My Journey to Create a Radical New System to Help Artists

Solving the Tension between Artwork and Content Creation

Dear friends,

This year I am revolutionising my approach to my artistic life. Amidst this ocean of discovery has been a tsunami of new learning. 

From it, I'm forming the goal of creating a Content Operating System tailored directly for artists.

It will help artists renew their enjoyment of online life, grow their audiences and break down their artistic insights into a clear societal message.

The system is in Beta Mode but I thought I'd share where I'm at on my journey.

I hope that it might inspire people wrestling with their online presence to think in new ways.

One of my chief thoughts is how to feed the insatiable appetite of online consumption while staying sane, producing quality work, and maintaining consistency.

I believe that to do this we need a more conscientious approach. That means a willingness to revolutionise what we know.

Upon my own revolution emerges my new approach: 

A system that keeps us productive and ahead of our output, rather than overwhelmed and behind.

What has helped in my work is distinguishing between:
Artwork and Content Content

The modern digital economy is confused about this because there is a primacy for content creation. 

Generally speaking, content creation is not art. Why? Because it's made for demand, conforms to schedule and is replicable in form.

The distinction embodies the age-old fight between the motivations of the artist and the craftsman - the creative vs the commercial.

But I don't want to go into semantics here. This essay is about solving problems. 

The clear statement I want to make is that though content creation is often original and creative, it has a different intention and effect to artwork. At its best, it crosses over, but I will leave the Mr Beast Vs the Mona Lisa discussion for the pub!

For now, the reason I find so many "internet gurus" problematic is that they have become rich and famous by niching down in the realm of content creation and then selling their success back to the public as "artists". 

But excelling in a niche does not make for an artist.

In my own search to reconcile with the digital world, I find many online success stories, but not so many with a history as an artist.

For instance, an "artist" gains a following by selling the dream of building a large social media following, but lacks experience in making art. Despite skipping the hard part, they then position themselves as an authority and sell advice on making art.

Most artists I've encountered don't think about gaming the system to save time. It's not a headspace they typically occupy.

THE PAIN POINT OF ARTISTS AND HOW TO SOLVE IT

To solve the pain point of why so many artists live in a constant struggle with putting out online "content" we have to determine the reasons behind it. 

With many artists, it exists as a general "throb" rather than as a piercing pain. But it is still psychologically wearing. 

I am basing my system on identifying this pain point, analysing it and finding actionable ways to fix it.

Learning about how the business world uses systems has been very illuminating. The idea of efficiency is anathema for artists because it's precisely the type of business-speak they ran away from in the first place.

And yet one of the deepest challenges of artistic life is to break out of the amorphousness of the path.

You go into it because you seek chaos. But in living that chaos you realise you have to learn to recreate it in a more ordered form.

That is ultimately the reason why an artist creates art too; to create order from the chaos they inhabit. Or to bring form to the mystery they intuit.

ART, TIME AND HOW WE APPROACH OUR WEEK

Defining the difference between art and content is instructive because we have to learn how to manage the time we allocate for each.

Key to this is to recognise artwork and content creation as two separate entities.

The reality is that most artists are out of balance. Either so committed to their art that they forget the promotional side, or so busy creating content that they hate themselves for being so distracted from their art.

As someone learning about the digital economy and figuring out how to "up-my-output", I think:

I will play your internet game, but I will set my own rules...

HOW MY HISTORY IS SHAPING MY NEW APPROACH

Although I am coming late to the digital economy, I am armed by 20 years in the dark arts of getting stuff made. 

-  recording long-form albums (check out "The Hermit and the Hedonist")
-  shooting documentaries (such as "The March of Hope")
-  working in photography in the printed realm (such as my cover for Playful Magazine)

Long-form creation has schooled me in the rigours of making artwork. Its conditions require:

1) The unyielding determination to create despite the world's apathy.
2) Trusting the intuition that screams for the existence of the damn thing.
3) Doing something not for the reward but because it is missing in the world.
4) Risking everything on a dead end, but confident in your ability to break through any obstacle.
5) Negotiating w/ Mephistopheles while knowing you're doomed anyway.
6) Resolving to create regardless of resources, constraints, or barriers.
7) Venturing into uncharted waters knowing you'll get forever lost. 
8) Working for years on a project while society obsesses with Snapchat.

Mine is a different background for someone entering the digital economy. The act of avoiding it has become the opportunity to bring a fresh perspective to it.
 
Essentially I am trying to pinch the practices of the best content creators while maintaining the integrity and aspiration of my own work.

My goal with artwork: to produce something that is missing in the world.
My goal with content: to encourage or guide someone who is struggling as I once was.

MY CONTENT CREATION SYSTEM

My goal is to create two pieces of Pillar Content per week:

1) A Newsletter
2) A YouTube video on Creativity

These are longer-form pieces which provide the nuts and bots for my social media output.

Within this axis, I am exercising two parts of my creative spirit.

1. THE NEWSLETTER

In the Newsletter, I want to write as well as I can. The written word is something holy to me. I approach it with the same love and rigour as I do any artwork.

Because it is shorter and released more often, I can also use it as a weekly intellectual workshop. 

Therefore, beyond connecting with my audience it:

- tunes my mind
- propels my research
- sharpens my ideas
- exercises my discipline
- activates my learning
- trains my consistency

2. YOUTUBE CREATIVE SERIES

On the other side of the spectrum is my new creative series on YouTube. It is unscripted, spontaneous and life-affirming. 

