ART is engaging with social media more than ever.

For one thing, more artists have embraced social media platforms. In early July, 64-year-old Chinese artist Cai Guoqiang set up an account on short-video sharing platform Douyin and livestreamed a two-hour tour around his new exhibition at Museum of Art Pudong in Shanghai, receiving more than 1 million viewers.

In June, Daniel Arsham, a contemporary artist based in New York City of the U.S., landed on Xiaohongshu, a lifestyle-sharing platform popular among China’s young people. Damien Hirst, reportedly the U.K.’s richest living artist, also opened his official WeChat account earlier this year.

For another thing, social media platforms are also making efforts to develop their own art sessions. In 2019, Douyin launched the DOU Yi Project to support artists and help them attract more fans on the platform.

Last year, Douyin’s rival Kuaishou joined hands with the UCCA Center for Contemporary Art and livestreamed a concert that featured nine musicians of different styles, attracting more than 3 million viewers. It also presented livestreamed interviews and plays and produced short documentaries of the Aranya Theater Festival earlier this year.

Earlier this year at the Aranya Theater Festival, Kuaishou also participated at the events through various ways, including livestreaming and short documentaries.

How social media changes art?

At a traditional exhibition, visitors learn about a displayed artwork through exhibition brochures or guided tours given by an exhibition curator. Social media breaks the boundaries of time and space and allows people to see exhibitions across the world.

Meanwhile, it also provides a more direct and convenient way for artists to reach their audience. In last September, Cai staged a 15-minute fireworks event inspired by Nietzsche’s “The Birth of Tragedy” and livestreamed it through social media, allowing the audiences in China to watch the event that took place in France.

Hu Zhifeng, one of the founders of the DOU Yi Project and vice president of Beijing Film Academy, said that the project brings more artistic content to Douyin and helps art to get closer to the public.

Will social media help artists to win more fans?

Social media platforms are presenting art and cultural contents because they’ve found the need for such contents from their users. By December 2020, the art videos on Douyin had received more than 2.1 trillion views, and the social media platform has more than 200,000 artists with over 10,000 fans. Young people who love pop cultures and subcultures have become the main force of consumption and the major active users of social media platforms.

As designer toys and non-fungible tokens (NFT) are gaining growing popularity, more users on Xiaohongshu are sharing their experience of visiting exhibitions, learning art, applying for art colleges and design toys.

Daniel Arsham, whose concept of fictional archeology is popular among his audience, opened his account on Xiaohongshu in June. In less than one month, the artist reaped around 38,000 fans on the Chinese social media platform, and now the number has reached 134,000.

Will social media bring

opportunities to the art market?

Traditionally, art is sold and bought through galleries, auctions, fairs and exhibitions. Social media has opened up another channel for artists and galleries to reach potential buyers.

As major business institutions of the primary art market, the galleries are also seeking ways to promote their young artists through social media as they’ve been aware that social media is not only where collectors get latest art information, but also where young people and potential buyers learn about art. In addition, renowned auction houses, such as Christie’s, have also opened their social media accounts.

With the algorithms of social media platforms, only popular posts will gain more views. An artist’s popularity on the social media will attract more visitors to his exhibition, but it seldom increases the sales of the artist’s works.

Zhou Hai, an art professional, said that social media has brought new opportunities to the art world and also inspirations to the artists, but celebrities and already well-known brands can gain attention more easily.   (Lin Lin)