BLOG #4 12/13/23
Internet Art or SUPERMODERN Art?
Hello..here to yap again. This is stuff that i've thought about for a while. I haven't really talked about these ideas with many people, so if they resonated, or feel like they could take a little more scrutiny i'd love to chat about them! But also, keep in mind that this is from the perspective of someone who takes everything too seriously.
A lot of what i'm about to talk about is based on vibes, but i consider myself a veteran when it comes to this posting shit. It's been almost 2 decades since the first time I ever posted art online. If u were introduced to art or mostly engaged with it on the internet but have a greater interest in it outside of fandom or porn then i feel like u may understand the lens of "internet art" and its stigma. Like its not something inherent to art made or shared online, but theres definitely times where i feel like
it's a tangible thing that's affected how other people and myself have looked at art online. What I feel like applies mostly coincides with a combination of the use of digital tools and cartoonish/anime [definitely applies more to anime] inspired styles. It doesn't wholly apply to each on their own, but when together I think it just gives a certain level of online dorkiness..
I think that sort of association can be negative when you're trying to create new things like art. [Don't be offended, I am the biggest dork.] Mostly because it can be linked to media consumption. Like imo when i think of internet artists, these styles also generally lend themselves heavily towards what could be considered cartooning too, which has always been sort of stigmatized in the greater art world. But maybe the digital aspect is just another layer that adds to it, in addition to the dorkiness of so much of it being tied to or heavily inspired by anime or previous media you consumed/ would like to reference.
Like being an artist online and having a style well suited to cartoon/anime media, or any production could sometimes be considered a detriment imo..
The popular perception of a lot of these styles and the commercial reality of a lot of animation/ comics can be seen as something that devalues them. For these, much moreso than say a regular gallery piece, mass appeal is much more important. Dork shit has been sort of "in" for a while now. And an important aspect of most media is to be appealing enough to be sold or enjoyed on a larger scale.. It can definitely be a double edged sword! I don't think it really has to be seen as something completely positive or negative, just an observation that can negatively affect how some people come to see you or your art. [Doesn't mean they're always right] I do want to say that i don't think a lot of this is anyone's fault either; the average person has been exposed to a lot more things thru the internet so it only makes sense that we absorb a lot and have a lot we want to put out. I wouldn't say it makes u any less inspired, bc i mean honestly most of the fellow internet artists i've met have had dedication to art that far exceeds the artists i've encountered who have mainly engaged with art in purely traditional/irl settings..
Hopefully this doesn't sound too "animation is cinema" or whatever.. cuz tbh it's not a matter of all "internet art" needing to be taken more seriously. I don't think we should ban fanart and force every twitter artist to write about their feelings. I also don't think we should like, force anime pinups in galleries. [that's already been done] But i mean the internet is how a significant amount of people are exposed to art, and its shown in the inspirations of a lot of artists. I just feel more can be done to emphasize what this means to us.. especially those of us who learned art through less than traditional means. Like this is probably the most exposure people have ever had to what could be considered art, so it feels really lame how those results can be seen; offline and even online a lot of the time. Sometimes stuff just feels like it lacks any value, or I'm just throwing shit at the wall and if people think its cute then cool, maybe i can get some random person to recruit me to work on x production.. Like maybe that's the end point for a lot of us, but what if that's not the goal, or it simply doesn't end up happening? There's tons of great online artists who produce mostly original art too that I feel like could kill any type of gallery or traditional setting if given the exposure and resources.. theres a lot more potential than just having people end up on a production somewhere.
Not trying to be too ranty but it's frustrating to be interested in art as a whole, and being into experimentation and diving into new mediums etc. but not being able to escape, or utilize said "internet artist" label without being a part of some sort of legitimate institution, whether it be a gallery or school or even production studio. I could just blame it's sort of dorky nature or just the lack of respect for cartooning in general, but it's not like these issues are really exclusive to the internet. This is where I feel context becomes most important. Because maybe it could just be that there's not enough of it, and the way the internet functions makes it too impersonal. Or there's just so much that we're exposed to that its harder to really see the value in what we're looking at. And artists online typically don't see it as worth it to post a long winded explanation of what inspired them or whatever, it's just a timelapse if we're lucky lol. I'm guilty of all of these things, which is why i think it's so frustrating.
Like I would consider myself an "internet artist" based on how the average person would view my art.. but I also haven't drawn fanart regularly in like 5 years. And i do use various traditional mediums.. But maybe having so much art online with an "art style" can show a sort of resistance to leaving the comfy niche reference zone u've built for urself. Or an unwillingness to not make anything without first yelling out to the world the special interest that inspired you to make it, instead of the message u want to convey. Which on top of the sort of stigmatization cartooning has, commercial dorkiness, and use of digital tools makes it feel incompatable with how most art outside of the internet is seen. I wouldn't place too much blame on those factors tho, because i don't think these mean that art from the online sphere can't be taken more seriously. I guess ultimately i would say that in this case it'd be on me to be able to provide the context necessary for people to see a piece online and be willing to look at it outside of its immediate aesthetic appeal. Because i will admit that for a while, the only reason i did post online was to affirm to myself that i'd reached a certain level of skill, or the ability to please a lot of people aesthetically.
Hopefully all of this shit made sense. Kinda turned into me complaining. But also i think that being an artist mainly in internet spaces can be cool and can potentially have more value than it does now. Like being an "internet artist" doesn't have to be considered a real thing, because more labels wouldn't help anything. But maybe reconsidering how we produce and consume art that is intended to be posted online could be good. Like i guess my main idea is more just, what could i personally do to challenge the perception of an artist who mainly takes inspiration from what they've seen and shares their art online?
'till next time..
The second one was taken at a Gum(@Gumskiii) show. Was a good set… also the first of many oomfcons.
I kept trying to do this one tag becuz i rly liked it, until i realized i was spelling my name wrong..
My friend Mei (@aveemei) is very cool and has a lot of cool stuff and lets me crash on his couch.. literally could not be any cooler.
It was hot as hell in each city I went to.
I was melting in Chocolate City.
I like to think of it like this new blog as the actual tv show and the old one is like the pilot that became lost media or something... orz
**incomprehensible rant over**