What Does It Take?
What does it take for art to go "viral"? That's an interesting question. Art is all around us, in the eye of the beholder, some would say, and yet, many artists toil away unnoticed. Poems go unpublished, sculptures are stored in the shed, colorful canvases gather dust in the attic, studios only rarely see the bustle and buzz of an opening. There are others, though who, in some way or another manage to gain notoriety for or through their art, and they become household names.
So, what does it take to gain that notoriety, that acclaim sufficient enough to go "viral"? Shock can be used effectively to accomplish this. You will always get your name in the New York Times Arts section if your art is an installation involving urinating on portraits of the Pope or a carefully arranged collection of aborted fetal tissue or (perhaps best of all) crushing rats between large bricks just to see what happens. You might also go viral if you happen to be Ansel Adams or someone similarly clever with a camera or even Banksy with your street art. It might even help to be Russell Brand, although I am not entirely convinced of that.
What about the rest of us, though? We who competently render landscapes of the Canadian prairie in oil and acrylic, have a compelling spin on Anasazi pottery, or pen a story markedly less depressing than those of Margaret Atwood? What about us? Do we have to resort to shock value alone to go viral in this ever more crowded artistic universe? Because we can, you know. We can post subversive and suggestive haiku on handbills in major subway systems around the world. Or on a blog, which is, let's face it, ready made for viral activity. We can photocopy genitals, digitally render them in any color you like, and claim they belong to the Prime Minister of Canada. At best though, these tactics would perhaps garner us Mr. Warhol's fifteen minutes of fame, but not much more.
I suspect the answer is part talent, part shock or provocation, part inspiration and part serendipity. Whatever the mix, when it's right, the art and the artist can really take off. Some day.
