Navigating Creative Droughts Alongside Social Media
Art and the creative process is undergoing a severe strain test. The rapid pace at which ideas and works are being created and executed is truly astonishing, and mostly horrifying. The content we consume is quicker and shorter, the trends we observe occur in no specific order nor do they reflect past trends, and those too come and go like oneway bullet trains. There is really no sign of this stopping, at least until the train runs out of fuel or careens off the tracks. Those tracks are being updated, thanks to AI generated content which will only speed up the train. Eventually the train reaches top speed, the thrill peaks, and there’s nowhere else to venture. This is my take on whats happening in the world of creatives and if you’re like me you’re probably feeling the pressure to board the train or get left at the station forever.
Going along with this analogy, the train only has so many seats and chances are you’re not rushing to get on board first. The purpose of making art is to communicate. It is to distill the universe, mix it in your own homemade recipe and serve it to others. Social media however has opened up a drive through fried chicken joint next to your studio and the line is wrapping around; blocking your front door. These two worlds have me personally torn as I have one foot on each side of the line. And while I’m all for a good “Lets fuckin’ find out”, what I am finding is that while social media is good for catapulting your art across space and time, its not great for finding inspiration and the base ingredients for whipping up your own genuine recipes. Social media is pretty much your standard American shopping mall. You don’t go to find a connection with reality and make new and exciting observations- you go to be sold to. Its hard to draw inspiration from the mall and equally as difficult to draw inspiration from social media. Sure there are things that get our attention and excite us, but ultimately we’re being sold to, which is totally fine outside of the creative process. When it comes to art making, what we don’t want to do is recycle what we’ve been sold.
The issue with hi-speed on demand art is it smooths down our ability to self-inspire. Our time and attention is molded to keep up with the infinite scroll, hoping the casino of content delivers something that floods us with inspiration, ideas, and often times envy. Which is why when I’m in a creative drought the last thing I do is delve into my social media. The moment I feel the well dry or the unease of not having a project, I step away from my phone because one thing that is guaranteed to happen during a creative drought is jealousy. You’re “out of ideas” but before you exists a sea of other people’s ideas. Countless people looking their best, sharing their best and selling you their best. All you’ll find is success, endless inspiration and excitement; all things a creative feels they’re lacking during a drought. To stay on social media during a drought is to eventually perceive that content as the answer. Before you know it, your ideas aren’t your own and you might begin engaging in whatever can make you feel just as excited, creative, and inspired. If we all did this, we would hit homogeneity fairly quick.
It feels as if we perceive creative droughts as being “unproductive”, which is bullshit. None of us signed up to be “productive” and much of what humans consider “productive” counters what nature would consider “productive”. Staying busy in a way that simply consumes resources and convinces your peers you’re not lazy is not the same as a beetle scuttling through a field all day pollinating flowers. Almost every facet of nature rests, and the same goes for the creative human mind. It too must rest and I believe this comes in the form of “creative droughts”. Taking in information requires a lot of energy- seriously your brain uses over 300 calories a day just to think- and that information becomes inspired observations. Creative droughts may be our systems shifting to prioritize different forms of processing and observing rather than the kinds that lead to “ideas”. You can’t force ideas or creativity, they come with an observant, rested and well fed mind. What we can do is put ourselves in the healthy environments that lead to “ideas” in the chance that those processes boot up right then and there. But it’s important to remember, stay away from social media during these periods. It’s a rat race where you’ll be forced to strong arm a half-assed idea in the hopes that you’ll feel like the people you’re anxiously watching. It won’t work out.