--- Area of Interest --- ▒ How are we allowing instagram to shape the way in which we share, engage with, and connect to art? ▒ What values have been coded in its algorithms and in turn, what values are being coded into the art that is being shared on the platform – how do these change the artist and community? ▒ How does the involvement of instagram in the art world and with art institutions affect the anti-blackness and racism that have long been ingrained in them? ▒ What would it look like to be able to share and engage with art in a digital space that strengthens community, devalues the commodification of art, and fosters engagement in sharing ideas and collective action?
Sources: ▓ Art in the Age of Social Media Interaction Behavior Analysis of Instagram Art Accounts ▓ The Dark Psychology of Social Networks - The Atlantic ▓ Instagram is changing the way we experience art, and that's a good thing ▓ Instagram: Art’s New Playground
CONTEXT: It seems that although there has been increasingly negative, or at least cautious, sentiment about the effects and broader political consequences of social media in general, the popular discourse relating to art has been that instagram has had a positive and democratizing effect on the art world. Specifically, it has changed the relationship between museums and the general public, encouraging more collaborative and immersive modes of engagement, and has started to dissolve the traditional boundaries associated with the art institution, making art more accessible for everyone and promoting a participatory culture. Anecdotally, many artists have started to limit their exposure of the platform or constraint its usage (often with the acknowledgement that they need it for networking and opportunities) due to its effects on their relationship with their art.
particularly for visual and digital art, as they have a direct visual (mis)representation or alteration that must be made for instagram (ex - crop preview, trimmed video). sometimes instagram influences or determines the art itself - the Square is all consuming. the notifications, the quantified feedback is all consuming. I feel like the dopamine rushes from the notifications hollow me out slowly, every time I confuse the edges of the line between art creation and content creation for myself instagram is a necessity for many artists (among others). but like, come on there’s gotta be something better than this???? right???? 👻 what kind of digital space would you wish for, that was exciting or serene or inviting? what would it be like, how would it hold people and let them experience art together? [image description: a screenshot of an iOS note with black background and white sans serif text that says “crowdsourcing info: what other open online spaces / networks do you know of that are or have been used for sharing and engaging in art? I wonder how it would feel to not consider the buzzing of the fast, massive currents of algorithmic feeds, or the inescapable consequence of self-branding (everything is branding on the Grid), the dopamine rush of dotted hearts and numbers in a bubble of red (or is it pink?), when choosing to release something tender into the world”. Above it is a line of eyeball emojis and on the last line there are a bunch of ocean wave emojis.]
In Ruha Benjamin's Race After Technology, while discussing the question of freedom and autonomy in an age where algorithms predict and shape behaviours, she posits that racial dimensions are not merely a sublot of the problem at hand as they may seem, but perhaps deeply embedded in its roots because "as philosopher Sylvia Wynter has argued, our very notion of what it means to be human is fragmented by race and other axes of difference". I think it would be important to apply this approach when considering the relationship between art and instagram.
Relevant Works: 1 - Through the Virtual Aether - Rebecaa Sweets [I was lucky to experience this tour myself, and it has certainly influenced the ways I think about digital intimacy and its presence and absence in certain spaces. I think the "platform" vs "world" distinction seems really important here in informing what could be a digital space that allows artists to retain wholeness and agency. One is flattening and has restrictive goals and prescriptive experiences. The other allows the existence of multiple perceptions and journeys, and unscripted interaction with others.] 2- Age of You - various artists [I think the question of identity in the social media age - its extraction and fragmentation - is extremely pertinent when it comes to art creation and existence of the artist on a corporate profit-driven platform like instagram.]
▒ individualism, branding, marketing ▒ strategy to survive in a competitive market ▒ gaming algorithms ▒ volume volume volume speed speed speed