AGENTES DE IRRIGACIÓN UTILIZADOS ACTUALMENTE EN ENDODONCIA

The RAINBOW analysis framework detailed above drew from artists’ backgrounds and expressed views to capture different perspectives on their relationships with other artists, their professional identities, and the art market in the context of the new social media environment. Emergent themes included:

(1) New opportunities. Artists can use social media (Instagram, Twitter, and/or Facebook) to gain a wider audience and advance their careers by promoting their artwork. These social media sites help artists to break the boundaries between themselves and their audiences. For instance, in launching new campaigns or hosting exhibitions, artists can announce the particulars on social media sites and encourage their followers to attend through direct communication. Through this process they can attract potential audience members (backers) from different backgrounds – from all over the world. Even though

artists must manage the administrative components of their work and strategise to continue to connect with and grow their audience base, there is value in this insofar as the more people who know about their campaigns, the more opportunities artists will have. In turn, this can give artists more freedom and power to develop their careers. Instead of relying on galleries, artists who use social media become responsible for promotions, marketing, and sales in addition to creating their art and thereby controlling their brand. As Sparrow mentioned during our in-depth interview, the new opportunities brought about by social media mean that artists have no excuses to not be successful and take sole responsibility for all of the activities related to their businesses. This implies that when artists fail in making it, they have nobody to blame but themselves. The flipside of this is that those artists who develop successful careers through social media can be particularly proud of themselves, recognising that they are primarily responsible for their accomplishments.

(2) More conversations with like-minded professionals. Artists have greater access to people with shared interests to discuss trends, the art market, and creative methods, even though some artists do not feel very confident in using social media. For example, Sweeney expressed feelings of discomfort with using social media, and Albrecht shared that she is still hesitant to use social media and does not like to be too close to her Facebook followers. Having said that, Sweeney was quick to admit that she enjoyed exploring other artists’ social media profiles and websites to know about their art, and that she used these platforms to exchange ideas. Based on my interview findings, no matter whether artists are ‘social media doubters’ or ‘social media in-betweeners’, they can still see its value in facilitating them to know about other artists’ work and enabling knowledge exchange.

(3) The influence of social media on the creative process. Artists are able to identify potential audience member’s preferences and adjust their artwork accordingly. This

the social media art market. In more detail, when artists cooperate with galleries, they focus on making their art instead of interacting with their audience members (as galleries deal with these ‘chores’ for them). On the one hand, by working with galleries artists can reserve more time to focus on their artwork and are not as influenced by their audience’s preferences in their creative processes. On the other hand, artists may not have direct access to their audience base, and so cannot learn about what they want and will respond to. Social media has dramatically changed this dynamic, in that artists can be online all the time to interact with their audience and get a firm understanding of what they value. Over time, artists who successfully tap into this market can become independent enough to have private audiences that will enable them to develop their careers.

(4) Crowdfunding enables different pathways towards career development and sustainability, in addition to community support from online audiences. Traditionally, artists have had to work two jobs in building their careers, given that their artwork is often not well compensated. While galleries can help with this process, my interviewees all shared in the view that it is very difficult for emerging artists to have their works accepted into galleries. Proactively responding to this, crowdfunding provides artists with a pathway to obtain financial support to continue their careers. It has the further virtue of taking the ‘weird’ factor out of requesting money, according to Sweeney. Moreover, artists can use crowdfunding platforms to launch multiple campaigns, as Bowell and Sparrow each benefitted from.

To allow for a well-rounded analysis, this chapter began with the artists’ reflections on their careers because I believe that these sentiments are at the heart of the art market ecosystem. I say this because their reflections helped me, as a researcher, to identify where their creativity comes from and the influences that affect their art lives and what they

came to see that the critical analysis made possible by the RAINBOW framework reinforced how the artists saw themselves, how they wanted to relate to their audience members, and how they felt about the changed art market and their new responsibilities.

In our discussions concerning the ‘interpersonal’ circle, it was evident that some artists benefitted from the support of their families – especially their parents – while others were discouraged or had self-doubts that arose through their formative relationships. On a positive note, several artists commented that they were able to transfer their insecurities to their creative work, fueling their creative drive and determination. Giblin is a prime example here. Although she had always believed that her father focused too much on money and did not value her artistic talent enough, her overall takeaway was that ‘thankfully, my father snuck business into all conversations about art, for survival purposes’.

In terms of artists’ broader relationships, the ‘audience’ component of the interviews revealed difficulties connecting with their imagined audience via social media. There is also apparent tension in terms of the relationships artists want to have with their audiences. While there was universal agreement among the artists I interviewed that they wanted their work to be appreciated and valued, many struggled to maintain authenticity in their creations amidst the pressure to produce according to timelines and taste. Driver, for instance, likes to draw according to his taste rather than for others. Bowell falls on the opposite end of the spectrum, in that – first and foremost – she enjoys making art that people will like, and her perception of her imagined audience influences her creative process.

As noted above, the innovation component fits within two circles (i.e. both the ‘interpersonal’ and ‘social media’ circles). To an extent, it was shown that social media empowers artists to take control of their art and to build relationships with potential customers who appreciate their work. However, this also means that artists feel sole, and rather acute, responsibility if they do not attract enough attention to sustain their work. For

that reason, many artists still see value in galleries and agents, even though they may not attract as many followers as they can through social media platforms.

Discussions about networks also fell into the ‘social media’ circle. It is worth emphasising that – although artists had positive attitudes towards crowdfunding and social media (particularly the opportunities they facilitate) – they struggled in knowing how to harness these platforms for promoting, managing expectations, and administration. This is not surprising, considering public relations is a skill set that requires mastery, and there are formal educational programs devoted to just that. There were also concerns raised about how

much to share and whether to adopt a particular persona to connect with one’s audience

members. Hence, at the same time as an artist can feel more confident communicating virtually than face-to-face, there is a range of thinking about sharing personal information. Some artists are fine with sharing details about their everyday lives, while others want to maintain a strict divide between their work and their personal lives.

In the ‘business’ circle – which included discussions about business, opportunities, and weaknesses – interviewees focused, primarily, on how they interacted with (and felt about) social media and crowdfunding in comparison to agents and galleries. While many interviewees relished the idea of creating their own brand, challenges remained in terms of how to effectively do this. In other words, creators must multi-task and acquire a broad range of skills to ensure that their work gets noticed, that transactions occur, that relationships are managed, and that timelines are met. These activities – promotion,

marketing, communications, and customer service – were traditionally absorbed by galleries and performed by the agents who worked within them. Now, artists have to perform all of these activities on top of creating artwork, unless they work with galleries.

With respect to opportunities and weaknesses, I learned that artists are struggling to adjust their attitudes and relationships between their art and the business side of their work.

Sparrow, for instance, observed that social media may cause confusion among artists in considering the ‘business side’ of their work, particularly insofar as they may underestimate how challenging it can be to build a following and monetise their work.

Chapter 7 Reflection and Analysis: The Researcher’s Successful