How Isolation Is Influencing Artistic Innovation Through Social Media Crazes
Start writing a post
Entertainment

How Isolation Is Influencing Artistic Innovation Through Social Media Crazes

Instead of "anomie," we live in the age of "aesthetic," where we are fascinated by the observer and how their experiences accumulate into a personal "aesthetic."

23
How Isolation Is Influencing Artistic Innovation Through Social Media Crazes
Art Institute Chicago

"Anomie," a French word meaning "personal unrest, alienation, and uncertainty that comes from a lack of purpose or ideals", defines the mood in France during the impressionist period. The impressionist period was a time in France marked by a mass sentiment of social turmoil and isolation, even in large crowds of humans that populated the cities. At this time, people would do anything and everything, just for show. They wanted to be seen. A time when flaneurs (idlers) walked turtles as pets to slow their speed so they could be sure they had adequate time in the streets to be seen or went to the opera, not to see the opera, but to walk up and down grand staircases in fancy dress wear. Flaneurs were the couriers of anomie simply because they idled. What was the point of doing something cultured if no one saw you do it?

Social behavior during this time informed the subject matter of the impressionists and post-impressionists. They became fascinated with representing the observer, the loiterer, and the show. They focused on how people presented themselves, how they put on a show. Henri Toulouse-Lautrec, a post-impressionist painter, has many sketches and paintings in which women and men are garishly lit, just looking. As the observer of an observer observing, we too become fascinated with this meta-observational realm. Like magicians, whose tricks are performed through misdirection, impressionists force us to look away from the main attraction during a show and focus on the sidelines, the audience. Even in paintings of the performers and the show, like in the work or Degas, the performers are labeled as performers. We, the audience, are taken out of our blind trust in believing that the actors are who they say they are and that time is as the play says it is. We see performers backstage or on advertisements, even onstage, but we can still see the orchestra pit and the audience.

Today, I believe we are in a similar age, although instead of "anomie," we live in the age of "aesthetic." We are fascinated by the observer and how their experiences accumulate into an "aesthetic." We can't do anything without posting it to Instagram, Snapchat, Facebook or whatever social media replaced Safari on your iPhone dock. We experience the isolation that anomie refers to through social media platforms. We believe we are socializing and connecting with fellow humans, though in reality, we are alone behind the screens. When taking photos with friends with the intention of placing them on social media, we stop to think about ourselves, our image, and how that photo will make us look. Friends take the time to color coordinate their lives so that it fits perfectly into a theme on Instagram. They go hungry while they take 200 photos of a donut they're going to take two bites of. They "do it for the vine" (rip vine) but not for the real experience of it. People collect into albums what these experiences look like through images, perhaps oblivious to what they feel like.

It would seem that these times would turn out to be fruitless, yet in reality, both of these periods of opulent isolation have produced cultural innovation in the development of art forms. More recently, through social media, people have found new ways to market themselves to reach each other through photography and editing. The most important thing to realize is that there is still more to discover. Art didn't finish developing with the impressionists; it experienced the post-impressionists, the fauvists, the cubists, and whatever DaDa was before we came to a place where art has negligible limits for what the market will consume. The social media age does not settle in isolation. It's just the beginning, and who knows where it will take us next?

Report this Content
This article has not been reviewed by Odyssey HQ and solely reflects the ideas and opinions of the creator.
Student Life

Waitlisted for a College Class? Here's What to Do!

Dealing with the inevitable realities of college life.

41663
college students waiting in a long line in the hallway
StableDiffusion

Course registration at college can be a big hassle and is almost never talked about. Classes you want to take fill up before you get a chance to register. You might change your mind about a class you want to take and must struggle to find another class to fit in the same time period. You also have to make sure no classes clash by time. Like I said, it's a big hassle.

This semester, I was waitlisted for two classes. Most people in this situation, especially first years, freak out because they don't know what to do. Here is what you should do when this happens.

Keep Reading...Show less
a man and a woman sitting on the beach in front of the sunset

Whether you met your new love interest online, through mutual friends, or another way entirely, you'll definitely want to know what you're getting into. I mean, really, what's the point in entering a relationship with someone if you don't know whether or not you're compatible on a very basic level?

Consider these 21 questions to ask in the talking stage when getting to know that new guy or girl you just started talking to:

Keep Reading...Show less
Lifestyle

Challah vs. Easter Bread: A Delicious Dilemma

Is there really such a difference in Challah bread or Easter Bread?

26127
loaves of challah and easter bread stacked up aside each other, an abundance of food in baskets
StableDiffusion

Ever since I could remember, it was a treat to receive Easter Bread made by my grandmother. We would only have it once a year and the wait was excruciating. Now that my grandmother has gotten older, she has stopped baking a lot of her recipes that require a lot of hand usage--her traditional Italian baking means no machines. So for the past few years, I have missed enjoying my Easter Bread.

Keep Reading...Show less
Adulting

Unlocking Lake People's Secrets: 15 Must-Knows!

There's no other place you'd rather be in the summer.

951405
Group of joyful friends sitting in a boat
Haley Harvey

The people that spend their summers at the lake are a unique group of people.

Whether you grew up going to the lake, have only recently started going, or have only been once or twice, you know it takes a certain kind of person to be a lake person. To the long-time lake people, the lake holds a special place in your heart, no matter how dirty the water may look.

Keep Reading...Show less
Student Life

Top 10 Reasons My School Rocks!

Why I Chose a Small School Over a Big University.

135261
man in black long sleeve shirt and black pants walking on white concrete pathway

I was asked so many times why I wanted to go to a small school when a big university is so much better. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure a big university is great but I absolutely love going to a small school. I know that I miss out on big sporting events and having people actually know where it is. I can't even count how many times I've been asked where it is and I know they won't know so I just say "somewhere in the middle of Wisconsin." But, I get to know most people at my school and I know my professors very well. Not to mention, being able to walk to the other side of campus in 5 minutes at a casual walking pace. I am so happy I made the decision to go to school where I did. I love my school and these are just a few reasons why.

Keep Reading...Show less

Subscribe to Our Newsletter

Facebook Comments