Art Disruption

On this episode of The Stream, we reframe the elitist reputation of fine art and discuss how creative minds are disrupting this otherwise exclusive scene through virtual galleries and art on wheels.  

GUESTS

Ashley Longshore, Pop Artist

Twitter: @ashleylongshore/ Instagram: @ashleylongshoreart

"I don’t see a downside to [Instagram] – it’s a fully positive experience for me. Any artist can be afraid about getting their work stolen because anyone can knock something off. As any artist, that’s a risk."

Nether, Artist

Instagram: @nether410

"Street art is about sharing messages and ideas and the internet exponentially makes that happen. Street art is completely run on Instagram."

Sree Sreenivasan, The Metropolitan Museum’s First Chief Digital Officer

Twitter: @sree

"I think there is magic that happens when you are standing in a gallery with a piece of art. You connect with it, you commune with it, and it’s just you and the object. You might not need anything else, except the label telling you what it is. But there are times when you want an audio explanation or other kinds of background information. How was it made? What were the societal or political circumstances of its time? How does it fit into what was happening at the same time elsewhere?" 

Aaron Graham, Artist

Twitter: @rodigallery / Instagram: @rodigallery

"It’s a very democratic idea to bring art in different places where it’s not expected. I was initially hesitant but worked on execution and been working on it for a year now. [...] There’s definitely of a thread of artists who choose viewing their work in alternative ways." 

Molly Crabapple, Artist and journalist

Twitter: @mollycrabapple

"I paint cause its a compulsion, like doing drugs or picking scabs. I drew pictures when it was something that got me suspended from school and I do it now when its something that I use to make my living. Its just how I deal with the world."

Phil Kaye, Spoken Word Poet, Co-Director of Project VOICE

Twitter: @phil_kaye

"When I first started writing, I didn’t know what spoken word was until I attended a student of color conference. I didn’t have access to it. If you didn’t have spoken word in your city, you didn’t know what it was.  And the Youtube and the internet changed all of that. I would be doing what I’m doing now without the internet and YouTube."

Derrick Weston Brown, Poet and author

Twitter: @WisdomTeething

"With technology, people realized you can make a living out of poetry and find your way around the country and the world. With the internet, you’re like: ‘Oh that sounds like me, I relate to that, oh I can say that?’ And that gives people confidence."

Learn More

Why the World's Most Talked-About New Art Dealer Is Instagram [Vogue]

Dealers behind controversial 'buy a Banksy' exhibition announce plans for first 'street art' museum [The Independent]

Art sales records shattered with global rise of billionaires [Al Jazeera America]