Yesterday, I did an interview for this autumn’s Artworks for Humanity. The conversation got me thinking about the relationship between art and social media.
How does social media shape creativity?
Social media is a two-edged sword for the creative. It can energize our thinking or chip away at our self-esteem.
I can now visit more museums in a day than I used to be able to visit in a year. The internet gives us instant access to others’ ideas. That’s great for cross-pollination, learning about trends, and feeling like part of the larger creative world. Social media can give you feedback and help you find your tribe, particularly when you’re a niche artist.
At the same time, social media is essentially isolating, since we post and consume it alone.
Constant comparison with others makes me feel less productive and less creative. The feedback one gets is seldom deep, thoughtful or intelligent. Rather, it’s distilled down to things like, “Love this,” or “Beautiful!” Worse, it can simply mean capturing as many likes as we can get.
Fear of negative feedback can steer us back toward safer subjects. That has been one of the bugbears interfering with my own work over the last few months. None of us like to admit that we seek validation, but we do.
When we’re always on display, it’s too easy to play it safe. I mentioned on Monday that I’m not sharing my sketchbook right now, because it’s full of half-baked ideas. When I’m playing to the crowd, I avoid risks.
Social media favors easily-digested content, like reels, stories, and time-lapses of work in the making. That encourages output over depth, which is why those acrylic paint-pouring videos are so popular.
Small video screens favor images that are high-saturation. Yesterday, I was showing Inlet (above) to a gallery visitor. I love this painting for its accurate rendering of the boreal woods, but it doesn’t read wonderfully on social media. It’s dark, cool and low-chroma.
I like high-chroma painting as much as anyone, but it’s not the only kind of art that has value. Often, other art wears better over time.
How has the rise of social media changed how we make art?
Before the internet, artists created work with gallery visitors, clients and themselves in mind. Today we ask, “How will this look on Instagram?” This shifts the intention of the work, but it also affects how we make it. We’re living in the age of bold color and brushwork, because these are the things that look good on a small screen. Fewer people concentrate on the gemlike beauty of indirect light, despite its long history in painting.
Social media favors regular posting. That makes speed paramount. Painting to trending hashtags (like challenges) or good Search Engine Optimization (SEO) terms is a sadly common idea. Consciously or subconsciously, artists prioritize what’s shareable over what’s meaningful or complex.
You might say these things don’t matter to you, but you wouldn’t even be seeing this blog if I didn’t tailor the word order in my posts to SEO. Without it, the most beautiful content sinks like a rock.
Painting is not performance art
I’ve made enough painting videos to know that the camera always affects my final product. Time-lapses, reels, and behind-the-scenes content have made the performance of art-making paramount in art and social media. Thoughtful painting is a slow, laborious, constantly shifting process. It’s full of mistakes, missteps, and bad ideas, none of which are telegenic.
Come see me tomorrow in Camden
I’ll be at Lone Pine Real Estate, 19 Elm St., Camden, ME, from 5-7 for this month’s Camden Art Walk. Stop by and I’ll buy you a glass of wine!
Reserve your spot now for a workshop in 2025:
- Advanced Plein Air Painting, Rockport, ME, July 7-11, 2025.
- Sea and Sky at Acadia National Park, August 3-8, 2025.
- Find Your Authentic Voice in Plein Air, Berkshires, MA, August 11-15, 2025.
- Immersive In-Person Fall Workshop, Rockport, ME, October 6-10, 2025.