along the lines of things with zero value, here's what I think about: what is the length of time that will pass before Shakespeare and every one of his works and every phrase he ever coined are all completely forgotten? Five thousand years? Fifty thousand years? Five hundred thousand? Whatever it is, I guarantee it's a finite number. The universe has plenty of time to spool out. I mean, what the hell is value anyway?
I do creative writing (a) because it feels better to do it than not to do it. (b) because something inside of me feels restless and undone if I don't. (c) because, endless content aside, I can count on one hand the number of stories I've ever read that have come even close to truly satisfying that restless undone thing in there. So fuck it, I'll do it myself. But in order for it to mean anything to me, first I have to find the weird stupid childish idea that the weird stupid childish part of me absolutely yearns for.
these days I'm more interested in writing than in photography, but the same ideas hold. anime criticism? does the world need more tepid takes? more fiction? I mean heck, I already have 100 lifetimes worth of stories that I won't have the time to read
I still have moments when I hear or read something new that makes me say, "oh my God, that's beautiful," and my heart swells with joy or compassion or grief or something I can't even name. And until that very moment, I had no idea there was a missing chord that this new thing would play inside of me. So I respectfully submit that you don't know what you don't know. In the 1890s, physics and thermodynamics were in many circles considered finished sciences -- fully cooked. There was nothing left to discover, just a few crumbs to sweep up. It was all figured out. And there it might have stayed, if there hadn't been a German patent clerk who couldn't stop thinking a lot of very strange thoughts. Who has the authority to say what the world needs? I don't even know what art *I* need until it's sitting in front of me. When the right thing comes out of me onto the page and fits perfectly, I feel it not just in my mind but in my body. It's like the feeling I get when the plane has just touched down smoothly on the runway and I breathe more freely and I know this is what I needed, or at least close enough to it for now. But I won't know until it's already on the page. I don't know what I don't know.
I spent a long time thinking about writing creative things and never doing it because almost every idea I had was, consciously or subconsciously, aimed toward pleasing some imaginary sneering crowd of oh-so-tasteful strangers. Which, of course, made all of my story ideas inert and completely uninteresting to me. What's the dumb, goofy, stupid, clichéd trash deep in my heart that I'm scared to love? On that note, this scene from the Nicolas Cage movie Pig gives me inspiration. Seriously, it does. "We don't get a lot of things to really care about."
posted by cubeb at 9:25 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
Along the lines of things with zero value, here's what I think about: what is the length of time that will pass before Shakespeare and every one of his works and every phrase he ever coined are all completely forgotten? Five thousand years? Fifty thousand years? Five hundred thousand? Whatever it is, I guarantee it's a finite number. The universe has plenty of time to spool out. I mean, what the hell is value anyway?
I do creative writing (a) because it feels better to do it than not to do it. (b) because something inside of me feels restless and undone if I don't. (c) because, endless content aside, I can count on one hand the number of stories I've ever read that have come even close to truly satisfying that restless undone thing in there. So fuck it, I'll do it myself. But in order for it to mean anything to me, first I have to find the weird stupid childish idea that the weird stupid childish part of me absolutely yearns for.
these days I'm more interested in writing than in photography, but the same ideas hold. anime criticism? does the world need more tepid takes? more fiction? I mean heck, I already have 100 lifetimes worth of stories that I won't have the time to read
I still have moments when I hear or read something new that makes me say, "oh my God, that's beautiful," and my heart swells with joy or compassion or grief or something I can't even name. And until that very moment, I had no idea there was a missing chord that this new thing would play inside of me. So I respectfully submit that you don't know what you don't know. In the 1890s, physics and thermodynamics were in many circles considered finished sciences -- fully cooked. There was nothing left to discover, just a few crumbs to sweep up. It was all figured out. And there it might have stayed, if there hadn't been a German patent clerk who couldn't stop thinking a lot of very strange thoughts. Who has the authority to say what the world needs? I don't even know what art *I* need until it's sitting in front of me. When the right thing comes out of me onto the page and fits perfectly, I feel it not just in my mind but in my body. It's like the feeling I get when the plane has just touched down smoothly on the runway and I breathe more freely and I know this is what I needed, or at least close enough to it for now. But I won't know until it's already on the page. I don't know what I don't know.
I spent a long time thinking about writing creative things and never doing it because almost every idea I had was, consciously or subconsciously, aimed toward pleasing some imaginary sneering crowd of oh-so-tasteful strangers. Which, of course, made all of my story ideas inert and completely uninteresting to me. What's the dumb, goofy, stupid, clichéd trash deep in my heart that I'm scared to love? On that note, this scene from the Nicolas Cage movie Pig gives me inspiration. Seriously, it does. "We don't get a lot of things to really care about."
posted by cubeb at 9:25 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
As a reader, books don't compete for my attention, one good book makes me more likely to want to read another good book. Same for all other media. The existence of one good thing makes me crave more.
