Is Clout Killing Creativity?
Last week, my friend shared an article with a disturbing headline in our group chat: “GRAPHIC: Azealia Banks appears to dig up a dead cat and boils it”.
Disgusted and confused as to why someone would do that and even worse to film it for the world to see, I avoided clicking on the link. However, it was the question my friend posed in the chat that caused me to pause and reflect: “Is clout killing creativity?”
Clout is essentially cultural currency; referring to the power or social influence that a person holds. On the internet, it can be used to obtain just about anything. Most importantly, attention. In recent years, social media platforms have given a lot of people the freedom to do and say whatever they want with the intention of getting their ‘likes’ and 150,000 views of fame. There is always someone doing whatever it takes for people to say their name, like the recent “Corona challenge” or the controversial career of rapper, Tekashi 6ix9ine.
“There is only one thing in life worse than being talked about, and that is not being talked about.” Oscar Wilde
But not everyone who actively chases ‘likes’, viral moments and amassing large followings do outlandish and outrageous antics. For creatives trying to make a living or keep their spot at the top, attention is capital. Which makes me wonder if clout chasing is sometimes a necessary action creatives must take to cut through the noise online and call attention to our work.
Garnering enough eyes on a creative’s work is the life-changing difference between a hobby and making a living doing what you love. Sometimes it takes creating art or writing to entertain a crowd in order to be heard; it’s making your work your performance.
Clout in art isn’t new
Although we now have a word to sum up the behaviour, clout’s presence in art and culture has been around for a long time. We’ve witnessed so many iconic examples, especially in music. Madonna has cultivated an extensive and prosperous career garnering headlines with boundary-pushing actions. From Religious groups protesting her ‘Like a Prayer’ video, saying that it contained blasphemous use of Christian imagery, to her three-way kiss of pop princesses Britney Spears and Christina Aguilera at the MTV Music Awards, Madonna knows exactly what it takes to keep people talking about her art.
However, one of the earliest examples is Andy Warhol who understood that attention could be commodified. Recognizing the social capital and impact of celebrity, he created art specifically with the intention of capturing and packaging the allure of fame.
In The Economics of Attention, Author Richard A. Lanham describes how Andy’s own ascent to fame became a part of his artistic expression and creative cache.
“Andy knew he had to create a public personality that would function as an attention trap as efficient as his artwork. As he himself said of his endless party-going and art-going: ‘But then, we weren’t just at the art exhibit — we were the art exhibit.”
Lanham makes a great point that art is whatever the artist wishes to call to our attention. It is an act of attention the artist wishes to invoke in the beholder.
Which is what I believe articulates the difference between the continuous and directionless chase for attention that has become the norm on social media and the kind of art that makes us uncomfortable in order to feel something or see the world differently.
It’s All in the Intention
When your work is your currency, it’s hard not to get lost in the race for clicks.
When we see lucrative opportunities and massive followings flow in the direction of what’s trending, it’s difficult to not be swayed by it.
Whether it’s deciding to record a dancing TikTok video even when it feels inauthentic to who you are or writing a click-bait headline just to increase your readership, staying true to your creative values can sometimes feel like the road less traveled.
Building a creative career is a marathon but it still requires some risks along the way. Which means seeking attention is not wrong, however, it is dependent on what you are willing to do in order to get it.
So to answer my friend’s question: “is clout killing creativity?”
I’d say, time will show us whose art stands the test of time like Madonna’s and Warhol’s work. Creativity only dies when it is not linked to anything — it’s not grounded in a value, a message or a purpose.
