Hi! It's Chai.
Last time, I wrote about the ways social media can taint one's intrinsic enjoyment of experiences, in my case, pottery. This is well illustrated by Gerhard Haderer (check out some of his other works here) in "Mein schönstes Urlaubsfoto" (My Best Vacation Photo). What struck me when I first saw this piece was, "Nobody's actually admiring the sunset. Everybody sees the sunset through their cellphone screen, but nobody actually looks at it through their eyes! What is the point of having a digital memory aid, if you weren't really fully present at the time to make the memory in real life in the first place?". Cue crowds of tourists jostling around the Mona Lisa at the Louvre just to snap and photo, and then promptly hurry away without a second glance, to the next attraction they can flaunt on social media for likes and shares.
When I see hobby potters make their learning process public and performative from day 0, it provokes the same wonderings: How much satisfaction is derived from the learning process itself, versus the satisfaction of social validation for each triumph (and failure) along the way? How much effort is put into doing pottery, vs doing promotion? I started my only public social media account for my ceramics practice well into that journey, and even then had to actively negotiate a health relationship between my art and their representation on social media, so I can only imagine how much social media can influence one's artistic development if it is front and center from the first day you touch clay.
Finding the Right Fit
To be clear, my goal here is not to judge others. Different people have different goals, and will natural employ different means to attain said goals. The objective is not to determine what is the "right"or "better" way to approach ceramics and social media, but to figure out "my" way. A way that allows me to enjoy all the benefits of social media, minimize its negative impact, and is thus sustainable. Most importantly, I need a way to engage on social media that prioritizes my ceramics practice and affirms my values. How other beginning potters use social media to present their ceramics (or their pottery studio fashion, or their latest pottery-related purchases or whatever else they choose to share) is relevant insofar as, they serve as stimuli that elicit different reactions from me, which me gain clarity on what resonates and what feels disingenuous for me.
One of the most common pieces of advice when it comes to critically consuming social media is "don't compare your behind-the-scenes to everybody's highlight reel". Self-comparisons to the unrealistic, airbrushed images on social media is the reason why many studies associations between social media use and lower self-esteem, and higher rates of depression. Yet, social media is so ubiquitous that avoiding it altogether might not be as feasible as trying to consume it more mindfully, with an awareness that it is a skewed picture of reality. That makes sense to me and is something I'm adopting into my use of social media.
What I find more perplexing is this - Gen Z's antidote to the superficiality of social media appears to be an emphasis on sharing content that is "authentic" and
"real". It's almost as if, to counter the abundance of "highlight reels" on social media, we are encouraged to post "documentaries" instead, and expose the marvelous, the mundane and everything in between for the public eye. Is this being real or being "reel"? How "authentic" can you be if you are constantly seeing ourself through the lens of your phone/camera, through the eyes of that imaginary audience will not only witness, but validate or scroll past every marvelous and mundane step of your "creative journey"? Digital anthropologist Natalie Béchet offers a more in-depth discussion of this new wave of trends or social media platforms that claim authenticity, but continue to perpetuate social validation mechanisms.
So, time to go back to the drawing board/wedging table and come up with my own guiding principles for using social media mindfully while prioritizing my ceramics practice.
Resetting Intentions with Ceramics on Social Media
If social media is inevitably curated self-image, no matter how you package it - who am I and how do I want others to see me? I came up with a list of reminders to myself, to guide my social media use, as well as to provide clarity whenever I get confused by the many voices (and there are so many out there on social media) on how I should be sharing my ceramics and why:
I am aspiring ceramicist on social media, not an aspiring influencer in a pottery studio
Social media use supports my ceramics practice, not the other way round. I will allocate my time accordingly - 80% of my time and effort should go to making pottery; 15% goes to sketches and notes on things I want to make or have made, which may involve referencing social media, blogs, podcasts as well as textbooks; and 5% goes to "putting myself out there" on social media.
Several strategies I've adopted to prioritize my time for the studio include:
Doing the important things first - I go to the studio right after my day job, update my pottery notes when I get home, and use whatever time I have left for social media
Setting a time limit on my social media apps to 30 minutes per day
Asking my partner to keep me accountable for going to the studio more, and getting. on my phone less
Making social content as hassle-free as possible - I just prop my phone up against my bucket and forget about it while I make stuff, or I take my phone out intermittently between steps to snap a photo. Does that mean sometimes my hand is in the way and what I'm doing is not fully captured? Yes. Does that mean I have weird facial expressions or RBF? Definitely yes. Does that mean I am able to actually focus on making the pot and not the reel, and spend more of my time potting for myself and not performing for the camera, heck yeah.