As a writer, write because I love writing. The fact that there are so many fantastic stories out there is inspiring! I'm not competing with those writers.
The way you feel about creativity is rational and understandable as we live in a world that doesn't value creativity beyond corporate lip service.
Creativity is only valued in terms of the products produced, the status gained by producing or consuming the "right" products, and the edge given in destroying competition in a business context.
We're encouraged to be creative but starved of the things we need to be creative (time, money, emotional support).
We're also taught from birth to be ashamed of the qualities that are necessary to be creative (being uncool, playful, earnest, making mistakes)
And on top of it all, if you are doing creative work you're supposed to play this game of being confident enough to do the work, but not TOO confident so you might seem arrogant.
So there's nothing wrong with you if you're feeling stressed and confused about doing creative work.
Still possible to decide to go against all of that and keep being creative.
Claim the time to do it. Do it for yourself. Forget about the world out there and do it for fun.
posted by Zumbador at 9:38 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
As a writer, write because I love writing. The fact that there are so many fantastic stories out there is inspiring! I'm not competing with those writers.
The way you feel about creativity is rational and understandable as we live in a world that doesn't value creativity beyond corporate lip service.
Creativity is only valued in terms of the products produced, the status gained by producing or consuming the "right" products, and the edge given in destroying competition in a business context.
We're encouraged to be creative but starved of the things we need to be creative (time, money, emotional support).
We're also taught from birth to be ashamed of the qualities that are necessary to be creative (being uncool, playful, earnest, making mistakes)
And on top of it all, if you are doing creative work you're supposed to play this game of being confident enough to do the work, but not TOO confident so you might seem arrogant.
So there's nothing wrong with you if you're feeling stressed and confused about doing creative work.
Still possible to decide to go against all of that and keep being creative.
Claim the time to do it. Do it for yourself. Forget about the world out there and do it for fun.
posted by Zumbador at 9:38 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
There is too much "good stuff". People do some amazingly good "creating" in so many spaces. On the other hand, you might do it better.
I failed out on piano, cello, and saxophone. But, turned out I could sing.
I was in choir back in 1980. And I was good, ((First Tenor) had to go back and capitalize that), went to State in choir, OK. That's a weird thing. It was an amazing performance, (except where the freight elevator activated very loudly at the climax of the performance, but I digress), which somewhere I still have an LP of that "show". (need to find that and get it digitized. Anyone in Seattle who knows a good place for LP->data, memail me.
Then I went to college. My HS Choir Director, (Dan Zollars, RIP), was also the football team's Offensive Line coach, and looked the part. And his heart was in directing singers. They named the expanded music section in his name.
But my college choir director was the exact opposite person. I made the Chamber Singers as a freshman. And I hated all the avant-garde things we were singing. And he was very forgiving, very effeminate, very passive director. And I wanted to sing, awesome harmony things, and he wasn't going to choose those things. So, one trimester and I was done.
But then I got an acoustic guitar. But, much like the instruments I played earlier, I dion't really get it very well. But I wrote a lot of interesting songs. But had to have a life, took jobs, abandoned music as a career. But eventually, was able to hold on to my gear, and at 60, nothing better than cranking up my amp and going to town. I seem to mostly playing covers, but, everyone else seems to have been able to write better songs as me.
But, do the creation because doing it makes you happy, and makes you feel good. Not because it could be your career.
posted by Windopaene at 9:39 PM on August 24, 2023
I failed out on piano, cello, and saxophone. But, turned out I could sing.
I was in choir back in 1980. And I was good, ((First Tenor) had to go back and capitalize that), went to State in choir, OK. That's a weird thing. It was an amazing performance, (except where the freight elevator activated very loudly at the climax of the performance, but I digress), which somewhere I still have an LP of that "show". (need to find that and get it digitized. Anyone in Seattle who knows a good place for LP->data, memail me.
Then I went to college. My HS Choir Director, (Dan Zollars, RIP), was also the football team's Offensive Line coach, and looked the part. And his heart was in directing singers. They named the expanded music section in his name.
But my college choir director was the exact opposite person. I made the Chamber Singers as a freshman. And I hated all the avant-garde things we were singing. And he was very forgiving, very effeminate, very passive director. And I wanted to sing, awesome harmony things, and he wasn't going to choose those things. So, one trimester and I was done.
But then I got an acoustic guitar. But, much like the instruments I played earlier, I dion't really get it very well. But I wrote a lot of interesting songs. But had to have a life, took jobs, abandoned music as a career. But eventually, was able to hold on to my gear, and at 60, nothing better than cranking up my amp and going to town. I seem to mostly playing covers, but, everyone else seems to have been able to write better songs as me.
But, do the creation because doing it makes you happy, and makes you feel good. Not because it could be your career.
posted by Windopaene at 9:39 PM on August 24, 2023
Um, creativity's just fun? It's entertaining? It's fulfilling to create and work on a project? I love that shit. I do it constantly. I have multiple knitting projects going on right now, the occasional writing project or some other thing.
