The concept
Concept this, concept that. Throughout Uni, one of our tutors would bang on endlessly about the need to have a concept behind a piece of work. We were taught some fundamentals of animation, game design, illustration, web development, programming, and more. So, whenever I made something new from any of these fields, I just wanted to make something incredible.
Growing frustrated as the years went by, I still failed to understand why this one tutor wouldn’t just let us create something just because. Just because it is incredible. Just because it is nice to look at. Just because it was enjoyable to create. Just because the coding was clean as Hell.
Art for Art’s Sake
Just because. Yes, I was that kind of person.
Simply put, I rarely had a concept behind the things I was creating. Every time any of us did that, we’d be grilled by the tutor saying she “can’t see the concept” or that it’s “essential to have a concept.” Really and truly, it was tiring to hear all of the time.
I liked when it was something that looked great. Something simply for the sake of pleasure is still nice, and has a seat at the table.
I loved this route into creation. Simple curiosity drove me down many avenues of creation. Learning how to corrupt files in a safe way, learning which files corrupted in which ways.. see, I had no concept. I just wanted to know. I loved this route. I used to love taking photographs of whatever looked interesting to me — regardless of whether it could convey a greater message.
Automation
Now, all of your favourite practices are more accessible than ever. Photography — though a recent practice relative to things like painting, sculpture, and those that require no technology — is more accessible now with the progression of the technology involved. If using a Kodak Retina Ib (for example) you have to have a solid sense of what settings are necessary for the speed of your film. You can’t just point & shoot, get some nice images, and become an accomplished Photographer. It’s far more technical.
Get any current DSLR or CSC and you can put it straight on Auto, point & shoot, and get results. Damn, you don’t even need a DSLR or CSC — any standard Compact will achieve this, even a Phone camera. This process of automating results — to me — makes these practices far more accessible. Coming from a Photography background, I’ve wondered for a while now about what actually warrants the title of Photographer.. what exactly is it that allows one to regard themselves in this way. (On a similar note, I wrote about what makes Great Photography.)
Automation:
- makes it easier for people to learn
- makes art more accessible
- makes it easier to create
Now you can pass your images through a filter and have them look like they’ve been corrupted and you remain unknowing of the processes that can make that corruption a reality.
Over-saturation
Well now with the increased accessibility, anyone can become a Photographer, a Designer, a Writer, and so on. It’s awfully easy to assign these labels. And while I support that, it can become difficult for some.
Instagram is growing at an incredible rate, doubling it’s user-base to 700m in the past two years. (In April TechCrunch broke down the stats for those that love them.)
Instagram is full of designers, photographers, stylists, make up artists, directors, and more. It can become incredibly hard — especially with these new algorithms prioritising certain content — to get your work seen amongst the maelstrom of sunset Photography, selfies, and screen-printed slogan t-shirts.
You don’t need a concept, anymore. I can’t help but think this over-saturation means some are losing out.
And with that
Don’t get me wrong. Uni was a blast. But I never had a concept. Now, I realise the need for one.
But yes, I’ve fallen victim once again in this here piece of writing.
Interested in contributing or signing up for updates? ⛵️
