Not so long ago, the artist made the art. Thats all they needed to do. The gallery, the patrons and the agents would take care of the rest.
Today, if you want success, you have to be a media company first, then an artist. The journey of making the art becomes the story you tell to create buy-in. The journey becomes the process, and the honest communication of the journey is the practice of the artist. This requires a level of transparency that simply wasn’t required before: talking into a camera lens. Uploading Instagram stories. Showing your failure.
There is so much talent out there that is not shared with the world. Though talented, many artists suffer from indulgence and selfishness. They work tirelessly for perfection in their private studios, then reveal their finished product to the world. The product is incredible – but when incredible is easily disseminated, the next valuable commodity is authenticity. Authenticity requires vulnerability, which means sharing your story and reaching out to people, before creating a masterpiece.
We live in an amazing time. Social media, for all its dark sides, is literally exposing us to ourselves, and creating the space for greater authenticity, which requires vulnerability.
