July 11, 2025 • 9 mins
Show Notes: https://hyperluxmagazine.com/curated-muse-podcast-the-death-of-the-full-time-artist-and-whos-to-blame/
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
SPEAKER_00 (00:00):
Hello, lovely humans.
It is a pleasure to be back withyou, sharing a new podcast
episode with you.
And this podcast episode, we aregoing to be discussing how
challenging the world of art iscurrently.
Now, I think anybody who listensto this, that is creative, who
(00:23):
understands the art world ingeneral, recognizes that the art
world has never been amazing andwonderful and easy to navigate.
The art world is a beautifulplace, that is true.
It is wonderful.
But navigating it as an artist,as a creative, as a person who's
(00:45):
putting themselves out thereisn't always easy.
We can see a lot of people whohave become successful through
their creativity, throughpainting and music and all of
the different things you can doin the creative arts.
But we also see hundreds uponhundreds of thousands of people
(01:06):
who won't even get a like on apiece of art that they created
or a piece of music they wrote.
And even now, the world is moresaturated.
When you think about socialmedia and all the platforms and
all the ways that we can createand do things, there's a lot
more access.
So there's a lot more peoplecreating and there's a lot more
(01:28):
voices wanting to be heard.
And there are a lot more voicesthat can be heard based on how
many platforms we have outthere.
But that also creates anamplification of of people that
may never have ever got theirvoice out there before, which is
great, but it also creates avery loud and intense amount of
(01:52):
information that we're alltaking in.
So as much as we might like apiece of art, maybe we won't
like it or say anything about itbecause we're seeing hundreds of
pieces of art on Instagram aday.
And unless something is reallymagical and completely shakes
you up, you might just likescroll right past it.
And in that, being an artist anda creator, when you're looking
(02:14):
at yourself on social media andyou're watching your likes
decline over the last few years.
Now, this is for people, if youhave been on social media as an
artist over the last 10 years,there's been a great decline.
I mean, you have people withFacebook pages with 400,000
(02:34):
followers who get 10 likesbecause the algorithm has
created a mess.
And we just wrote a blog on thaton the Hyperlux magazine.
So go ahead and check that outwhere we talk about how social
media is really affectingartists.
So When we're talking about theworld and how challenging it is,
(02:56):
we want to think about practicalways to make it easier for
artists and creatives.
And number one is realizing thatthis is happening to everybody.
Even people that I've known asan artist and a gallerist and a
curator who have been very wellrenowned, who have shown and had
major solo exhibitions andreally great galleries, who've
(03:17):
shown in museums, who used tosell left and right, are having
a problem selling.
And even if you look at theworld all the way up to the blue
chip world, you will see thatthere's a lot of shifting and
changing as well.
A lot of galleries are closing.
A lot of galleries are combiningforces and bringing on all their
artists together or letting abunch of their roster go.
(03:40):
Because the world is shiftingand it's becoming obviously more
challenging as time goes on.
So if you are an artist outthere, recognizing first and
foremost that it's not you.
It's really the world aroundyou.
I mean, I can't look at your artand say that it isn't you.
Like, let's be honest.
(04:01):
really fair here.
I can't say that because maybeit is you and we all have to
look at ourselves and decide ifit is us.
But really, if you're puttingyour time in, you're doing the
good work, you're continuallytrying to up your game and grow
as an artist, then you shouldhave some sense of support
behind you.
And not having that support isreally challenging.
(04:23):
Or if the people that used tohave a lot of support who don't
have support.
I can't tell you again how manyartists that I've talked to who
used to have a really greatfollowing on TikTok or Instagram
or Facebook or other platforms.
Even YouTube is going throughthis where there's a lot of
YouTube creators which are morelike crafty artists and people
(04:45):
that do product reviews which Iabsolutely love watching those
and they're amazing.
But people who have had hundredsand thousands of followers are
now seeing their engagement justplummet.
So it's not you.
And I want to be clear aboutthat.
I want you to take that in andreally understand that it's not
(05:06):
you.
I think everybody is feeling it.
And those that aren't, that aresaying that they're not, I think
some of it's a little bit ofposture change.
A little bit of trying to hidebehind the feelings that it
doesn't feel really good whenyou're doing really good and
you're not doing really good.
And there are people that aredoing good.
There are people who are doingabsolutely amazing still and
(05:30):
good for them.
But a large majority aren't.
And I want you to know it's notyou.
And that's really all thispodcast is about.
It's a simple, short, five to 10minute podcast where I just tell
you it's not you.
The world is shifting.
The art world is shifting.
The gallery world is shifting.
(05:51):
The economy is shifting.
The politics are shifting.
Everything is having thishumongous shift and push and
pull.
And we're all trying to find ourway within the world.
And the arts isn't as supportedwhen we are going through
economical and politicalupheaval.
(06:12):
It's just not a focus.
