If you’re looking for some new ways to engage your audience and stand out from the competition, then you’ve come to the right place. We’re going to teach you how to write creatively and how to use artistic language to craft compelling stories that bring in the audiences and keep them coming back for more.
The Rise In Popularity
Art writing as a form is growing in popularity all around the world, particularly in Asia and the Middle East where self-expression and individuality are prized. In the Middle East, for example, creative writing workshops have popped up in major cities such as Dubai and Beirut, inviting people to come up with captions and short stories about images that would previously have been considered improper to photograph. In other parts of the region, individuals and businesses are experimenting with new ways to tell stories and engage with their audience, and art writing is a useful and popular tool for doing so.
What Is Art Writing?
Simply put, art writing is the practice of using creative language to describe works of art in a way that entertains, influences, or teaches the reader. Ideally, the reader will be inspired by the art and the language used to describe it – in other words, the language will be relevant to the work of art it describes. A good example of this are the captions that accompanied the works of art in the 2016 Venice Biennale (the 66th edition of the Venice International Art Exhibition), namely Marina Abramović’s ‘The Artist Is Present’.
Abramović’s performance involved inviting the public to sit with her in the room where she kept the pieces of art she’d been working on for years. The room was empty apart from the audience, Abramović, and a few of her pieces of art. During her performance, which lasted for three hours, she would not only look at the audience but also interact with them by inviting them to come up and sit with her, speak to her, or take a walk with her. The piece is called ‘The Artist Is Present’ because Abramović literally lived and breathed art – she was present in the room as she created it, and the room was filled with art. It was this physical embodiment of her creative process that the piece aimed to bring to life for the audience.
While many galleries and museums have closed down in the wake of the pandemic, one place that has not only survived but thrived is TikTok. The social media platform now boasts more than 500 million monthly active users, with the vast majority between the ages of 18 and 24. If you’re looking to reach this audience, then you’d better begin by creating content that they will find creative and interesting.
The popularity of the platform is such that it earned the name ‘Netflix for teens’ and ‘YouTube for adults’ – which makes perfect sense, given that TikTok is home to some incredibly entertaining and influential content creators.
When someone creates a captions or an artwork and submits it to TikTok, the content gets automatically curated by computer algorithms that assess the quality of the work on the platform. If the work is found to be of good quality, then it will gain popularity and eventually reach a wide audience. This is a potential opportunity for content creators to gain credibility and build a following.
Why Does It Work So Well On TikTok?
Many creators on TikTok are comfortable enough creating artwork and experimenting with words and phrases – the platform is full of meme-worthy sayings and one-liners that can be used to create funny or informative captions.
However, beyond the comedy and the quirky one-liners, there is a range of content aimed at educating, entertaining, or inspiring the audience. If you’re looking to have a conversation with your audience, then TikTok is the perfect platform for you – the comments section is always active, with users engaging with each other about a range of topics from fashion to politics, and all points in between.
TikTok is a place that allows anyone to post content that others can engage with and contribute to, encouraging a sense of community on the platform. While anyone can upload content to TikTok, it’s the smaller content creators and independent artists who can access the platform and have their work seen by millions who benefit the most. This is because of the platform’s algorithm which makes it accessible to people who are discovering content for the first time and keeps them coming back for more.
Content Incorporating Art Writing
The rise in popularity of art writing on TikTok is evident in the fact that many content creators are actively incorporating it into their work. Whether through a combination of stills and video, infographics and posters, or an interactive experience, art writing is proving to be a useful tool in engaging with audiences on a whole new level. Here are some examples of content incorporating art writing that will inspire you:
Interactive Art
Perhaps the most straightforward example of content incorporating art writing is to be found in interactive art installations. These are pieces of creative work that don’t just use visual language to describe an artwork but actively engage with the audience through the use of elements such as text, music, or other types of media. They enable the audience to play an active role in the creation of the piece – often, there’s no straightforward description of the artwork in advance, but rather the piece exists in a state of flux, constantly changing as the audience plays a role in its creation. Examples of this could be found in Marina Abramović’s ‘The Artist Is Present’ or Simon Birch’s ‘Garden of Words’ – two of the most popular video series on TikTok.
Animation And Comics
If you’d like, you can take your pick from a whole host of animations and comics that use visual language to convey complex ideas with ease. Case in point is Miep Gies’s ‘The Comedian In Real Life’, a collection of shorts that examine the many different sides to the comic industry. Using simple yet effective drawings full of humor and irony, Gies examines topics ranging from gender identity to racism in a way that will resonate with anyone who has ever held a dream in their hands and thought, “This cannot possibly be real.”
Gies draws on personal experience to give the series a degree of authenticity that is both humbling and amusing, exploring the often ridiculous and glamorous world of comic books in a way that will entertain and inform the reader.
Portraits And Self-portraits
Portrait painting has been around for centuries, with famous artists like Diego Velázquez and Édouard Manet using the form to great acclaim in the 18th century. Since then, the form has mostly remained rooted in the fine art world, with many self-portraits seeing the light of day only in exhibition catalogues or online communities like Reddit.
In the 21st century, however, people are finding a new interest in self-portraiture – both in art and literature. Many people are using the form to examine their personal lives and the way society influences them, whether through the media or the people around them. For example, Chloé Bennet’s series of self-portraits is a great example of how the form can be used to examine society’s influence on an individual. In the works, Bennet explores the impact of social media on young people, particularly those in the LGBTQ community. She uses her own experience of coming out in the 1980s to create a piece that is not only visually stunning but also brings to life one of the defining periods of her adult life.
The Power Of Words
The rise in popularity of art writing on TikTok is, in part, due to the platform’s seemingly unlimited potential for creativity and variety. While the form is often associated with visual art, videos and other types of content can incorporate a range of different art forms, including literature, music, and film. Words cannot just be about words – they can be used to create whole scenes, introduce motion, or show emotion. This versatility makes content created on TikTok a rich source of inspiration for creative writers and artists alike.