I know my work isn't "worth" anything really. If I sold say, one of my Halloween costumes that took a year to make, nobody would pay the amount of money I'd theoretically have to charge for labor and time, my work is so obscenely priceless that it's worthless, in a sense. Nobody's going to pay $60 for a handmade scarf, which is what I see people charging for at craft booths and nobody buys because they can get a scarf for $5 at Walmart. Once in a great while I'll do an item on commission for someone who's into that, but overall, I don't think creativity works for pay in the real world. It's too hard to figure out how to make money as an artist/creator/whatever if you don't have good business sense and skills, which I do not. Art is fulfilling to the soul, but expendable financially usually (though I did note a quote by Stan Lee about how sometimes you can get paid a LOT for well, movies).
I don't think I'm clear on what your original issue is here even after rereading it a few times. There's too much art for you? Well, just pick what you like and go with it. I don't care for some things, I skip 'em, I don't have FOMO over it. Enjoy what you want, I suppose.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:46 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I know my work isn't "worth" anything really. If I sold say, one of my Halloween costumes that took a year to make, nobody would pay the amount of money I'd theoretically have to charge for labor and time, my work is so obscenely priceless that it's worthless, in a sense. Nobody's going to pay $60 for a handmade scarf, which is what I see people charging for at craft booths and nobody buys because they can get a scarf for $5 at Walmart. Once in a great while I'll do an item on commission for someone who's into that, but overall, I don't think creativity works for pay in the real world. It's too hard to figure out how to make money as an artist/creator/whatever if you don't have good business sense and skills, which I do not. Art is fulfilling to the soul, but expendable financially usually (though I did note a quote by Stan Lee about how sometimes you can get paid a LOT for well, movies).
I don't think I'm clear on what your original issue is here even after rereading it a few times. There's too much art for you? Well, just pick what you like and go with it. I don't care for some things, I skip 'em, I don't have FOMO over it. Enjoy what you want, I suppose.
posted by jenfullmoon at 9:46 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
I don't know how to not be creative. Majored in metalsmith/jewelry design in university and been at it for 40 years...If I stumble across a random pile of beads,say, at a friend's house, I'll soon be arranging them into a necklace pattern. I've made bowls out of paper mache newspapers and flour "glue"...The jewelry part has given me a nice living and many fun and cherished moments.
posted by Czjewel at 9:57 PM on August 24, 2023
posted by Czjewel at 9:57 PM on August 24, 2023
“I just want like...3 people (who aren't just my friends, lol) to read what I write. I think if even just a small number of people seriously engaged with what I wrote, I'd be pretty happy. ...perhaps I just need to figure out how to find those people, for me” - op.
my advice (to you, wooh, but mostly to myself):
yes, find your "people", or community, and create in conversation with their work. this is not the same as creating for them. i write, and my ideas are in conversation with the ideas of those i've read and have inspired me. i draw, and my illustrations are flavoured with how i felt and responded to the works that inspired me. i am finding my voice and my character, and i can only do this through my own creative acts. it's not mimicry, it's process.
create for the process, the work of creating. immerse yourself in the process, and focus any goals on qualities/quantities you control (how many, when, etc). it is the creating that is worthwhile.
don't shut off your own creativity, shut out the others. you are under no obligation to take in the work of others; choose wisely with your attention. your creativity is inside you and you will need to quiet the world around you to hear it.
posted by tamarack at 10:03 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
my advice (to you, wooh, but mostly to myself):
yes, find your "people", or community, and create in conversation with their work. this is not the same as creating for them. i write, and my ideas are in conversation with the ideas of those i've read and have inspired me. i draw, and my illustrations are flavoured with how i felt and responded to the works that inspired me. i am finding my voice and my character, and i can only do this through my own creative acts. it's not mimicry, it's process.
create for the process, the work of creating. immerse yourself in the process, and focus any goals on qualities/quantities you control (how many, when, etc). it is the creating that is worthwhile.
don't shut off your own creativity, shut out the others. you are under no obligation to take in the work of others; choose wisely with your attention. your creativity is inside you and you will need to quiet the world around you to hear it.
posted by tamarack at 10:03 PM on August 24, 2023 [3 favorites]
I started making art for myself again in the past year and a half and I have also been struggling with these feelings. My current medium of choice is watercolor and there are SO many amazing painters out there on the instagram! It is almost too overwhelming when i scroll and scroll and look at these beautiful paintings and then look at my....kind of crappy scribble scrabble. But I paint because I have a story I want to tell and I want to document it and like many others who have responded, I don't feel whole if I'm not creating art. For the first year or so of me getting back into art seriously I was so religious about posting my paintings and comics on the 'Gram and getting all those likes and new followers. It was fun and got me that little serotonin rush but you know what has felt even more amazing? Making stuff that I don't show anyone. I have two whole sketchbooks that I keep all to myself!