And it's funny because peoplethink, oh, they should take
funding away from art and all ofthat.
And art really doesn't doanything.
But even politicians and thepresident and us as human
beings, all we do is engage increativity.
(06:33):
We watch videos and movies andwe listen to music and we go and
we watch plays and we readmagazines and we read books.
I mean, almost everything thatwe're doing that's
extracurricular besides sportsand other things revolve around
the arts.
But yet when things getchallenging, those kind of
(06:53):
things get pushed, you know,aside.
So if you are creative andyou're listening to this, just
remember that creativity issalvation.
It is a place to put yourenergy.
It is a place to exploreyourself and your surroundings
and what's going on in theworld.
And even if you aren't gettingthe likes and the follows and
(07:14):
the support that you really hopethat you could get, know that a
lot of people are in the sameboat, even those that used to
get a lot of support.
And just take that in stride.
Try to look at what you do as apractice.
something that you enjoy, andsomething that doesn't
necessarily need a bunch oflikes.
(07:34):
And I think that's a really goodplace to start because when
you're creative, when you lookat social media and other things
that artists engage in, itactually creates a lot of mental
health problems because it'shard not to feel bad when
somebody isn't liking your work.
It's hard not to feel bad whenyou weren't being noticed and
(07:58):
you put so much effort intosomething and then all of a
sudden somebody posts a pictureof their cat and they've got
10,000 likes on it.
Doesn't feel very good.
But the reality is we live in aplace where everything is
curated and everything isinstant and a lot of
authenticity is being lost.
And as long as you remainauthentic to yourself and you
(08:21):
move away from your desire andneed to have all of these likes
and follows and all of thatnonsense, which again, I'm not
saying aren't important.
I'm not saying it isn't animportant aspect of being a
creative, wanting to be aprofessional creative if you're
not being seen.
How are people going to buy yourwork?
How are you going to havesomebody find you?
(08:43):
All of that matters.
but don't let it get you down.
Don't let it destroy your day.
Don't let it destroy yourcreativity.
Keep doing it, keep showing up,and support other people.
That's the other thing.
Turn around, make sure thatyou're liking other people,
you're supporting other people,because when we want something,
(09:06):
it's really good to get It'sreally good to get things, but
it's also good to give thethings that we want to receive.
So if you want to receive morelikes and support, then you
should go give some more likesand support.
And sometimes that does create acircle of reciprocity, which is
awesome.
So I'm going to end this podcastwith this is not you.
(09:27):
The world is changing.
Keep doing what you love andkeep making the art and things
that you enjoy and just don'tgive up.
Things will change.
They always do.
Hello, lovely humans.
It is a pleasure to be back withyou, sharing a new podcast
episode with you.
And this podcast episode, we aregoing to be discussing how
challenging the world of art iscurrently.
Now, I think anybody who listensto this, that is creative, who
(00:23):
understands the art world ingeneral, recognizes that the art
world has never been amazing andwonderful and easy to navigate.
The art world is a beautifulplace, that is true.
It is wonderful.
But navigating it as an artist,as a creative, as a person who's
(00:45):
putting themselves out thereisn't always easy.
We can see a lot of people whohave become successful through
their creativity, throughpainting and music and all of
the different things you can doin the creative arts.
But we also see hundreds uponhundreds of thousands of people
(01:06):
who won't even get a like on apiece of art that they created
or a piece of music they wrote.
And even now, the world is moresaturated.
When you think about socialmedia and all the platforms and
all the ways that we can createand do things, there's a lot
more access.
So there's a lot more peoplecreating and there's a lot more
(01:28):
voices wanting to be heard.
And there are a lot more voicesthat can be heard based on how
many platforms we have outthere.
But that also creates anamplification of of people that
may never have ever got theirvoice out there before, which is
great, but it also creates avery loud and intense amount of
(01:52):
information that we're alltaking in.
So as much as we might like apiece of art, maybe we won't
like it or say anything about itbecause we're seeing hundreds of
pieces of art on Instagram aday.
And unless something is reallymagical and completely shakes
you up, you might just likescroll right past it.
And in that, being an artist anda creator, when you're looking
(02:14):
at yourself on social media andyou're watching your likes
decline over the last few years.
Now, this is for people, if youhave been on social media as an
artist over the last 10 years,there's been a great decline.
I mean, you have people withFacebook pages with 400,000
(02:34):
followers who get 10 likesbecause the algorithm has
created a mess.
And we just wrote a blog on thaton the Hyperlux magazine.
So go ahead and check that outwhere we talk about how social
media is really affectingartists.
So When we're talking about theworld and how challenging it is,
(02:56):
we want to think about practicalways to make it easier for
artists and creatives.
And number one is realizing thatthis is happening to everybody.
Even people that I've known asan artist and a gallerist and a
curator who have been very wellrenowned, who have shown and had
major solo exhibitions andreally great galleries, who've
(03:17):
shown in museums, who used tosell left and right, are having
a problem selling.
