Art. Short bites. Episode #11: Andy Zmolek

Name: Art. Short bites. Episode #11: Andy Zmolek
Uploaded: 2020-04-18T13:55:34+00:00
Duration: 1 min 17 s
Channel: Virginie Glaenzer
Description: In this brief conversation, the speakers explore two intertwined concepts that shape how creative work is perceived and valued: framing and legibility…

18 Apr 2020 · 1 min

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1:17

In this brief conversation, the speakers explore two intertwined concepts that shape how creative work is perceived and valued: framing and legibility. They argue that framing occurs largely before we become consciously aware of it, and that titles can be used deliberately to surface and challenge existing frames. Legibility refers to how readily an audience can recognize and understand a pattern or concept; the speakers note that many emerging economic values arise from "illegible" spaces—areas that are not immediately comprehensible to the masses. By operating in a space that is partially legible to a niche audience while remaining opaque to the broader public, creators can generate new value. The dialogue also touches on the difficulty of guiding someone through a transformative artistic journey, emphasizing the need to balance connection to one’s artistic core with strategic communication to those who will appreciate the work.

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There's two key issues that you're hitting on, which I think are worth teasing out a bit more because I think so many people blow right by them.
And that is the framing and legibility. You hinted at the framing earlier, but it's absolutely critical that we understand most of the framing we do happens before we even become conscious of the fact that we are framing.
Right.
And the opportunity to change the framing is often something that we completely miss and we jump right past that, right?
By, by creating a title like what you've done is you're, you're deliberately calling attention to the framing that people have and you're challenging them to think differently about how they're framing who you are and what you do. And the second piece of this is legibility, right? If you say head of crowns, right, is that a particularly legible pattern that people are immediately going to understand? In some ways, the reason why you're able to use this is because you have the luxury of being able to not be so legible.
And in fact, all creative— in fact, if you look really at where all the new value is being created in the economy these days, It's coming out of illegible spaces that people simply can't understand and aren't prepared to understand. And yet it springs forward on the scene and people start to realize it only after they've experienced it.
And for those of us here, we have the benefit of being able to be more connected with our artistic centers and consequently less legible to the kind of the masses, while at the same time being able to be legible enough to those who will value what it is that we can offer. And this is such a difficult thing to tease out and walk someone through who has never gone through a real transformation.
Because the idea of framing and the idea of legibility doesn't even occur to someone until they're very, very deep on that journey.