Stairwellblog

We all know that typical imagery of the tortured artist…the individual with an odd sense of style and penchant for nonconformity. The lonely artist seems to need only his canvas and homemade oil paints. The truth however, is that creatives need a social outlet. A place to call their own.  While the need for social context has remained embedded (in artists) for generations, it’s only recently we see artist form web based social networks.

Artists are constantly strung to their work while simultaneously (and rather obsessively) focused on all possible creative endeavors. The driving force behind great arts seems to be this OCD quality and need for creative perfection.  Artists, as well as designers have an extreme case of extroverted intuition. A constant need to observe, interpret, and make. This is with cost, the artist will become a loner, not nearly as social. A tremendous interpersonal frustration forms. The individual artists needs social context, and are driven away from this need by the creative pursuit. What is this individual to do?

Creative thinkers are now imbued with endless social possibilities online. Personal links and networks across continents can form, all while the artists is scudded away in the confines of his dark studio. Essentially, web social media has given artists a modern day form of communication (a movement in a sense). Sites like core77.com have brought thousands of artists/designers together in one spot. Issues in design are brought to the masses and discussed through forums and blogs. Individual and company portfolios are laid out for all to see. These web communities merely reflect creative group-think persona that has been around for ages. Artists are provided with an outlet to observe as well as a path to communicate.

Since the cavemen, artists have reached out to each other (a need driven by their lack of social context). It seems as though every great creative period involved major communities of artist. Grand masters of the renaissance period collaborated with peers and students. Salvador Dali amongst other great painters intermingled during the surrealist movement. Artists worked with each other in studios, some even lived together. This is really no different today save for that creative communication has been optimized through the Internet.

I find it rather odd when individuals detest the advantages of web media. I hear stuff like “Twitter and Facebook are destroying our privacy.” The truth, is that web media is just a more fantastic tool by which people can communicate, especially for those creative types. No longer are people of similar interest confined to groups within a small geographical range. The “isolated artist,” has web media to provide that that potent outlet for social context. Old habits are treated with a new means solution.