How artists make themselves heard in an increasingly crowded internet
Storytelling has always been an integral part of the artistic landscape in one way or another throughout history. In ancient Greece and Rome, visual iconography emerged to represent abstract concepts so that the viewer would instantly understand the story being told. A woman in military dress holding a shield, for example, was most likely the goddess Athena.
Art has expanded beyond the use of a universally recognizable visual vocabulary and now encompasses modes of expression that are more abstract. One thing that has remained the same — the desire, on the part of the viewer, for art to tell a story. People inherently want to make sense of what they see. In many cases, viewers need artists to guide them in that quest.
The modern world is much more vast than the ancient one. The rate at which we consume art and media happens at an astounding frequency. We don’t have to leave the house to consume art, it is constantly fed to us via technology. AI systems, which have grown in popularity recently, mass produce art that ends up plastered across our screens. For this reason, art viewing has become less intentional. We don’t need to seek it out because it’s handed to us.
This phenomenon is both good and bad. On the one hand, art and culture has been democratized to a certain extent by virtue of it being more easily accessible to the masses. On the other hand, people have become a bit desensitized to the process of viewing due to the sheer amount of content we consume on a daily basis. We scroll through so much content every day, but how much of it do we actually process? The internet is a visually overwhelming place with too much stimuli for any one person to fully absorb. The result: we filter things out.
How can an artist stand out when their artwork is being consumed unintentionally and perhaps a bit mindlessly? How can artists compete with AI systems that can work at inhuman paces and produce more art than they could ever hope to generate in their lifetime? This is where storytelling comes in.
Storytelling is more important than ever for artists hoping to become successful in this increasingly digital age.
When an artist tells the story of their artwork, they reveal intricacies about how they fit into the world, the communities they belong to, the places they inhabit, the histories that formed them, the opinions that construct their worldview. These stories resonate with viewers, make us stop scrolling. They encourage us to consume with intention, to hit the follow button and learn more, to share with our networks. They create deeper connections that bond us to one another. Stories are what set us apart.