Also nthng tamarack - finding your art community is so so important and has helped me feel confident with my silly little drawings and confident that I am making them for myself and not for the fleeting serotonin boost of social media. Plus I realized that what I miss the most about not being in art school and being an adult is that I no longer have that built in community of other artists to bounce ideas off of. So I had to find it and now that I have it is just wonderful.
posted by ruhroh at 10:31 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
Also nthng tamarack - finding your art community is so so important and has helped me feel confident with my silly little drawings and confident that I am making them for myself and not for the fleeting serotonin boost of social media. Plus I realized that what I miss the most about not being in art school and being an adult is that I no longer have that built in community of other artists to bounce ideas off of. So I had to find it and now that I have it is just wonderful.
posted by ruhroh at 10:31 PM on August 24, 2023 [1 favorite]
On a different tack, cooking. There are so many good recipes online that I just can't be bothered to filter them; but I've wonder if I've ever cooked a recipe to the letter in my life.
I find an online recipe, and then I make it my own. Throw spices in because I think they'll work, cook with what's in the fridge and the cupboard and substitute out whatever I don't have handy. Fiddle the recipe because I know it's going to be too sweet. Get fruit from friends and be inventive. (This week was dehydrated plums from the manically overproducing tree next door - barely a recipe, and yet highly recommended.)
I get the satisfaction using my own creative juices, no double entendre intended, I feed myself and the occasional neighbour that turns up on the doorstep and we (mostly) enjoy the results, and it feels like the internet is inspiring me to create myself rather than just be intimidated by everyone else's infinite variation.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:21 PM on August 24, 2023
I find an online recipe, and then I make it my own. Throw spices in because I think they'll work, cook with what's in the fridge and the cupboard and substitute out whatever I don't have handy. Fiddle the recipe because I know it's going to be too sweet. Get fruit from friends and be inventive. (This week was dehydrated plums from the manically overproducing tree next door - barely a recipe, and yet highly recommended.)
I get the satisfaction using my own creative juices, no double entendre intended, I feed myself and the occasional neighbour that turns up on the doorstep and we (mostly) enjoy the results, and it feels like the internet is inspiring me to create myself rather than just be intimidated by everyone else's infinite variation.
posted by How much is that froggie in the window at 11:21 PM on August 24, 2023
For me, creation is more about my joy in the process than about the final product.
I've found that I need a creative and tactile hobby after spending my work hours manipulating bits on a computer. I've cycled through a number: electronics design, weaving, pottery, glassblowing. I take joy in not needing to be good at them. It's freeing. I can be playful. It's fun to learn new skills, and the worst that happens is that a piece doesn't turn out as I envisioned. Oh well! I _try_ to carry this mindset over into work, but it's a lot harder to take joy in learning something if a little voice in the back of your head says "you really should know this already" or "hurry, hurry, you're behind schedule!" Accordingly, I try intentionally to NOT do anything that would make my creative hobbies feel like work -- this area of zero-expectation playful fun is precious to me. An active Instagram presence is definitely in the work-like category! Instead, I share images and talk about the process with a much smaller group. I only do what I want to in pursuit of my craft; "should" has no place in that world.
I'm not quite ready to call myself an artist (I identify more strongly as a craftsperson), but I am slowly starting to talk about my glass projects as art and to take myself seriously and think that I actually belong in these spaces. I agree with what other posters have said about finding community, and finding additional meaning through that community. While I look to established artists (who mostly don't even know that I exist, and that's fine!) for inspiration and to pick up technical skills, the people I work alongside are the most important. We push and inspire each other and it's really cool to look around the studio and see the web of influence.
posted by Metasyntactic at 11:26 PM on August 24, 2023
I've found that I need a creative and tactile hobby after spending my work hours manipulating bits on a computer. I've cycled through a number: electronics design, weaving, pottery, glassblowing. I take joy in not needing to be good at them. It's freeing. I can be playful. It's fun to learn new skills, and the worst that happens is that a piece doesn't turn out as I envisioned. Oh well! I _try_ to carry this mindset over into work, but it's a lot harder to take joy in learning something if a little voice in the back of your head says "you really should know this already" or "hurry, hurry, you're behind schedule!" Accordingly, I try intentionally to NOT do anything that would make my creative hobbies feel like work -- this area of zero-expectation playful fun is precious to me. An active Instagram presence is definitely in the work-like category! Instead, I share images and talk about the process with a much smaller group. I only do what I want to in pursuit of my craft; "should" has no place in that world.
I'm not quite ready to call myself an artist (I identify more strongly as a craftsperson), but I am slowly starting to talk about my glass projects as art and to take myself seriously and think that I actually belong in these spaces. I agree with what other posters have said about finding community, and finding additional meaning through that community. While I look to established artists (who mostly don't even know that I exist, and that's fine!) for inspiration and to pick up technical skills, the people I work alongside are the most important. We push and inspire each other and it's really cool to look around the studio and see the web of influence.
posted by Metasyntactic at 11:26 PM on August 24, 2023
Being a creator is simply being human. It’s what humans do. We make things. Drawings, sweaters, songs, performances, model train displays, books, theater, videos, parodies, and lives. It needs no justification nor is there some objective standard that declares something worth achieving. That’s why I write books, make art, and do all kinds of other things, because it’s just worth doing.