And even if you look at theworld all the way up to the blue
chip world, you will see thatthere's a lot of shifting and
changing as well.
A lot of galleries are closing.
A lot of galleries are combiningforces and bringing on all their
artists together or letting abunch of their roster go.
(03:40):
Because the world is shiftingand it's becoming obviously more
challenging as time goes on.
So if you are an artist outthere, recognizing first and
foremost that it's not you.
It's really the world aroundyou.
I mean, I can't look at your artand say that it isn't you.
Like, let's be honest.
(04:01):
really fair here.
I can't say that because maybeit is you and we all have to
look at ourselves and decide ifit is us.
But really, if you're puttingyour time in, you're doing the
good work, you're continuallytrying to up your game and grow
as an artist, then you shouldhave some sense of support
behind you.
And not having that support isreally challenging.
(04:23):
Or if the people that used tohave a lot of support who don't
have support.
I can't tell you again how manyartists that I've talked to who
used to have a really greatfollowing on TikTok or Instagram
or Facebook or other platforms.
Even YouTube is going throughthis where there's a lot of
YouTube creators which are morelike crafty artists and people
(04:45):
that do product reviews which Iabsolutely love watching those
and they're amazing.
But people who have had hundredsand thousands of followers are
now seeing their engagement justplummet.
So it's not you.
And I want to be clear aboutthat.
I want you to take that in andreally understand that it's not
(05:06):
you.
I think everybody is feeling it.
And those that aren't, that aresaying that they're not, I think
some of it's a little bit ofposture change.
A little bit of trying to hidebehind the feelings that it
doesn't feel really good whenyou're doing really good and
you're not doing really good.
And there are people that aredoing good.
There are people who are doingabsolutely amazing still and
(05:30):
good for them.
But a large majority aren't.
And I want you to know it's notyou.
And that's really all thispodcast is about.
It's a simple, short, five to 10minute podcast where I just tell
you it's not you.
The world is shifting.
The art world is shifting.
The gallery world is shifting.
(05:51):
The economy is shifting.
The politics are shifting.
Everything is having thishumongous shift and push and
pull.
And we're all trying to find ourway within the world.
And the arts isn't as supportedwhen we are going through
economical and politicalupheaval.
(06:12):
It's just not a focus.
And it's funny because peoplethink, oh, they should take
funding away from art and all ofthat.
And art really doesn't doanything.
But even politicians and thepresident and us as human
beings, all we do is engage increativity.
(06:33):
We watch videos and movies andwe listen to music and we go and
we watch plays and we readmagazines and we read books.
I mean, almost everything thatwe're doing that's
extracurricular besides sportsand other things revolve around
the arts.
But yet when things getchallenging, those kind of
(06:53):
things get pushed, you know,aside.
So if you are creative andyou're listening to this, just
remember that creativity issalvation.
It is a place to put yourenergy.
It is a place to exploreyourself and your surroundings
and what's going on in theworld.
And even if you aren't gettingthe likes and the follows and
(07:14):
the support that you really hopethat you could get, know that a
lot of people are in the sameboat, even those that used to
get a lot of support.
And just take that in stride.
Try to look at what you do as apractice.
something that you enjoy, andsomething that doesn't
necessarily need a bunch oflikes.
(07:34):
And I think that's a really goodplace to start because when
you're creative, when you lookat social media and other things
that artists engage in, itactually creates a lot of mental
health problems because it'shard not to feel bad when
somebody isn't liking your work.
It's hard not to feel bad whenyou weren't being noticed and
(07:58):
you put so much effort intosomething and then all of a
sudden somebody posts a pictureof their cat and they've got
10,000 likes on it.
Doesn't feel very good.
But the reality is we live in aplace where everything is
curated and everything isinstant and a lot of
authenticity is being lost.
And as long as you remainauthentic to yourself and you
(08:21):
move away from your desire andneed to have all of these likes
and follows and all of thatnonsense, which again, I'm not
saying aren't important.
I'm not saying it isn't animportant aspect of being a
creative, wanting to be aprofessional creative if you're
not being seen.
How are people going to buy yourwork?
How are you going to havesomebody find you?
(08:43):
All of that matters.
but don't let it get you down.
Don't let it destroy your day.
Don't let it destroy yourcreativity.
Keep doing it, keep showing up,and support other people.
That's the other thing.
Turn around, make sure thatyou're liking other people,
you're supporting other people,because when we want something,
(09:06):
it's really good to get It'sreally good to get things, but
it's also good to give thethings that we want to receive.
So if you want to receive morelikes and support, then you
should go give some more likesand support.
And sometimes that does create acircle of reciprocity, which is
awesome.
So I'm going to end this podcastwith this is not you.
(09:27):
The world is changing.
Keep doing what you love andkeep making the art and things
that you enjoy and just don'tgive up.
Things will change.
They always do.
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