Colette’s Halloween Happenings: Art So Amazing…It’s SCARY! (Part One)
“As a human being the artist may have many moods and a will and personal aims, but as an artist he is ‘man’ in a higher sense – he is ‘collective man’ – one who carries and shapes the unconscious, psychic life of mankind”.
-Carl Jung
I remember learning that the brain stores, as a memory, every single thing it sees, hears…perceives.
Every single thing.
All those threads of perception are what we use to weave the tapestry of our actions, reactions, thoughts and emotions.
And, because it’s in the wee quiet hours of a Sunday morning (my favorite time to write), my mind easily drifts to the collective tapestry woven by all who have ever been or will ever be.
What would it be like…even just for a moment…to know, understand and accept every perception past, present or future?
I think about the quantum mechanics theory which states observation affects the thing being observed. So, observing anything has an effect on you and on the thing observed.
It changes you, both, forever.
deviantART.com was built based on one of the most basic premises of Quantum Theory. By the very act of watching something, the observer changes the observed reality.
In 1998 researchers at the highly esteemed Weizmann Institute of Science were able to prove the greater the amount of “watching”, the greater the observer’s influence on what actually takes place.
And my point is…the more observed the art on deviantART, the more the site changes. In this case, it grows larger and larger each time it’s observed…each time the site gets more “hits”.
Now let’s “observe” the artists who submit to the site. Each time someone “observes” their art, it’s logged in the system and a counter shows how many people visited their individual art gallery and how many people saw which piece of art.
When an artist’s work becomes popular…when it is “greatly observed” how does that “change” the artist, thereby changing the art?
Do they become more inspired and the art better?
Does their ego go crazy and their art decline?
Likewise, what happens to the artist and art less observed?
Does the artist become more driven to succeed and, as a result, their art improves?
Do they become discouraged and, as a result, their art improves by virtue of the emotional intensity?
There are, of course, any number of other variables and equations of how the observed can change by being watched but that bottom line is this…a WHOLE lot of people love to make, submit, observe, buy, exchange and talk about ART.
I’ve read differing reports about the numbers but Wikipedia states the site has over 10 million members, has received over 75 million submissions and has over 36 million UNIQUE visitors per year.
deviantART’s Alexa ranking is 96 (as of the writing of this post). That makes it the biggest online art community and a serious heavy hitter in terms of online SOCIAL communities (though one of the founders, Angelo Sotiro, is adamant deviantART is not a social community) .
Those facts raise some interesting “observations” about the wants and needs of humanity.
Clearly, mega-sites like twitter, facebook, myspace, linkedin and the like exist for the specific purpose of connecting people socially for business and pleasure. In each of those sites there exists millions of niches of “belonging”. Bikers, business people, chefs…there’s someone for everyone to connect with.
But deviantART is specific to ART…. of all types…Traditional, Digital, Photography, Flash, Film & Animation, Literature, Anime…it’s all there and more.
Further, it strikes me as ironic that to conceive, build, launch, market and maintain a site that monstrous is an art form all unto it’s own.
I listened to a rare interview with Angelo Sotiro. Being an artist myself, I was really moved when I found out the start of deviantART was born of passion rather than business design.
Furthermore, and, perhaps, most important to the “observation” of the wants and needs of humanity deviantART has grown organically…not by an expensive marketing campaign, but, rather, by word of mouth…the butterfly effect…by the changing of observers and the observed.
And, as an artist I especially respect this statement from Angelo;
“I’m very proud of the success of deviantART. Especially the fact that we took the road less traveled and arrived a little later, but on our own pure and untainted terms. We’re doing it our way“. - Angelo Sotiro
So why did a website about art grow to such epic proportions?
Are there really that many people in the world who fancy themselves artists?
Are there really that many people in the world who love art?
Is the symbolic language inherent in visual art more powerful than the limitations of spoken or written language?
Stay tuned for “Colette’s Halloween Happenings: Art So Amazing…It’s SCARY! (Part Two)“…
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I love art and started to paint with acrylics. I haven’t picked up a brush since Easter but would like to get back into it. I’m also writer who’s working on two screenplays and just thought of an idea for a short film. Thanks for posting this!
[...] , “Colette’s Halloween Happenings: Art So Amazing…It’s Scary! (Part One)“, I discussed The Quantum Theory as it relates to art and artist. I cited deviantART as the [...]
I love deviantart. I’ve been using it for 6 years. Be it a big gallery with one million or more hits, or a small gallery with under one thousand hits, everyone is creating, and that in itself is something beyond amazing. I love watching people’s works grow as they become more accomplished.
I think that the amount of page views a person has makes doesn’t make as big of a difference as people think. Most artists by nature are extremely self critical, and if they themselves are unsatisfied with their work, being popular is not going to make them feel better, instead they may feel undeserving of the praise they have received. On the other hand, if your work has not received the praise it deserves, maybe it just isn’t the right time, maybe you have to find yourself as an artist before others can find you. If your art is good, keep trying, and eventually you will get some recognition! It’s the journey as an artist that matters, not your page views.
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