Not So Social Media?

Social media is has positioned itself as integral to the happiness of our lives, our jobs, our general enjoyment in existing. As an artist it has convinced me that I have to have a presence, been seen to be making, be networking, posting and interacting for my voice to be heard and to feel relevant. I have come to realise more and more recently that this is an untruth. I paint because I love it, I create because I’ve found it integral to my being, none of this is dependent on keeping a 24/7 presence on social media (Especially the gram). Our forebearers in art, created and had lives without the need to stream their every waking move and commodify their lives, so why can’t I?

I have found myself scrolling, doom scrolling, side tracked, falling down rabbit holes into some very strange parts of Instagram and it really isn’t enjoyable. I’ve seen images of war, genocide and massacre that years passed would have only been visible to combatants or those civilians unlucky enough to be caught in the melee of violence and destruction. Directly after these heinous images and videos the algorithm suggests I buy something from Temu, or take up a subscription with that fitness guru. It’s not normal and it shouldn’t be normalised and accepted.

I have had two shows this month in Margate. Two group shows I’m very proud of, one with Resort Studios my studio complex and another with TAOI Collective, a collective I set up in COVID. Now these shows are done I need to rethink my online presence, if I miss things, I miss things, but nothing is worth the drain on life that social media at present engenders within me.

Tech bros cuddle up to Americas would-be dictator, they get fat on the money from our misery and hard work. I no longer feel its appropriate to feed them, it's time to feed my mind.