On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
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On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
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Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#2Didn't mention what I consider the biggest blow to the arts: our educational system's teach-to-the-test ethos quashing children's innate tendency to create. Adults' tendencies are quashed too, probably more by lack of leisure time, spreading thin of in-person community, distracting environment, financial insecurity, and unhealthy diet.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#3The worst part of this is that the artists which tend to get promoted have zero talent. You cannot compare popular musicians today from those in the 70s and 80s.
Actually there are very talented artists around today but it's impossible to find them... Takes a lot of searching on YouTube. I found some music on YouTube recently that blew me away but it didn't even hit 100k views... This extremely talented artist can't even feed themselves with that.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#4The worst part of this is that the artists which tend to get promoted have zero talent. You cannot compare popular musicians today from those in the 70s and 80s. Actually there are very talented artists around today but it's impossible to find them... Takes a lot of searching on YouTube. I found some music on YouTube recently that blew me away but it didn't even hit 100k views... This extremely talented artist can't…
What was the artist's channel?
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#5The worst part of this is that the artists which tend to get promoted have zero talent. You cannot compare popular musicians today from those in the 70s and 80s. Actually there are very talented artists around today but it's impossible to find them... Takes a lot of searching on YouTube. I found some music on YouTube recently that blew me away but it didn't even hit 100k views... This extremely talented artist can't…
The article touches on this, albeit briefly. Talent is no longer a requirement to be popular. Loud, novel - but also familiar -, and repetitive are all qualities that are favored over talent or skill.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#6Wow that was rather grim... I can't tell if the problem is more with algorithmic curation (and the big tech middleman squeezing margins) or with consumer behavior (expecting everything to be effectively free)? I will keep this in mind because this space, monetizing content creators online, is very interesting to me.
Great read, thanks for sharing.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#7Yeah, it's harder to be an artist because the internet has connected the whole world. The world used to be less connected and as a result, had lots of inefficient redundancy. If you wanted to see a play before, your options are pretty limited. Now, you can watch the best cast in the world from 10 years ago. It's only bad to be an artist now because art has become competitive.
This is awful for the artists, but awesome for everyone who enjoys art. This is truly the peak of art. Think about what you could experience before and what you can experience now. And not only think of yourself, but all of the people in the world who now have access. It's mind-blowing.
Like all industries, competition sucks for the entrenched. Artists can't just write a book anymore or can't just paint something beautiful. The landscape has completely changed. The choice has never been greater and artists must adapt by finding their niches.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#8Reminds me of streaming platforms. Streaming platform originals have a certain lack of polish that I miss. And there's so much of it, it feels like it's a mile wide and an inch deep.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#9Yeah, it's harder to be an artist because the internet has connected the whole world. The world used to be less connected and as a result, had lots of inefficient redundancy. If you wanted to see a play before, your options are pretty limited. Now, you can watch the best cast in the world from 10 years ago. It's only bad to be an artist now because art has become competitive. This is awful for the artists, but awesom…
I think it’s not just that there’s more art now, it’s also that the systems we use to consume it (spotify, Netflix, etc) shape that art, sometimes for the better but often for the worse.
It’s like when the CEO of spotify said recently that “you can’t make an album every 3 years and be successful anymore.” He’s mostly right, but he skips over the part that he is probably the person most responsible for that fact. He also skips over the fact that cranking out 3x as much music is unlikely to result in higher quality art.
So I guess all I’m saying is that I agree with you, but it’s not inevitable and it doesn’t have to be this way if we don’t like it.
Re: On William Deresiewicz’s “The Death of the Artist”
#10Yeah, it's harder to be an artist because the internet has connected the whole world. The world used to be less connected and as a result, had lots of inefficient redundancy. If you wanted to see a play before, your options are pretty limited. Now, you can watch the best cast in the world from 10 years ago. It's only bad to be an artist now because art has become competitive. This is awful for the artists, but awesom…
Since the invention of videotape it has been possible to watch plays with great casts. But I think that live drama is the form least affected by this, for two reasons: it is about live actors in front of an audience; the context changes with the times. Think of Henry V performed in WW II England (yes, yes, I am thinking of Olivier's movie) or of Lysistrata put on by the literal minded during the second Gulf War.