Art is about self-expression
If I have to compromise my values to pander for people's attention, then I am not expressing my true self or staying true to my values. First and foremost in the things I value in my art is originality - that is not negotiable. That means not mimicking other people's work, in clay or digital form, but also not following trends, which is a group of people mimicking each other. It's not that I have a problem with imitating - after all, imitation is how you learn, especially when making things with our hands. In fact, replicating something can be a fun challenge.
However, when I'm still trying to find my own artistic voice, what I like and what might set my work apart from others', adding what other people like to make in their studios/like to see on their social media into the mix is counterproductive and confusing. What if I mimic somebody else's aesthetic and get more likes for it then? Do I then pivot and adopt somebody else's style? What if I really get out of my comfort zone and start doing Tik Tok dances, memes or whole videos of just me talking into the camera, and get more follows and likes from those than my reels with actual pots in them? Do I start catering to what the audience likes instead? I would really hope not. Still, I can't vouch that I'd be able to maintain the purity of my intrinsic motivation, and not succumb to the want for validation then, so I set rules so I don't end up in that situation to start - I try not to replicate other people's pots (or reels), and if I do imitate somebody else's work to learn a technique, I do not post it on social media.
Using social media for connection, not contact
Technology has made it easier than ever to contact people, but harder to connect with them, because people's attention is being torn a zillion different directions. Unless I am mindful about how I use social media, it is easier to value "reach" over "relate", and quantity over quality in my interactions with others. With that in mind, I've been "Marie Kondo"ing my social media by asking myself when I follow/unfollow accounts- does this account "bring me joy"? Do the reels and posts inspire me? Is there a connection between what I value and what they are doing? Those questions have really helped me (and yes, the algorithm) figure out what I actually enjoy on social media (artists - professional or hobbyists - across the mediums of ceramics, illustration, textiles, and tattoos, plus friends) and curate a higher quality experience there, even while I'm reducing the quantity of time I spend there.
Choosing my platform
Social media is not the only platform on which I can share my art, though it may be the most accessible. Lately, I've found art markets, charity auctions, gifting my pieces and commissions as more satisfying ways to share my art. For one thing, it provides a more complete presentation of my art - people can feel the weight of mug in their hands, the generous curve of a serving bowl, the smoothness of a burnished vase, compare a matte vs a glossy finish, see the light dancing through holes carefully carved into place...not only that, when they use the piece, they continue to experience it in different ways - the clink of two sake cups over a drink with a friend, the light dancing off a the crazed celadon glaze on a lamp stand, the feel of a rim of bowl on their lips as they sip their morning coffee ...I could go on and on about the ways a photo or reel on social media does not do ceramics justice. The fact that these in-person platforms for sharing art are not as readily available as social media reminds me that the audiences there are investing more to look at my art. Whereas liking or following takes a second, people are choosing the spend minutes of their free time to look at and talk about my pottery at this in-person events, and sometimes spending money to have experiences or form relationships with my ceramics pieces.
Pottery, photography and videography are separate art forms
I constantly remind myself not to conflate my art with my social media content, and the amount of attention I get for my skill. Pottery, photography and videography are very different art forms. Marketing or promotion is another separate skill set, and some could argue an "art" in its own right. Being good at one does not mean excelling equally at the other. I either have make peace with that, or accept that I will have to put in the work to attain skills in each area. For now, photography and videography take a backseat to pottery, and social media/promotion is...well, in the trunk. If that ever changes, there are plenty of resources out there to get me started - this blog post by Old Forge Creations, for example. However, the crux of this is that I have finite time and energy, and have to be intentional about where I focus it, so that I stay true to my values as an aspiring ceramicist and as a person.
A work in progress...
Can I say that I'm completely immune to the lure of social media now? Probably not. I am guilty of bypassing that time-limit alert that pops up at least once per day - just 15 more minutes please! However, when I prioritize my time on the pottery wheel rather than on pottery reels, and gradually up my skills and develop my aesthetic, I'm also building more self-competence as an aspiring ceramicist. Competence begets confidence, and reduces my need for assurance from social media that my art has value. When the algorithm and the audiences inevitably favor flashy trends and instant entertainment over more thoughtful, original content yet again, will I feel some exasperation or self-doubt? Maybe, but I'm less inclined to take that as a reflection of my own skill. I'll re-read this blog post, put down my phone, and pick up some clay. Building a healthier relationships with social media is an ongoing process, as is my ceramics practice, and I intend to get better at both.
Until next time, keep chai-ing
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