Sterling Proffer
@sterling
Sterling Proffer
The industrial economy laid claim to our bodies. The knowledge economy laid claim to our minds. Now the creative economy is laying claim to our souls. Like the farmer with the proverbial pig, we use everything except the squeal. The squeal is when we realize what’s happening to us.
William Deresiewicz • The Death of the Artist: How Creators Are Struggling to Survive in the Age of Billionaires and Big Tech
In the past thirty years what it means to be an artist has dramatically changed.
Before the internet, being an artist meant operating in a very specific area where the gatekeepers, critics, and ways of doing things were well-structured and defined. You as the artist plugged into this system if invited (most artists... See more
instagram.comSocial media and creators drive viewers to TV shows, movies, and games
www2.deloitte.com
The cycle is dizzying and numbing: The allure of authenticity invites fascination and then, inevitably, skepticism. All along, truth and trust aren’t celebrated; they’re destabilized.
Spencer Kornhaber • TikTok Killed the Video Star
Some of the most prolific figures in literature, math, and science spent only four-to-five ours doing their most creative and profound work. The rest of the time, they focused their attention on spending time with family and friends and taking advantage of rest as much as possible. In short, creative productivity is not based on the number of hours... See more
William Ballard • Only 4 Hours of Creative Power
I suggested that Substack’s day of reckoning may still lie ahead. The bigger Substack gets, the more ideologically diverse its author pool becomes, the greater the chances for highly inflammatory, potentially harmful content.
Joe Pompeo • “There Has to Be a Line”: Substack’s Founders Dive Headfirst Into the Culture Wars
Nobody deserves support, public or otherwise, for making something no one wants. Artists, in that respect, are not any different from people who open restaurants or shops, many of which also fail. Being an artist is not a job. In economic terms, it is a business.