Eat The Art

We are the people we've been complaining about

I need you to be picky about what you consume. I need you to do it for the culture. I need you to do it for the future of art.

Creators are tired of the algorithm. Of course we are. We share our creations, and unless you flash a tit in the first second, or say something absolutely vile, people won’t see your art. We live in a culture that rewards shock, controversy and dopamine hacking. And so artists everywhere are lamenting: People only want to watch short form video, people only want trending sounds, people won’t read long form, people won’t listen to a whole song, people will only pay attention if its controversial.

This is all true. But who are these people? We are the creators, but we are also the consumers. It’s us. We, the artists, are also ‘the people’. And if we want change, we must look at the way we are behaving ourselves.

This essay came about after I stumbled across a musician on TikTok. He asked the audience to listen to his two and a bit minute song. My immediate response was: I dunno buddy. I could consume at least 4 dopamine riddled v. weird shorts over that time. I scrolled on, but as I was watching the next video (Compwootttterrr, make these guys super gay and horny), I realised - I am part of the problem.

If we want to change the way our art is received, we must change the way we consume.

If I want people to read my books, I should make sure my own attention span can handle reading a book. If I want people to care about something that isn’t riddled with rage bait, I must consume content that is thought out, nuanced, and not there to bait me. If I want people to listen to two minutes of music, I must also listen to two minutes of music.

We must do this both because it is our moral duty, as artists, to consume other artists’ work in long form AND because we must set a standard and lead by example.

People look to artists for their taste as well as their creation. We should consume judiciously both for ourselves and for the world.

If we want a culture that appreciates and delights in the arts. We must appreciate and delight in the arts.

This is not easy. We are opposing a trillion dollar industry that only cares about capturing our attention and it will do it any way it can. But I still want to fight them. I do not want them to flatten our culture, erase our ability to consume art that matters, niche us down into people who only really enjoy ten second videos that make no sense. I don’t want that. And so I must actively choose to fight it.

So do we stop consuming all together?

I say this a lot: STOP CONSUMING START CREATING.

But what I actually think I want to say is: stop consuming mindlessly, and instead consume with intention, consume with delight. Taste every little bite.

I want Creators to Listen. Absorb. Devote time to consumption. Read. Disagree with something. Read something else. Think about how those two things relate to each other. Think more. Watch something that reminds you of being 12 and smile. Watch something that reminds you of a heartbreak and cry. Search out things you want to consume, and then spend time with them. Luxuriate and contemplate.

So the far less catchy phrase is: Don’t stop consuming just consume really consciously (and also create). Because as much as it is tempting after an evening binging short form video to just delete all the apps, I think the pattern of fasting and feasting with content online is a little like YO YO dieting. I am also not about write the four billionth listacle called “how to reduce your screen time.” Because maybe we don’t even need to reduce our consumption, maybe we just need to be intentional about what we are consuming.

Artists and Creators must consume. It is how we become better at our work. It’s how our ideas percolate, it is how we relax, it is how we regulate, but it must be done carefully.

8 ways to consume deliciously.

1. If it interests you, finish what you start.
   If you come across a piece of content, a book, a film and it interests you: stay until the end. Don’t waste your time with content that doesn’t resonate. Scroll past things that don’t spark joy, stop reading a book if it doesn’t grab you, skip the song that doesn’t electrify you. But if it resonates, can you stay until the end?
   Can you train your nervous system out of flinching away the second the first hit of dopamine has run out.

2. When you go on an app, choose to be on that app.

   I had an amazing protocol that I will go back to after this essay, no idea why I stopped - I had to write in my notes app WHY I was going on social media before I went on. My notes app sat in a file next to all my social media apps. It allowed me to choose. A lot of the time, I realised I didn’t want to be there. Sometimes, I realised I did want to be there. The ritual made me conscious.

   

3. Repeat things.
   Listen to the same song again. Re-read a paragraph. Watch a scene twice.
   Can you let yourself find something else the second time around, can you luxuriate in the depth, not the novelty?

4. Let it change you before you move on.
   After something ends, don’t immediately reach for the next thing. How has it changed you? It will have in some way or another, can you notice what it left you with? What did it give you?

5. Actively seek.
   Search for creators. Remember that incredible illustrator you followed on instagram in 2013 and then the feed changed and you never saw them again? Go find them. Interested in an art style? Look for people who create within the genre. Fascinated by a TikTok you saw? Go find other people who wrote a book about the same topic. Become obsessed with cultivating your taste, instead of letting the algorithm dictate your taste for you. Go down rabbit holes. Become obsessed. Algorithms flatten you. Curiosity makes you a fucking interesting person and even more phenomenal artist.

6. Protect your taste from the algorithm.
   Be incredibly careful about what you teach your algorithm. As much as you can, teach it what you want to consume. Search out topics that interest you, follow creators who delight you. Force it to understand parts of who you are.

7. Make consumption reciprocal.
   If something moves you, tell the creator it moved you. Even if it means dm’ing fucking Nick Offerman because you think he did a really good job in Margot’s Got Money Problems. Share the creations you love. Speak about them. Be the audience you want for your own art.

8. Talk about what you’ve consumed with others.

   After a little binge online, I like to harass my partner James with what I have consumed. I like to really try to remember it, what did I get from it? Even if I am just explaining to him the Compwooter tik tok thing. It feels more intentional, like I saw it and it impacted me, rather than just eating it and shitting it out immediately, you know? Even better, start a bookclub and really pick apart the books you read; text your friend about a song you loved and why you loved it; tell people at a party what you felt when you watched whatever show is hot right not, not just that you watched it.

Creators - we must lead the way, if we want a culture that is besotted by the arts, we must be besotted with the arts. Whether it is online or offline RELISH the art. To truly resonate with another’s creation is one of the greatest joys of being human. We must remind ourselves and those around us, the bliss of actively discovering and delighting in creations. I am determined, despite ongoing dubious global circumstances, to be part of building a world that actively fucking CHERISHES human art. CHERISH THE ART!!

Niche Seinfield reference

HUGE CONGRATS ON GETTING TO THE END OF THIS ESSAY! YOU FINISHED THE WHOLE MEAL!

Amie x