It was good to be signposted to your post here, by @vincentnijman 's tagging your article, dear @selfhelp4trolls - really great sharing, and great questions you're asking: I set up this Art. community with many of the questions you ask in mind. I've asked myself many of them too, as my online presence began to decline dramatically in recent years - and after 35 + years of hard slog as an artist, carving out my 'identity' and scarbbling for crumbs!
I hope you'll join us there and be supported by the good vibes and connections: I have much to respond to in your post, but don't want to overdo it! So much of what you're saying is being experienced by every kind of creative who is making unique stuffs; ultimately, the algorithms are designed to filter out Truth, and so anything truly original is also hidden. I am seeing small creative businesses everywhere being affected hugely by this: the internet as it exists is effectively blacklisting us, or subtley censoring us.
However, and even though I've reached the point in recent years of almost giving up my lifelong calling to Art., it has become clear that my whole previous comprehension about audience-celebrity/ artist relationship was completely skewed. As my 'public' diminished, I recognised where the folks who'd been supporting me had been doing so very superficially -or even, they had some kind of morbid codependent presumption about me and what they were 'buying' from me.
I moved out of transactional and contractional work dynamics - slowly but surely - beginning a few years ago, and now 'sell' literally nothing. I have a small and perfectly formed group of very special folks who resonate with what I do; some of them support my via Hive and crypto here, some are my blessed monthly supporters on Patreon, some support me in kind/ randomly/ spontaneously/ in person, and I get a lot of what I need either freely from nature or bartering or cheaply from secondhand markets.
My need for buying new things has diminished, obviously, with my dwindling income! But this was a temporary stress, as my shift into symbiosis with my environment and community meant that everythign I needed came to be regardless of how much money I had. In fact, the less money I was earning, the more I had access to in season local food: the less I had inkling or appetite for things and experiences beyond the immediate realm I live in... Everything changed, and my vitality and focus were transformed for expontentially greater wellbeing - and continues to do so.
This led me to take a lot of time out from my usual Art. practise, and to review what I had achieved as well as what my expectations were of my work's presence and purpose in the world. Through profound conversations with very close friends, like @exoexplorer , @theastone and @vincentnijman - especially in our weekly Co-Creation Sessions, I came to a place of divine peace around what it is to be co-creator rather than the cultural definition of 'art-ist'. I am never looking back: stepping out of the drama and confusion of our role as conventional 'art-ists' is powerfully liberating, as the structures of the world very necessarily have to crumble, and new more organic forms aligned with Nature take their place.
Sending you huge encouragement to keep creating and keep postitive about how it will work out. Letting go of scarcity mentality is a huge task, and we all will be challenged by it, sooner or later: behind the mythology of there not-being-enough of anything/ everything, and behind the algorithms and censorship, there are folks like us recognising that WE hold ALL the POWER, and that no system or corporation can get between us and each other, or between us supporting and uplifting each other!
Much love to you 😍
I’ve been following you on and off for a while now, and I’m always impressed. It’s only on and off cause there is way too much to follow these days, and we haven’t actually spoken yet. The pregnancy, the house, the weekly art jams (been thinking about doing something in the physical like this for a while now).
I don’t really see technology or even the algorithms as a bad thing, I just don’t like how much power we’ve given them over our lives and I’m trying to reorient myself more on the physical as well as in intentional online communities these days (so I will join the art jam whenever I can, putting it on my calendar since I’m trying to use one of those these days)
I spent about 3 years trying to live using only the concept of a gift economy. I would use money but only earned through Free-pricing and only $200 usd a month in a city that usually costs people $2000 a month. I got very tired of the living conditions so I went back into society a bit while trying to fix my whole foundation.
It’s funny. Now I’m not really in society but I’m not really out of it either. I kind of like it, able to live in both worlds, I feel free to enter the arenas of office workers and whatever people might consider “normies” and I can live in squats and eco villages. I like going back and forth although the ultimate goal is to liberate myself to a greater degree and I assume and hope (while trying to reserve expectations) that I will help others do the same in the process.
I am not sure what needs to crumble and what needs to transform, all I know is that change is inevitable and love begets love (beget! 😆 first time I used that word!) and the deeper I dig into myself the more I learn about the world, so I keep digging 🔥
Ahhhhhh shit. Meant to reply to this but wanted to give it a proper reply. I will try to now but just in case I don’t finish , here’s a temporary reply !