The Internet has given us the ability to share anything and everything. User-generated content represents the 99% with endless streams of memes, selfies, status updates, cat videos, and news — giving birth to a plethora of creativity and art, benefiting lives everywhere around the world.
We now live in a culture where those lines between art, entertainment, and consumer are no longer distinguishable. With the advent of platforms like Instagram, Facebook, YouTube, and SoundCloud, there has been a growing emphasis on quantity over quality, and as a result made the discovery of artists equivalent to winning the lottery.
This has left artists frustrated, desperately searching for ways to stand out amongst all the noise, and furthermore, find sustainability amongst a fickle social landscape.
But not everyone is an artist.
A creative mindset is an expression of the imagination and an echo of authenticity. But for the artist, creativity is not the end-goal or focus, but is only a crucial part of the artistic process. Art is an active pursuit of perfection in craft. It is a life’s work and investment, sometimes putting at risk sound logic or reason to pursue authenticity and artistic vision.
This mindset allows for a creative culture and ecosystem that allows the creative voice in everyone, especially artists, to be seen and be heard.
So how do you filter through the commotion when you’re up against social media platforms that drive a culture of mass quantity content?
Not everyone is an artist, but everyone has a story to share.
Whether it is the places we travel, subjects we’re passionate about, people we want to champion, or the moments in life that we memorialize — our creativity manifests itself by using photos, videos, audio, and words to capture these personal and significant moments.
However, people have found these moments thrown into a grey mass of unnoticeable content. And social media celebrities or “influencers” continue to perpetuate a culture where the lines between art, entertainment, and consumer remain distorted, restricting the next generation of artists from being seen and keeping them from inspiring and influencing true artistic craft.
We need to change this culture. We need to recognize that the creativity in each and every person is not limited to single posts, and the artists that push the boundaries of our imagination are not determined by a large numerical following.
The stories we share will help build our future. And that is why we built August.
August is ushering a future empowered through creative storytelling by championing the mindset of artists.
Be it through music, photography, film, writing, or painting — our stories needs to be fought for in a social and technological world that has no longer placed true value in it.
August champions the future of creativity, and we are calling everyone with a story to be a part of it.
