I had a great time speaking at New York Times' Chinese magazine launch in Hong Kong last week! Part of the event included a keynote talk and panel discussion, and one of the topics we discussed was about the role of the Chinese consumer and about social media and art. Instagram especially has provided an entire new way for the world to access art. In the past, artists had to go through big players in the art world (galleries, dealers, collectors, critics) to get exposure for their work, but now we're increasingly seeing artists - with audiences likely wider than gallery openings - selling works theirselves directly to clients/collectors. If Van Gogh were alive today and Instagram-savvy, he would definitely have sold more than one painting in his lifetime!
This is totally unrelated to our panel discussion but is something that's been on my mind a lot lately: while social media has brought lots of opportunities, I can definitely see the danger with how our online worlds can be so carefully curated and how it does not paint a picture of real-life...everyone seems to have it together while in reality, we all go through 'stuff'. It's made me wonder about how we - especially kids - cope with comparison games these days, and has made me think a lot about what we can do to change this and present ourselves in more real and authentic ways. :)
And yes, I definitely go through my share of 'stuff'!
