What did Obrist tell me over dinner? (Clickbait title)
Tips for future art meme-makers — surviving in the post-apocalyptic art world
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Have you tuned in to watch Hans Ulrich Obrist’s Instagram Live interview with Torkwase Dyson? Yeah, me neither.*
With their physical spaces now closed, art institutions are scrambling to fill the void in their programmes. Most of this online content is stirred up last minute with little second thought. And to be honest, it’s all crap.
It’s just counterproductive to bombard our feeds with random content in order to “stay relevant”. This flood of content prevents artists who use social media to engage with their regular audiences. Physical art institutions are supposed to support artists, not get in their way. On top of this, reducing physical artworks to pictures on a smartphone isn’t fair to artists who make those artworks. Think of a sculptor whose physical work is now a 1080 x 1080 JPEG file on an Instagram feed. Did they allow their physical artworks to solely exist on a smartphone?
I see all of this as a great opportunity to reflect. It’s obvious that online platforms will play a big role in the next chapter of the art world. We need to learn how to engage with art online in a more meaningful way.
Art memes carry certain traits that can help us with this. These traits can be adapted to any online project (including memes.)
Anonymity:
The crucial advantage of meme-making is its anonymity. This is helpful in two ways. First, this means that anyone can make memes. But, more importantly, it allows people to anonymously show their support. There are many people in the art world (more than you might think) who can’t share their true opinion because of their professional roles and social relationships with other people. Anonymity allows everyone to support their genuine well intentions.
There are some people who I consider to be “high-up” in the art world following Freeze. I notice that 99% of the time, they avoid liking any posts but keep following.
Credibility:
To push for change, one needs to be a credible voice as well as being critical. I don’t mean people should stay vanilla. Add as much spice as you like. Just don’t make spicy content for the sake of likes and stirring up drama. Everything occurs in agreement and we need to push that agreement in the right direction without breaking it.
I made a few nasty memes in the past and when I look back now, I don’t disagree with what they said, but don’t think they were constructive.
Humour:
It might be redundant to say this but funny content always goes much further. (Don’t think you can change the art world with boring texts like this one.) The mix of critical commentary with humour and images carries a lot of potential to go viral.
Virality:
With a balanced mixture of anonymity, credibility and virality, it’s possible to normalise forward-thinking proposals in the art world. When I first started, I was inspired by Jerry Gogosian and wanted to try making memes myself. Things growing this big was never my intention. If you use the right hashtags and spam a couple of people on Instagram, I’m sure you could do the same too.
I wish I could share some private conversations I had on Instagram thanks to Freeze. It’s a great feeling to be able to communicate with people you admire, disapprove or anything in-between.
Your art critic friend,
Dick Seltzer
(not my real name)
* Soz to HUO and Torkwase Dyson but it just wasn’t an interesting conversation.
** I started writing this piece before the coronavirus cancelled private views and shut down art galleries. At first, the plan was to compare art memes to Institutional Critique. It’s an obvious one, I know.
The term “Institutional Critique” refers to art that is made to criticise art institutions and how they operate. Curators and other art intellectuals are also involved in this genre and often discuss the problems in art institutions in talks and panels. More often than not, these panel discussions are organised by the same institutions that the participants are meant to criticise.
When you receive minimum wage and have no job security, how can you stand up to the institutions that pay for your bills? (Feels even more relevant now, doesn’t it?) Enough has been said about Institutional Critique already.