If I’m lucky enough to sell what I make and have someone else appreciate it, that’s just gravy.
posted by Peach at 4:22 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
If I’m lucky enough to sell what I make and have someone else appreciate it, that’s just gravy.
posted by Peach at 4:22 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
I just want like...3 people (who aren't just my friends, lol) to read what I write. I think if even just a small number of people seriously engaged with what I wrote, I'd be pretty happy.
Dude, this is exactly 100% what is happening with my blog. I've been at it a few years now, and I am now up to about 50 people who regularly check in on it; and I did absolutely zero to promote it, aside from mentioning it in here every now and then and mentioning it to people IRL now and then. I get way more people visiting it just the once and then bouncing - and a lot of times it's because it's someone who was doing a Google search and I was one of the hits. But most of them read what they were linked to, and then poke around a couple other places on the blog first before they take off.
But then there's also the dude in Denmark who has stuck around and made it his mission to leave a thoughtful, in-depth comment on nearly ALL of my posts. He found it like a year or two ago and then said he was going to go back to my first post and read all of them. I've never met the guy, and he's never met me; he is just a fan of the same niche pursuit I am blogging about (going through all the movies on the 1001 movies before you die list). And then there is also the whole group of people who stumbled upon my blog when someone linked to my post about an early 1926 animated film and shared it in a "rare video" Subreddit. And then there's the college in Arizona that quietly started using one of my posts in a class lecture (I am assuming, anyway, because every March there's always a huge spike of visitors who get referred to me from an internal school URL).
If what you do is good enough, and you put it on a platform people can access, they will find it. It may take time, but they'll find it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:26 AM on August 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Dude, this is exactly 100% what is happening with my blog. I've been at it a few years now, and I am now up to about 50 people who regularly check in on it; and I did absolutely zero to promote it, aside from mentioning it in here every now and then and mentioning it to people IRL now and then. I get way more people visiting it just the once and then bouncing - and a lot of times it's because it's someone who was doing a Google search and I was one of the hits. But most of them read what they were linked to, and then poke around a couple other places on the blog first before they take off.
But then there's also the dude in Denmark who has stuck around and made it his mission to leave a thoughtful, in-depth comment on nearly ALL of my posts. He found it like a year or two ago and then said he was going to go back to my first post and read all of them. I've never met the guy, and he's never met me; he is just a fan of the same niche pursuit I am blogging about (going through all the movies on the 1001 movies before you die list). And then there is also the whole group of people who stumbled upon my blog when someone linked to my post about an early 1926 animated film and shared it in a "rare video" Subreddit. And then there's the college in Arizona that quietly started using one of my posts in a class lecture (I am assuming, anyway, because every March there's always a huge spike of visitors who get referred to me from an internal school URL).
If what you do is good enough, and you put it on a platform people can access, they will find it. It may take time, but they'll find it.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 4:26 AM on August 25, 2023 [6 favorites]
Yeah, finding a small and engaged audience is really sweet. When I realized that instead of trying to write novels I could GM a tabletop role-playing game, everything suddenly clicked. I'm at the table co-creating a whole world with friends, and the part of my brain that always needs to be creating characters and plot ideas has something useful to do with its time. Nobody has to endure another middling novel from one more white dude, and everyone has a good time. Win-win! Find a medium and a venue that works for what your brain needs and not for what society values or has cachet.
posted by rikschell at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
posted by rikschell at 5:44 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
First, while there is a lot of good stuff in the world (hello? ~8 billion people and counting...) there is never too much good stuff.
Second, there's a reason we call it "creativity" and not "consumptivity" — the value is in the creation, the expression, the active use of your life force to show up in the world. That's the main goal. Fame and fortune are red herrings (though, to be sure, most of us yearn for acknowledgement, recognition, validation, appreciation, etc.)
Please, everyone, go create!
posted by interbeing at 6:02 AM on August 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
Second, there's a reason we call it "creativity" and not "consumptivity" — the value is in the creation, the expression, the active use of your life force to show up in the world. That's the main goal. Fame and fortune are red herrings (though, to be sure, most of us yearn for acknowledgement, recognition, validation, appreciation, etc.)
Please, everyone, go create!
posted by interbeing at 6:02 AM on August 25, 2023 [5 favorites]
I have struggled with this a lot. For me, it comes from perfectionism and fear of failure. What's the point of even trying to make something if it's not the best it could possibly be on the first try? In the past, that has taken the enjoyment out of the creative process for me.
