Artists have been used as tools to further agendas for generations. Artists themselves have been party time and time again to be work-horses and act only like tools to accept regular wages. So why is it a surprise when on a day like today it has come to be where apps and automated tools have been made off their backs out of jobs they were paid for to do up until now.
Ghost writers and artists have happily done work by commodifying their talents and labored like robots, setting their rates conveniently for as low as $5 instead of $500. But now, why is there such hue and cry for help when these very people have fueled the fire for all these past 20 years of globalization. I hear that some artists today who were part of such artists farms, admit they are lucky if they are even getting paid at all. AI has taken their jobs is what I understand.
Where were they three decades ago?
For a good 30 years, at least my experience says that trying to coexist and work with an art community as an artist to uplift the community along with myself wherever I lived and worked at, has never improved anything because I was too weak as a lone artist facing a tendency to be struck down. The reason was that every artist wanted a competitive edge over the other artist. But what artists failed to see is that they needed to work with each other than against each others interests and see how we could compliment each other. Somehow, artists wanted immediate gratification and loved being an egotist to start with and fell for immediate cash. I wish artists had an entrepreneurial mindset who could plan ahead 5 or 10 years, but instead they were great at paving the way to do work for pittance to get them a means to live day to day. And hence became important actors for the vices of capitalism to play out so seamlessly.
Thankfully this indifference at every turn reminded me to look inside of myself to find the missing answers as to how to sustain without external help. So technology played a huge role even as early as 1987.
This attitude was the same across all disciplines in art, be it animation art, video design, fine art, etc. The contemporary art world also kept it as contemporary as can be with some walking around with a stiff upper lip if you know what I mean. ;o) There has been segregation at every level between desks, departments, sectors and industries within the art world. In the contemporary art world it is the privileged who get an unfair advantage as it is well-known today and these elite guard whatever they have like gold against the actual talented artists who are blocked from access to the real deal. So in such an unjust world why work hard where biases are openly and extravagantly authenticated. So I have not even cared to play that game. This is a very early lesson I learnt from an artist who's studio I went to hang out at in the early 1990s. Because I was still a student I never was expected to pay to use his studio while the artist wanted to gather some young students around him to feel like a teacher. Today I can interpret it that way after decades later this artist likes to deny remembering his formative years when these young students made the fabric of his growth possible and his success if any today. Why do artists guard their art as if it was such a treasure. In such a divided world it is no wonder there is no living rich naturally talented artist of course with the exception of artists like Picasso. He too lived a privileged life like a few who are mentioned and who's works are auctioned off with pride today.
Artists the past decade happily went on youtube and did their own tutorials to teach. So everything is out there for the taking. Artists did everything there is possible for their consumers just for those few seconds of fame or to hold a trophy to win an award or be paid royalties by online hosting platforms. The saga goes on isn't it today. Some fellow artists in my position will agree.
My latest was a strike down by a self-proclaimed artist with such arrogance. No doubt during the initial couple of years were lonely with bad behavior from fellow artists and bosses but the rest of the solid 28 years were simply a rich experience because the personal learning and accomplishments surpassed cruel co-workers and attitude from a community that normally should care. The enjoyment was every single day so to say life has made one in such circumstances only stronger and better with every encounter.
Then there are some artists who are very happy to stay complacent or play along with bad bosses who wanted to divide and manage (divide and rule) to their own advantage, when their personalities were just a story of self-erosion while good artists move on with their spirits only elevated with new opportunities as they have an opportunity to define themselves.
Such cut-throat competition I can only see that it has not gotten them anywhere because in the end their art has been consumed and regurgitated elsewhere several times down the supply chain that they won't even be able to recognize it leave alone that they no more hold any rights to it. Just as it is so difficult to claim ownership of the art Ai has scraped off the internet all artists works.
I am so glad when I started posting online nearly 2 decades ago, I remembered that I have to post only stuff I did not care to lose. My intent was only to showcase, so much so that when Facebook all of a sudden notified perhaps by 2011 that they own what we post on their platform that I was not surprised nor angry. And today it is proof our posts on their platform was data they or all these Ai enablers used to train.
The attitude of "self-fulness" Excuse me I just made that word up....artists instead of exercising conscious selflessness, I found the same experience even when I outsourced time to time, some of my extra artistic requirement, there was a complete lack of commitment to timing, promise or respect for the payment I made to humans I outsourced to and more importantly there was lack of transparency and sadly sometimes even deceptive behaviour with dis-gratitude.. This left me in a dilemma and mistrust of such a system and so I held back any plans to scale up.
But this did not stop me from giving opportunities to people who wanted to get my help for pittance. I rather did it for close to free to test their authenticity. But in time, I figured that in doing rando work for rando people was also not a good way to spend a meaningful life as an artist who had a choice. I invested in my risks I took and this really started the year 2006 and what I found out step by step spending dollars to enrich myself. I rather spend it on my learning and for charity to the needy than feed the fat pockets of the undeserving.
Thanks to the past 11 years of working by myself as a Solopreneur being my own peon too, and investing in knowledge and technology and research, the coming of age of AI could not have come at a better time when I needed so much of automation.
I am so ready after already 3 years into my journey as my own content producer, authorpreneur and publisher.
I feel on top of the world because as an artpreneur there is so much I look forward to I can't wait to get started in this new AI era.
My books published today was non-AI generated. All animal cartoons are my own :o) and is my ©
Color version: Back to School Series - Cutest Animal cartoons theme - Letter and Number Tracing
Black and White version: Back to School Series - Cutest Animals theme
