CULTURE

Stop Creating “Content” and Make Something Beautiful

Art is creation, not consumption

ink art by author

I’m blown away right now by Rick Rubin’s book, The Creative Act: A way of Being.

For any artist or creator out there, this should be required reading. I don’t mean creating “content,” I’m specifically referring to those who make art. Whether it be music, painting, drawing, sculpting…any form of art. I’m talking about the people out there pouring their hearts and souls into their amazing creations with little regard for what happens after that.

Creating “content” for consumption is another thing entirely. I understand we all need to make a living, and we’re looking for a creative way to do so. The problem is that it naturally leads to hustling and churning out garbage and comparing yourself and your work to others.

The world in which we live today is built on comparison. The fact that people call themselves “content creators” is deeply saddening to me. If you’re creating “content,” you’re not creating anything meaningful. You’re creating stuff to be swallowed up by as many people as possible as quickly as possible, and if it wasn’t shit before, it is after they digest it.

If you don’t know who Rick Rubin is, he founded Def Jam records. He has produced for dozens…