So now I just try to be bad and derivative and uninteresting on purpose. I am more sloppy even when I know the results of my labour will suffer. Because I suffer even more if I don't do anything at all, sitting there twiddling my thumbs. Producing something wonky or dull or unbeautiful can actually be a lot of fun if I don't care about it being those things. It's certainly a lot more fun than trying to compete for some imaginary prize of 'best art'.
posted by guessthis at 6:22 AM on August 25, 2023
So now I just try to be bad and derivative and uninteresting on purpose. I am more sloppy even when I know the results of my labour will suffer. Because I suffer even more if I don't do anything at all, sitting there twiddling my thumbs. Producing something wonky or dull or unbeautiful can actually be a lot of fun if I don't care about it being those things. It's certainly a lot more fun than trying to compete for some imaginary prize of 'best art'.
posted by guessthis at 6:22 AM on August 25, 2023
I had the benefit of being exposed to The Artist’s Way early in my creative journey. I internalized her mantra about being responsible only for the quantity of whatever your thing is (writing in lu case), and leaving the quality to the Universe. It also helps me to think about all the personal benefits I get from writing that are not linked to money or even readership, eg self-expression, the chance to meet like-minded people, etc.
As I overheard a commercially successful writer say the other day, “don’t worry about creating for profit. Profit by creating.”
posted by rpfields at 7:00 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
As I overheard a commercially successful writer say the other day, “don’t worry about creating for profit. Profit by creating.”
posted by rpfields at 7:00 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Another thing to consider.
Even if the thing you're writing about is "this weird niche interest that maybe only one in a million people would be interested in" - well, there are twelve billion people on the planet, which means that your "one in a million" niche interest has a fan following of 12 thousand. Even if only a half of a percent of that 12 thousand find their way to you - that's still 60 people, and that's not too shabby.
You also never know what unique thing you might say or do that will land just perfectly on someone random out there in the world. There are things I've overheard people say in passing, total strangers, that have stuck with me and become part of my internal monologue to this day.
But then again, trying to make sure you engage with people anyway is the wrong way around. If what you create is a genuine expression of yourself and your interest, that will not only satisfy YOU more, it will be more likely to attract people's notice. People can figure out pretty quick if you're trying to write in a certain way just to maximize eyeballs or whatever; better to go slower and just focus on saying what you want to say in the way you say it, and then just letting the universe decide when and how quickly to bring you an audience.
Actually, this is a perfect example of both the message I'm trying to say, and an illustration of how this kind of "stick to it and it'll happen" thing can happen - the song "Bang Your Drum" by a Scottish group called Dead Man Fall. All the lyrics will likely resonate, but the chorus is especially apt and encouraging:
Just keep banging on your drum, and the right people will hear you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:51 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
Even if the thing you're writing about is "this weird niche interest that maybe only one in a million people would be interested in" - well, there are twelve billion people on the planet, which means that your "one in a million" niche interest has a fan following of 12 thousand. Even if only a half of a percent of that 12 thousand find their way to you - that's still 60 people, and that's not too shabby.
You also never know what unique thing you might say or do that will land just perfectly on someone random out there in the world. There are things I've overheard people say in passing, total strangers, that have stuck with me and become part of my internal monologue to this day.
But then again, trying to make sure you engage with people anyway is the wrong way around. If what you create is a genuine expression of yourself and your interest, that will not only satisfy YOU more, it will be more likely to attract people's notice. People can figure out pretty quick if you're trying to write in a certain way just to maximize eyeballs or whatever; better to go slower and just focus on saying what you want to say in the way you say it, and then just letting the universe decide when and how quickly to bring you an audience.
Actually, this is a perfect example of both the message I'm trying to say, and an illustration of how this kind of "stick to it and it'll happen" thing can happen - the song "Bang Your Drum" by a Scottish group called Dead Man Fall. All the lyrics will likely resonate, but the chorus is especially apt and encouraging:
Keep banging on, banging on your drumSo - Dead Man Fall is an indie Scottish band, one that's been around for a while but has only a modest following, mostly in Glasgow. They put stuff out on Bandcamp and on Spotify, play some club dates in the UK, and just kinda keep plugging away at it. And they would have kept up at that rate - if Craig Ferguson, himself a Glaswegian, hadn't stumbled upon "Bang Your Drum" and fallen in love with it. In fact, Craig loved it so much that for the cold open of his last-ever episode of his talk show, he made a music video for the song with a bunch of celebrity cameos. Of course, after THAT, a whole crapton of people wanted to know who did that song, and went looking for it. And - so now, Dead Man Fall has modest sales for all of its other songs, and a sbiehqbiillion downloads for "Bang Your Drum".
Keep banging on, and your day will come
Keep banging on, banging on your drum
And they will hear you
Just keep banging on your drum, and the right people will hear you.
posted by EmpressCallipygos at 10:51 AM on August 25, 2023 [1 favorite]
I do stand-up comedy. I've found a niche: stand-up comedy about the tech industry, open source software, and related topics (last year, for the MetaFilter fundraiser, I made jokes about MeFi culture). And I write and perform in plays about being a technologist, and perform them at programmer conferences.
