The job of all artists is now self-promotion. In an age in which the old cultural gatekeepers are being swept away, the most pressing challenge of creative artists is to build their own brands. And itβs the Internet which provides creative talent with easy-to-use and cheap tools for their self-promotion.
In a sense this is true, but you could replace every instance of "self-promotion" with "creation" and you'd have a conclusion that is just as correct without all the craven cynicism. If you want you can interpret every tweet, webcomic update, or flickr photo as a marketing effort. Or you can choose to see the internet as a canvas and these as the brushstrokes.
Yes, however with the increasing noise on the Internet it's much harder to eschew self-promotion in favor of pure artistic ideals (whatever those may be) because there are no longer just a small number of gatekeepers to convince. Increasingly you must go viral, though there is clearly more room for smaller successes given the lower overhead.
I didn't see any cynicism in article, and I don't think that, in general, self-promotion needs to involve anything cowardly or cynical. I do think that anyone who believes their tweets will be viewed as some kind of artistic statement must have a very cynical view of their audience.
The job of all artists is now self-promotion. In an age in which the old cultural gatekeepers are being swept away, the most pressing challenge of creative artists is to build their own brands. And itβs the Internet which provides creative talent with easy-to-use and cheap tools for their self-promotion.
In a sense this is true, but you could replace every instance of "self-promotion" with "creation" and you'd have a conclusion that is just as correct without all the craven cynicism. If you want you can interpret every tweet, webcomic update, or flickr photo as a marketing effort. Or you can choose to see the internet as a canvas and these as the brushstrokes.