Art doesn’t end at the edge(ej) of the canvas(ˈkanvəs)

Art doesn’t end at the edge(ej) of the canvas(ˈkanvəs)

By Derek Sivers

Imagine(iˈmajən) you see a caged(kāj) feather(ˈfeT͟Hər) on a museum(myo͞oˈzēəm) wall. The sign(sīn) underneath(ˌəndərˈnēTH) says the artist is a political(pəˈlitikəl) activist in jail(jāl).

Imagine that same caged feather again. But instead the sign says the artist is a high school kid in Florida(ˈflär-,ˈflôridə).

Or imagine that the only way to see it is to crawl(krôl) deep into a shrinking(SHriNGk) tunnel(ˈtənl) that opens into a room of mirrors(ˈmirər), where the caged feather is suspended(səˈspend) by a thread(THred).

Same feather. Very different perceptions(pərˈsepSHən).

The way you present(priˈzent,ˈprezənt) your art, and what people know about it, completely(kəmˈplētlē) changes how they perceive(pərˈsēv) it.

Therefore, your art doesn’t end at the edge of the canvas. Your creative decisions continue all the way to the end.

Now think of the way you create and release(riˈlēs) music.

You had a tiny(ˈtīnē) idea for a song.

You fleshed(fleSH) it out into a full song.

You gave it layers(ˈlāər) of instruments(ˈinstrəmənt).

You chose its texture(ˈteksCHər) when recording.

You came up with your artist name, album(ˈalbəm) title, and visual(ˈviZHo͞oəl) look of your photos and videos.

Every step so far has been a creative expansion(ikˈspanSHən) of your original(əˈrijənl) idea.

So now it’s time to put it out into the world. Do you turn off all that creativity? Just upload the song to the usual places(plās), and tell your fans?

No! Most do. Please don’t!

Instead, continue that creative path in your marketing. Flaunt(flänt,flônt) your artistic freedoms, and have some fun with it!

Set the tone(tōn).

Decide how you communicate with the world, including why, when, and where.

Create the story about the song, and yourself.

Choose what you reveal(riˈvēl), what you omit(ōˈmit), and what you invent.

Choose what you’re actually selling.

Decide how, when, and where you’ll sell it.

Choose what you’ll accept as payment, and what you give in return.

These are all artistic decisions you can play with.

Marketing is the final extension(ikˈstenSHən) of your art.

https://sivers.org/ext