The Industrialization of Creativity

I would like to suggest that there are in general three types of artist in the postmodern era. My touch points are: what is the place of the artist in the PM? What are the goals of the artist?

KEY

Chaotic sand particles: conscious input via senses and emotional reactions

Silt: unconscious accumulation of forms taken by the chaotic sand particles, layered by how they correlate to emotional reactions that have now been moved into the silt

PM: Postmodern

M: Modern

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Artist 1:

The subject that prioritises creation for one’s self. In this context, creation is essentially a therapeutic activity that helps the subject process their unconscious ‘chaos’ into a variety of external, concrete forms or languages. I would like to suggest that this drive becomes the fundamental basis of creation after the rise of the modern or industrial period.

The subject picks forms that are either deliberately mixed [PM] or chooses to hierarchise the forms and pick a single medium that they believe sit above all others [M]. Such an act, especially when repeated, is purposefully self-indulgent. Results, in the sense of measured emotional release, depend on the levels of emotional trauma the subject has experienced throughout their existence. However, this release is a necessary part of developing the breadth and scale of the subject’s psyche. Therefore, it is not assured that the subject becomes more emotionally stable as a result of regulating or planning their artistic activities. In fact the inverse can occur. But regardless of outcome, the exchange process between the conscious input of chaotic sand particles and the layers of sedimentary silt that sit at the bottom of the riverbed become less independent or disjointed, and instead take on a more reciprocal figuration.

There is no intended or consciously sought audience for this mode of creation. Yet the desire for a response from an unknown audience may be unknown to the subject themselves and lay dormant in their unconscious. But in many cases this desire is simply not present. Thus, there exists no predetermined notion or imaginary image of reception for the subject for which to compare the results of their artistic endeavors against. The dominant unconscious aim is to release repressed emotions in a controlled, managed fashion that prevents the subject from extreme fissures or geysers of emotional overload. This is perhaps the purest type of subject that has evolved out of the cultural move into modernism from 1890 onwards – a self-reflexive type of subject that prioritises communication to one’s self above all else.

Artist 2:

The same as 1, but with additional secondary, conscious concerns of reception in mind. This can be defined as a conscious desire or will to control the external interpretation of your art and your own artistic intentions. This conscious desire to manage your own reception from your own existing or imaginary audience penetrates the subject’s primal unconscious drive to release emotion [which governs artist 1]. This in turn can complicate the controlled or ‘managed’ release of silt and input of sand particles can become more chaotic. In many respects the drives described above can potentially undermine any healing process, and instead lead to a critical commentary of both audience [culture] and their own psyche [self-reflexivity]. Their condition bifurcates between the position of artist 1 and artist 3, and can lead in many respects to the most wide-reaching art of all three positions. In terms of their psyche, however, this oscillation can lead to very unstable emotional parameters.

Artist 3:

The same as 2, but where reception becomes the primary conscious concern. This fully undermines the healing process of artist 1, which is fundamental to creation. This is the dominant type of artist in the PM. The goal therefore of this type of artist is to *become a representation of themselves*.

This unusual situation leads to a type of creation that conforms solely with two specific external functions; specifically, the market and the audience. As such, this mode of creation – whilst perhaps leading to a flood or creativity – has nothing to do with the self-healing aspects which govern artist 1, and moderately govern artist 2. Conforming with the market in no way guarantees that the market will return financial gains to the artist. Often, the inverse happens and creativity is stifled by a lack of returns as a result of the subject’s conscious obsession with controlling their own representation within the marketplace. Any venture into more profitable areas of the market are thwarted by their conscious determination to control what their audience look and respond like to their creations.

The result is that the emotional trauma of poorer, working class artists which fuelled the revolutionary works of the early M period is replaced in the PM by the appropriated vision of middle-class artists who consciously inflict emotional trauma upon themselves. This tends to take on the figuration of consumption, which replaces production as the dominant tendency of the artist. This addiction can take many forms. Continued physical consumption of drugs or mental obsession with other artists who the subject ‘wants to be like’ are two such examples. This type of subject became popularised from the 1980s onwards, and a turning point is perhaps characterized by Jean-Michael Basquiet.

It is however important to note that the technical or formal quality of the subject’s work can often be exceptional, despite the content being quite shallow.

Some turns of phrase in popular culture, help identify the existence of artist 3 as the de facto artist of the PM:

“I’ve got to find my calling” / “Keep going, you’ll make it” / “Keep doing what you’re doing”

“In the end they were the victim of their own success” / “A rags to riches story”

Summary

In summary, each of these three ‘types’ of artist correlate in succession to Freud’s tripartite schema:

1. Identity [communication of ideas, thoughts or feelings]
2. Ego [commentary on culture or your own ideas, thoughts or feelings]
3. Superego [creation for use value AND/OR exchange value]

Written by Adam31.