Are Art and Content the Same & Which Should You Create?
Art vs Content; What are You Creating?
Creating content or creating art. Are they the same? Can they coexist? Should you create art or content?
Pat Kay in this video discusses these concepts and asks thought-provoking questios to get you thinking. Creating art for art sake vs creating content for marketing. Are they the same or different?
Art vs Content
Your creativity is a unique expression and a feeling. Your art is an expression of who you are.
It may not be for everyone, and you might define art differently to others.
But it’s your art.
You make art sparked from your inspiration and who you are.
What, then, is ‘content’?
This business buzzword you keep hearing about.
More commonly known these days as used in content marketing, producing appropriate, suitable and valuable materials which are distributed in relevant formats (mainly social media) to attract and keep your viewers.
So your art is already content when you share it with the world. However, it is possible that you would not consider all content to be art.
Art is created usually from feeling. When creating content for content’s sake, it can feel dull or flat to you the artist even if that content is technically successful.
Would you say that you consider art and content to be different? Are you able to create content that feels like art, or do you take time to create art and content as different practices?
Is content culture watering down art?
You might have heard the saying recently, “everything is content!” Aimed at business marketing strategy to gain exposure on social media platforms. Well meaning, as the algorithms on social media these days are causing business to put in a lot of effort just to stay on the feeds of their followers.
There are many algorithm hoops to jump through to be seen by your own followers, let alone be seen by others. So businesses feel this pressure to create create create for content.
You might feel like you have to be creating all the time for marketing. Pumping out all the Instagram reels you can every week.
But what happened to creating for creating sake?
Are you losing your art and getting lost in the content?
Is there still time for just making art?
You might ask yourself if this ‘everything is content’ culture is positively or negatively affecting your own creativity.
Maybe you don’t get that feeling creating content that you do just creating art.
How do you keep creating art amidst the pressure of content culture?
Maybe you can take stock of all of this and make space for making art for art’s sake, and for your sake as an artist.
If you find art to be an expression of yourself and a feeling, it is important for you to keep that alive.
Especially amidst the content heavy world, it is important to keep making art and intentionally not worry about the algorithm.
Chasing the feeling you get creating art has become something that has to be more intentional than before.
Do you make art or do you make content?
Content is important right now, that is true if you are marketing through social media. But you should consider the price for making more content than art.
Because if all you do is make content, you might miss the feeling of creating art.
If you feel the pressure to pump out the most content you can, your creativity might feel on the backburner.
Is making content more important than making art to you?
Sometimes the algorithms can wait.
There will be a tension between creating art and creating content.
Content needs to be intentionally made to fit a certain mould and showcase your brand or business to the world. And art needs to be vulnerable self expression made with craftsmanship from an artist.
Sometimes they can be one and the same. But often they may not be. It’s really up to you.
All of your content can be art, and all of your art can be used as content. Or creating art can be a separate discipline from the practice of making content.
It depends how you express yourself as an artist, and there are no wrong answers.
Does everything have to be content?
As the world and technology and marketing marketing strategies shift and change, it can seem difficult to keep up as an artist.
But if creating art is important to you, you should keep doing it! Make the time and space.
If it ends up being content, great! And if it’s just art from your expression, also great.
The feeling of art can be lost if you aren’t taking time for cultivating it in this ‘everything is content’ culture.
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