Mass and Mundane Consumption of Art
What social media and art can tell us about empty aesthetics
By Quinn McClurg with art by alex kozak
Despite having two accounts before, I only really started scrolling on Instagram after making my third account. I made this account exclusively to post my photography; however, I curated my feed to comprise only other artists. This is where the scrolling began, but I justified it as a means of supporting artists and consuming enriching content; after all, if the content is meaningful, then time spent consuming it is not wasted. I made that account three years ago, and I’ve been scrolling every day since.
Roughly 700 hours later, do I view the art and media consumed as fulfilling or enriching? I would say yes: some of my favorite poets, photographers, and painters (among other artists) call Instagram home. Do I recognize, feel, and understand this enrichment while using the app? Sometimes; further speculation requires further inquiry.
Of course, my experiment only has a sample size of one, but I believe most people like me use media in an intermittent way, something viewed to entertain oneself in the liminal spaces of day-to-day life. I use media when I’m bored in between classes, waiting for the bus, procrastinating homework, or trying to convince myself to get out of bed; I’m not looking for something profound to shatter my conceptions of the world, rather I’m looking for something pretty to look at, and man, am I in luck, because the endless scrolling feed always has more to offer.
Consumption of art on social media isn’t just about the art itself but rather how we consume it. Media incentivizes fast and rapid scrolling between tasks, hungry for any amount of time we can give it, and therefore lots of art that can be rapidly made and consumed is created. Wolfgang Welsch, a philosopher, art historian, and postmodernist, summarizes this best in his essay “Aesthetics Beyond Aesthetics,” saying, “If you see the same images—however impressively they may be arranged or intended—on different channels on the same evening or repeatedly over several days, then their impact is reduced: sensation plus repetition creates indifference.” Thus, what are perceived as “empty aesthetics” are born.
Although it is tempting to count oneself among the confused, jumbled, and self-proclaimed meaningless ranks of the postmodernists, I politely decline the invitation myself and don’t view Welsch’s truths as absolute; central to my understanding and perception of art is the belief that humans are the ultimate arbiters, appliers, and attributers of meaning. Sure, these aesthetics may seem empty or meaningless, but that is because we do not give ourselves enough time nor means to apply meaning to art and consume it in a meaningful way.
Dear reader, how do you spend time in a museum? In a particularly large museum, do you spend your time trying to see a little bit of everything? Are you wandering and lost, guided by others, or rigid and direct in your paths? How much time do you spend in a museum? Minutes? Hours? As long as you need to? As long as you can? Here is what I do: I find one exhibit that I am interested in (usually known from previous visits or advertisements) and spend as long as I can there, tasting every canvas or sculpture that I can. Follow my lead: sit down, gradually focus on every detail of a piece with no distractions, and stay a little past boredom; if you sit long enough with any piece of art, it will reveal itself to you. In enough time—with enough context—you can begin to form your own personal relationship with any piece.
Congratulations, you just took part in slow art, and you are now living sensuously (and certifiably at least a little bit more pretentious). Be careful not to practice this too long though, as your attention and faculties are only so limited, and, as Welsch wrote, “sensation plus repetition creates indifference.”
Is slow art the salvation of all forms of commodified art? Probably not—some media is difficult or not worthwhile to apply meaning to, and applying meaning is exhausting. However, when exposed to a platform that incentivizes fast and easily-consumable art, one must be mindful to not generalize all art, aesthetics, or media content as empty or meaningless.
Repetition does not diminish meaning; however, repetition can exhaust attention and focus, therefore reducing perceived meaning. This is your invitation to live sensuously and consume art you view as meaningful in a purposeful way rather than in an absent-minded, in-between fashion.