There's nearly no one else doing this particular combination: traditional theatrical or comedic performance, by a domain expert in tech, targeted at other technologists, on topics particularly relevant to our shared experiences in the industry. So that's probably a big reason I don't have a "they're already doing that, better than me" reaction when I think about a specific idea. I do encourage others to do this kind of stuff (e.g., I started a play festival for others' performances) and am glad that some folks are picking up the idea!
I am piggybacking on pre-existing events; I submit a proposal to a tech conference, or they reach out to me, and then if we agree that I'll be doing a play or a stand-up set at the conference, then the guaranteed deadline and audience helps motivate me to get going! Also, I have collaborators for the plays, and for the stand-up routines I schedule a bunch of online rehearsal sessions where friends and acquaintances listen to me rehearse and riff, and their laughter gives me a lot of motivation.
This work is bursty. I don't feel pressure to work on these projects consistently and frequently. I let those bits of myself lie fallow a lot.
A lot of the people who enjoy this work of mine found it through conventions and conferences.
Hope this is useful.
posted by brainwane at 11:17 AM on August 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
There's nearly no one else doing this particular combination: traditional theatrical or comedic performance, by a domain expert in tech, targeted at other technologists, on topics particularly relevant to our shared experiences in the industry. So that's probably a big reason I don't have a "they're already doing that, better than me" reaction when I think about a specific idea. I do encourage others to do this kind of stuff (e.g., I started a play festival for others' performances) and am glad that some folks are picking up the idea!
I am piggybacking on pre-existing events; I submit a proposal to a tech conference, or they reach out to me, and then if we agree that I'll be doing a play or a stand-up set at the conference, then the guaranteed deadline and audience helps motivate me to get going! Also, I have collaborators for the plays, and for the stand-up routines I schedule a bunch of online rehearsal sessions where friends and acquaintances listen to me rehearse and riff, and their laughter gives me a lot of motivation.
This work is bursty. I don't feel pressure to work on these projects consistently and frequently. I let those bits of myself lie fallow a lot.
A lot of the people who enjoy this work of mine found it through conventions and conferences.
Hope this is useful.
posted by brainwane at 11:17 AM on August 25, 2023 [2 favorites]
For me the reason to make art is, that I have something to say. Of course other people have more interesting things to say and more skill to express them, but no one says exactly the things I have to say. I’m bad at talking about the things that matter to me in conversation, so I put them into art in a more indirect way. If I don’t, things start festering and I feel bad.
In terms of an audience; I’ve had my stuff on the web for some 25 years now and at this point I have a couple visitors every day. It’s pretty cool, that out of all the amazing stuff out there a few people decide to look at mine. But for years nobody came looking except a couple of real life friends. If I had been doing art for fame and fortune I would have given up a long time ago and missed out on the nice ego strokes now.
You can of course do more to build an audience, do social media and link up with people, join a critique forum or a writer group/artist circle, publish your stuff on an established platform, produce art for an existing fandom or make porn. That’s not how I want to spend my art time, but if your goal is an audience then work on growing that audience alongside working on your art.
posted by the_dreamwriter at 11:31 AM on August 25, 2023
In terms of an audience; I’ve had my stuff on the web for some 25 years now and at this point I have a couple visitors every day. It’s pretty cool, that out of all the amazing stuff out there a few people decide to look at mine. But for years nobody came looking except a couple of real life friends. If I had been doing art for fame and fortune I would have given up a long time ago and missed out on the nice ego strokes now.
You can of course do more to build an audience, do social media and link up with people, join a critique forum or a writer group/artist circle, publish your stuff on an established platform, produce art for an existing fandom or make porn. That’s not how I want to spend my art time, but if your goal is an audience then work on growing that audience alongside working on your art.
posted by the_dreamwriter at 11:31 AM on August 25, 2023
younger me was hell-bent on having a career as a commercial writer, but that was a not-fun treadmill that left me vulnerable to those same kind of "it's all been done and by better people" kind of thoughts.
Nowadays I only do art when I enjoy the in-the-moment process of doing it. Delayed gratification is bullshit. Ignore the people who promise you more marshmallows: eat the one in front of you and smile.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:23 PM on August 25, 2023
Nowadays I only do art when I enjoy the in-the-moment process of doing it. Delayed gratification is bullshit. Ignore the people who promise you more marshmallows: eat the one in front of you and smile.
posted by Sauce Trough at 1:23 PM on August 25, 2023
It’s a weird time for art, making it and finding it.
I know in music, people are basically doing everything a label used to do on their own. They’re becoming more proficient in production, engineering, and *especially* marketing via social media. (Plus distribution, merchandising and organizing touring.) Like in order to get booked, in some places, they need a certain number of “likes” or whatever it is. For labels to be interested, similar. So some people are getting quite crafty about catching the wave of the algorithm/popularity. (Eg doing covers of popular songs, so the SEO works in their favour, not sure what else.)
I’m sure there’s an analogue for literature.
