What does it mean to say that art is dead? It means simply that the human aspect of art has been stripped away so that the display and sharing of art no longer has anything to do with transmitting human experience.
This observation is nothing new, and art is often appropriated for commercial means. That has been happening since time immemorial. However, throughtout time, this debasement of art has been occurring at an increasing rate. Indeed, in the past, the sharing of art has always been limited by the methods of communication available. Thus, although people have always tried to take advantage of art, they have been limited by the relatively slow means of communication available to them, and the healthy expression of art thrived in the past.
Since the invention of the computer however, in-person communication has largely been replaced by virtual communication. But, virtual communication combined with the efforts of big tech corporations has a disturbing side effect. No longer do you have the opportunity for nearly as much genuine communication as is possible with face-to-face interaction.
Today, you can see thousands of photographs, paintings, and drawings online. But do you really feel moved by many of them, even if they are amazing?
The reason why you can scroll past them with the flick of your finger is because you never have the chance to truly connect with the person who produced that art, which is crucial for truly appreciating the experience transmitted by art. Even if you can’t truly communicate with a person as it is with dead artists, you can at least learn about that person’s life, which enriches the experience of viewing their art, but technology strongly discourages that sort of learning.
In other words, although people have always used art for nefarious purposes, computers are the unique human invention that make it possible for the nefarious purposes to become utterly dominant. Computers are worse for art than any previous technological invention.
It is precisely this reason that art is truly dead, at least in most circles. For true art always involves two aspects: creation and the transmission of human experience. But the latter is simply no longer taking place with the vast majority of art being created because the nature of the internet makes genuine human connection exceptionally difficult. The internet “wants” to discourage human connection, because the more people connect, the less they scroll.
Today, people complain that AI is taking over creative work and that we are losing the joy of human-created art. Yes, that is so, but the takeover of art by AI is not something new. It is part of a larger phenomenon of technology taking over the expression of human experience because without human experience, we cease to generate meaningful relationships with other people. And without meaningful connections, technology is there to step in and replace them.
In other words, technology, while initially providing for some of our needs, is ultimately against us. And, in order for it to grow past its current stage of development, it needs to destroy the noblest thing that makes us human beings: the ability to transmit our fragile experience through the permanent beauty that is art.
Thus, the eroding and destruction of art as a collective societal practice is a lot more serious than artists losing jobs, even though that is also a horrible thing, because it speaks to the inhuman tendency of our society to let technology grow without cautious examination. Indeed, the destruction of art marks the last point in modern society where we have the chance to make a better society. It marks the death of us as human beings, and the transformation of us into sickly cells of the machine monstrosity that is modern technology. Yes, computers have provided us with some nice things, but now they are growing out of control and we must stop this growth.
Art is not completely gone. There are still remnants left of people sharing and truly reaching the soul of other human beings through truth and beauty. But we are at the cusp of seeing that vanish. Now, it is up to us to regain our human strength through the transmission of our perception through art. Yes, it is not too late.
It will be a hard battle. But it starts with sharing less online, and giving up social media in the context of sharing art. Don’t support the enablers of this disaster such as Adobe and large tech companies, who are out to make a quick buck on the last vestiges of humanity. Share your art within your local community instead of to online strangers. If you share online, share through email to a few people you know instead of posting on Instagram. Delete Facebook, and use your smartphone less.
We have been tricked into thinking that communications technology helps human communication. It doesn’t. It’s a disaster that only transforms communication into commodity and art into content. Take a stand for the integrity of your own human mind and dare to produce art that will never get likes on social media because you only share it with a few people you can actually connect with. If we don’t start this process soon, we will guarantee the death of beauty and any chance of harmony with nature.
Start now and reclaim the true essence of your art by using it for genuine human communication instead of using it as fodder for the soulless big tech algorithm. Technology is invasive and may remain with us for a long time, but we can at least start to control it rather than let it take our highest form of the expression of the soul.