Watch the just-released first one here!

I have tried to get YouTube going several times before. However, my efforts have always failed.

My inner perfectionist would lead me to spend a whole week on videos that didn't gather many views, leaving little time for anything else. Feeling disheartened, I would see the endeavour as pointless and would give up.

More recently I've been thinking about who and what I enjoy on YouTube. 

The people I follow are usually very passionate about one subject. 

Given that I don't have the time, will or resources to do YouTube full-time, I am instead thinking about: 

a) what I can offer?
b) what I can be consistent with?
c) what is fun for me?

As such, my new approach is the opposite of my earlier endeavours:

- to let go of perfectionism
- to talk freely about things I love
- to make it conversational and unscripted
- to activate the ideas I am exploring
- to workshop my pressure points
- to improve my speaking
- to share what I'm learning in any given week

The key is to free your passion.

How can you activate the things you love in the simplest possible way?

I was particularly inspired by the boxing channel run by Ade Oladipo. I've followed Ade for years (I'm a boxing nut) and always marvel at his approach.

Why?

Because he keeps it so simple and is incredibly consistent. In a nutshell:

- he wakes
- he opens his laptop
- he sees what's happening in boxing news
- he comments on daily developments
- he records it on his phone (with a Lavalier mic) 
- it's always one take (amazing!)
- no editing
- uploads directly to YouTube

What makes it captivating is that he is so passionate about boxing. I'm inspired by:

a) reducing things down to their essential elements
b) forgetting perfectionism
c) using video as an arena to workshop ideas

I've watched Ade's channel grow from 10K to 40K subscribers over the last 5 years. When I first started watching, he was a broke dude doing something simply for the love of it. Tonight he will be the lead host on DAZN for Canelo Álvarez's title defence! 

It's so inspiring to watch success unfold before you. I particularly love Ade's story because he's utilised limitations and focused on the fact that he is:

1. A captivating speaker
2. Fuelled by a passion
3. Unwavering in his consistency

Angels exist when you marry passion and consistency with a willingness to publish.

WHAT NEXT AFTER CREATING MY PILLAR CONTENT?

Now that I have created my "Pillar Content", the question is how to make it work.

We all know that there is the potential for "imminent publishing death" with anything you release. 

I am approaching it by revolutionising the intentionality behind what I create.

My motivation for making YouTube videos isn't specifically to build my audience there, but to capture my message in a format I can use on my main platform, Instagram.

My system is to: 

1. Film a 30-minute one-take YouTube video.
2. Cut eight 1-minute Reels from each video for Instagram.
3. Use Notions "Content Calendar" template to upload a release for each Monday for the following 8 weeks.
4. Repeat the same process with a new 30-minute video the following week, then cut it up for release over the next 8 Tuesdays.
5.. Build up a library of content that expresses my message and values.
6. Distribute it into the future.

RESULT:
Free up time for creating artwork by staying ahead of the "problem of content."

With the Newsletter, after creating my weekly "Pillar Content" I then cut it up into different bite-size chunks which can be used to disseminate my message.

I realised I didn't have the right platform for this content, so am now starting on Twitter and Substack Notes.

Interestingly, the system is leading me to new platforms! I'll experiment and see what works. 

Being structured about content creation is new to me. But, the goal is to solve the time problem. There's just not enough time to pursue my interests, so I need to make my work life more efficient.

My idea is to disperse my content into the future so that: 

a) Today's work impacts the future
b) Ideas spread in bite-size 
c) I'm freed from the daily management of multiple platforms

For instance, on Twitter, you can set up your whole week's Tweets using Hypefury.  

BEING VS DOING - THE "WHY" BEHIND MY SYSTEM BUILDING

The reason to create such systems is to free me not to do more but to do less.

I want to gain time to:

1) explore the spirit
2) contemplate
3) be in life
4) deepen your relationships
5) travel
6) listen to the voice inside 
7) write about what I hear
8) build my business
9) deepen my understanding of the world

Instead of being tethered to the online beast, I want to change my relationship with it.

The digital economy is the new rat race. Why create one freedom, only to enslave oneself to another?

Time management is now key in my transformation. I'm shedding my old artistic self to explore new potential. It's a steep growth cycle into unknown terrain and I have yet to find the guide I seek.

Therefore, I'm making it my mission to become the guide I wish I could find.

A ROUTE INTO THE FUTURE

I see a route into my future, and it's based on the belief that it is possible to: 

a) put a positive message into the world
b) create great works of art
c) earn a living from the digital economy
d) develop freedom of the spirit while doing so
e) impact people's lives in a life-affirming way

The pain points I am encountering are stimulating my growth.

When you cannot find what you seek in the world; create it. 

As artists and people, we do not need to be stuck. 
We do not have to assume that there is nothing good for us out there.
We do not have to replicate the nihilism of the culture.

It is because you are an artist that you are wrestling with these questions and that you are burdened by a scrolling distracted world.

 And yet, this pain point is our opportunity!

Your fightback begins today:

Activate your message.
Believe in who you are.
Embrace reckless faith.
Remember you matter.
You represent the though-dreams of a society asphyxiated by its own amnesia.
Keep believing.
Keep going. 
All is before you!

Love Jim