Accessibility of Art and the Valuation of Work
In a time of social media and, I guess, the internet, we have so much available at the tips of our fingers (literally). Suddenly, everything seems to lose value. And it’s truly heartbreaking.
As I am building my career as an artist, I come across how I, and the people I interact with, take in the art around us. It’s everywhere. Whether it’s in the movie theaters or on stage, in the museums or in a park. We see through the buildings we walk past and through the pictures and videos we slide through on our phones. And when it’s everywhere, naturally some works of art will gravitate towards specific people.
I love to read romance books. The fun, heartwarming moments of escapism are something I look forward to at the end of a long day. The bright-colored spines stand out compared to the darker-toned ones I accumulated in college as a creative writing major. There is a specific way certain works of art are approached. The vibrant pinks, yellows, and blues are inviting and simple. A story for all. The blacks and browns don’t have as much flair to them, presumably, their draw to readers is simply the writing inside. At the end of the day, they are the same. Typed words between a cover and a back. The stories are different, the vernacular is different, and the tone is different. But it’s all the same. And yet, those colorful spines on my bookshelf would instantly be looked down on while the dark spines would be revered. Regardless of the words in between.
And it begs the question of how we critique art based on its accessibility – whether it is mental or physical – and how it’s affected how we see the art around us.
WARNING: I will be using the following terms repeatedly to an annoying extent: accessibility, inaccessible, high-brow, and low-brow. Take it or leave it.
Art, in whatever format, is held in higher regard the more inaccessible it is. That being inaccessible in a way that the concept or subject might be difficult to understand or difficult to obtain physically. A television show on cable is more easily accessible than something on streaming since streaming is something you would have to pay for. Like a show on HBO would be considered more revered compared to a show on CBS. Romance books are easily comprehendible and, most of the time, predictable and therefore more intellectually accessible – therefore deeming lower brow than something that is more conceptual and stylistically complex to understand.
If you were to come across a local opera house, very rarely do they outrightly advertise their operas. But you do see advertisements for musicals that they would have performing in the same theater. Why? The notion is that opera is higher brow than your standard Broadway show; pertaining to opera being less accessible both intellectually and financially. Musical theater, however, would be considered higher brow than television as tickets for musicals are expensive and have limited performances.
Or think about NFTs. Call me a traditionalist but I genuinely don’t care for NFTs or ever entering that realm as an artist. But the whole idea of NFTs is that it’s one of a kind. There’s nothing like it and you can “own” it (you don’t really own it). But it’s the lack of accessibility to it that makes it so desirable and, more importantly, profitable.
You get the idea, right? When a work of art is less accessible to the public, either physically or intellectually, it is held in higher esteem.
Note that I am not mentioning the content of the work created nor the financial aspects of distribution. Those are relevant too but not to this specific argument so shut up. What the narrative of each piece is, the concept, the execution. That frankly couldn’t matter. Art is subjective and speaks differently to different people. Each film, book, and painting should be critiqued as individual works of art. It could be the worst thing in the entire world or the best thing. In this conversation of accessibility, the content of the art is not relevant. Simply, the platforms that are being used for distribution.
I spoke about the vibrant spines of the romance books I own. And the dark black and grey spines of the more conceptual ones I have. The black spines may be what most writers want to associate themselves with. The intelligence, the complexities, the elegance of it all. And yet, it’s the bright pinks, yellows, and blue that make me the happiest. That I thoroughly enjoy and find myself coming back to again and again.
In a time of social media and, I guess, the internet, we have so much available at the tips of our fingers (literally). Suddenly, everything seems to lose value. And it’s truly heartbreaking. I find myself hesitant to share my work online with the fear of it being devalued. A script I have written or a canvas I have painted. I am anxious about the work I put out being too intellectually accessible. Being too easy to understand and therefore be seen as dumb or low brow.
Even if my work is easy to understand and easy to access – it’s still work, is it not? It’s still something I am making, or have made, and am sharing with the world. If one person were to see it versus a hundred; if one person were to understand it versus a hundred; it shouldn’t affect the quality of my work. That may not necessarily mean that “oh my god, my work is always amazing”. It’s not going to be. There are some written works and some visual works that I’m not too happy with. There are some works where my family and peers look at it and ask “what?” And that’s perfectly fine. But the accessibility to it shouldn’t affect it. I have seen shows on network television that is infinitely better than some things I have seen on streaming. There are some things that I have seen on stage that is better than what I have seen on screen. But it all matter what speaks to me as an individual. The dark spines on my bookshelf may be for some people. But the vibrant spines are what speak to me. They make me happy, and they provide stories that allow me to escape and enjoy. There are some tv shows that are just easy to watch but they still have value.
The idea that a work of art needs to be inaccessible to be considered higher-brow is rooted in elitism. And the art world is elitist enough. As someone who cares so desperately for my own peers to respect and admire my own work, I also must acknowledge that I am relatively new to this industry, and I must take advantage of the opportunities I do get regardless of how low-brow they may seem. And I need to allow myself to enjoy the things that I enjoy - regardless of how accessibile it is. At the end of the day, it’s the content that matters. That’ll be what everything comes down to in terms of the work that I and my peers make. Now whether the content is actually good is a whole ‘nother conversation…
Love it!