Who knows where I found this
I happen to know a exceedingly talented illustrator and humorist. I see him occasionally, and stalk his site bearskinrug.co.uk frequently. You should too – the man is immensely creative. As I mull over all sorts of interrelated ponderences of the meaning and worth of art, as well as the meaning and worth of artists, all these sticky issues keep bubbling up. The sticky issue which Kevin and I appear to be pondering around the same time is particular to the internet: what to give away, what to keep, how to earn from it.
Kevin, as a freelance illustrator, and published author is in a different boat than I, or perhaps you are. All my run-on sentences and half supported declarations are free for the taking (I say now.) But for actual artists, who produce creative visual work, the issue is much more serious. One needs, in some way, to put work out on the internet to gain visibility, to show the world what one can do and how brilliant they are at it. Conversely, show too much and no one feels as though you’re owed anything by it. Moreso, the mentality of the internet seems to be of entitlement. Creatives owe the collective hive mentality their best to be shared without compensation. Read this recent article in the NYT for more about this mob mentality.
This is troubling, especially if you happen to be a creative. How can you be expected to have the leasiure, freedom, and opportunity to work hard to create the content if there’s no compensation? How can you support the demand for creative content if you are not supported?
Thinking
As artists, this should especially ring true if you are involved with image making. (Not all art is image – but that’s another half-finished post) a strong image once on the internet is lost to the artist and, somewhat unfairly, becomes property of the collective to be used in any way without the artist’s permission, and I’m sorry I keep harping on this, or compensation. Look at the image I used to illustrate this post – took me like 3.5 seconds to grab. Did I compensate the estate of A.A. Milne,¬† or perish forbid, the Disney Corporation? Golly no. The happy graphic? On TinEye it comes up from 54 sources, and the original artist is lost in the noise of reproduction. It’s on the internet. Finders keepers.¬† Who cares if it’s a corporate behemoth or a struggling independent artist.
Which brings us back to the artist Рonce your work is out, there is the double edged sword of either now people know where to get it legitimately, by contacting you, or more likely, your work swiftly loses attribution and the next thing you know your work is being printed on a tee shirt, or repainted in a lesser quality, and someone else is making money from your hard work and creativity. Happens all the time. I know one designer who frequently is told of etsy sellers ripping off her images, and  another artist who found their work printed in a book without their knowledge. What is to prevent someone taking work of yours, recreating it, and gaining from your good-faith attempt to be part of the discourse?
How can an artist balance making their work available to the public without jeopardizing it? Is it the duty of the artist to be present online, come what may? How do we protect the value of artists and their creations now that there is the expectation of free availability?