Best to research optimal approaches and platforms… I saw a FB reel by a standup I thought was fantastic. Apparently she can’t (or couldn’t at the time) get booked because her likes (or whatever it is) were on TikTok, but bookers were interested in Instagram… the right Reddit sub will probably steer you right (or just keep an ear to the ground).
Some people are actually quite happy with this, in that if they’re doing stuff that resonates with even a piece of the zeitgeist, by accident or design, they can have 100% of the profit. But you need an entrepreneurial bent to not be annoyed by the effort. (Arguably you needed it before anyway, but now really, like you’re doing marketing etc to a high level. Idk maybe CHATGPT can make this easier now /s not /s).
The old way to connect still works, I think. Getting involved in a local scene, supporting other artists, this still has power and can boost the social media presence probably too. For writing, open mics, submitting to platforms (online magazines) that can boost your signal etc.
**
As far as the point of it, I’m depressed about CHATGPT and other AI possibly replacing our highest and most definitive functions (quickly or slowly, as it’s integrated into educational systems, so that eventually fewer people will know how to express themselves as we’ve done). I retain the vain hope that all this AI shit will die somehow, maybe Anonymous or some similar group will take care of it or it self implodes... Like fuck, this very site has probably gone into their goddamn corpus so it’s likely you and I have already been apprehended that way. Sickening. In the meantime, we can’t not want to express ourselves, that just makes everything we struggle with even more pointless. Art is the only redemption I trust and know about. We can’t give it up. And fuck you, AI.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:06 PM on August 25, 2023
I know in music, people are basically doing everything a label used to do on their own. They’re becoming more proficient in production, engineering, and *especially* marketing via social media. (Plus distribution, merchandising and organizing touring.) Like in order to get booked, in some places, they need a certain number of “likes” or whatever it is. For labels to be interested, similar. So some people are getting quite crafty about catching the wave of the algorithm/popularity. (Eg doing covers of popular songs, so the SEO works in their favour, not sure what else.)
I’m sure there’s an analogue for literature.
Best to research optimal approaches and platforms… I saw a FB reel by a standup I thought was fantastic. Apparently she can’t (or couldn’t at the time) get booked because her likes (or whatever it is) were on TikTok, but bookers were interested in Instagram… the right Reddit sub will probably steer you right (or just keep an ear to the ground).
Some people are actually quite happy with this, in that if they’re doing stuff that resonates with even a piece of the zeitgeist, by accident or design, they can have 100% of the profit. But you need an entrepreneurial bent to not be annoyed by the effort. (Arguably you needed it before anyway, but now really, like you’re doing marketing etc to a high level. Idk maybe CHATGPT can make this easier now /s not /s).
The old way to connect still works, I think. Getting involved in a local scene, supporting other artists, this still has power and can boost the social media presence probably too. For writing, open mics, submitting to platforms (online magazines) that can boost your signal etc.
**
As far as the point of it, I’m depressed about CHATGPT and other AI possibly replacing our highest and most definitive functions (quickly or slowly, as it’s integrated into educational systems, so that eventually fewer people will know how to express themselves as we’ve done). I retain the vain hope that all this AI shit will die somehow, maybe Anonymous or some similar group will take care of it or it self implodes... Like fuck, this very site has probably gone into their goddamn corpus so it’s likely you and I have already been apprehended that way. Sickening. In the meantime, we can’t not want to express ourselves, that just makes everything we struggle with even more pointless. Art is the only redemption I trust and know about. We can’t give it up. And fuck you, AI.
posted by cotton dress sock at 2:06 PM on August 25, 2023
I started watercolour painting this year; I've been thinking about it for years; for a long while I was scared to do anything about it. And then for a while, I thought I should learn to draw first and then I could learn to paint. And then, late last fall, I was randomly browsing watercolour painting kits, and ordered a box for myself as a Christmas present.
It helped me in many ways; but one thing that helped the most at first was that the video tutorials each begin with an oath. Literally, raise your hand and take an oath:
"I promise to be kind to myself.
I promise not to compare my work.
And I promise to have fun!"
If you watch past the oath, she talks about the importance of joy in creativity and how comparison is "the thief of joy". And that's why I create things -- to feel that joy.
Sorry I can't say more; I've got an urban sketcher meetup to get to.
posted by Superilla at 9:43 AM on August 26, 2023
It helped me in many ways; but one thing that helped the most at first was that the video tutorials each begin with an oath. Literally, raise your hand and take an oath:
"I promise to be kind to myself.
I promise not to compare my work.
And I promise to have fun!"
If you watch past the oath, she talks about the importance of joy in creativity and how comparison is "the thief of joy". And that's why I create things -- to feel that joy.
Sorry I can't say more; I've got an urban sketcher meetup to get to.
posted by Superilla at 9:43 AM on August 26, 2023
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I do it mostly for me, but it's really neat to find people in the world who are totally willing to spend time on the things that I want to do to, and it brings me joy.
posted by AlexiaSky at 7:30 PM on August 24, 2023 [5 favorites]