A Place Of One's Own.

Finding a spot to lay my digital hat.

Hello again! Coffee?

Here’s a question that will probably elicit a weary sign, but how are you all getting on with the old social media at the moment? The facetious and short version of the conversation I seem to be having a lot of fellow creators is;

‘All of social media is increasingly awful and I want to quit everything, but I'm worried I’ll never work again.’

This is basically my version of that meme where the guy is checking out the girl. I'm bang up to date, right?!

Fun chat. But although it does feel like we're definitely getting closer the thicker end of the wedge these days, I’m too exhausted to wade into the swamp any deeper than my ankles at the moment. And I’m genuinely not fully sure what I think and what I will do going forward anyway, so, I thought I'd look at the few aspects of online life that I actually do enjoy.

KIOSK.

Firstly, look where we are?!

You may be able to tell, but I’ve really enjoyed writing the KIOSK newsletter. The fact you keep coming back, and the lovely responses I've had, have been incredibly buoying. There are also quite a few of you now, which is kind of incredible to me. I like that it makes me write more, it makes me draw more, and it makes me think more. All of which are good things.

The interactions and conversations I've had with people as a result of writing the KIOSK, both online and in the real world, have felt far more engaging and thoughtful than what I've experienced elsewhere on social media for a while now. And those chats often make me think of other things, which in turn informs what I might write next.

The narrative conceit of it being an actual kiosk is not wholly an accident, even though it impulsively felt like the right thing to do when I set it up. It is essentially a physical (yet mental) manifestation of how I see the digital space. It's my own little self-contained world from which I get to be the purveyor of whatever I fancy, and it's very pleasant to be joined by people who find it interesting too.

Like many, I miss those sweet and innocent times back in 2010 or whenever it was that I signed up to Twitter, and without being too rose-tinted about it all, it was pretty great back then. It’s where I found all the other people doing the same stuff as me. Having come from a different world (architecture) I had to build up my illustration and comics network from scratch, and Twitter was the perfect forum to ask my stupid questions and figure it all out. Many of the friends I have today are from this time too, so I guess I’m nostalgic for that opportunity to genuinely connect.

I’m wary of the future, as like every platform that’s privately owned, it’s at the whim of whoever runs it. And if a thing becomes popular, you just know someone awful will want to buy it, and very few are in a position to resist having their mouth stuffed with the amount of gold these buyers have. I already hear things about Substack’s alliances that I’m not wild about, but I guess (like everything) we have to keep an eye on it and see where we end up.

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What Now?

So, what do we make of all this? Well, basically we’ve come to the old art and commerce question again, haven’t we? As all these different companies are commercial entities, and if you’re professional artist, you are one too. So, where you draw your line or how you engage with it is completely up to the individual.

Personally, I find myself envious of the generation before, who made their names before all this came into being. The world still looks up from what it’s doing when these heritage artists put out a new book, record, film etc. And they get to scoff at social media and say how it’s ‘not something they’re interested in’ an that it’s ‘clearly an unhealthy thing to be part of’, while their marketing team goes into overdrive promoting them on as many of these platforms as possible.

‘Good for you’ I think, through gritted teeth, but that way of thinking is not helpful either. It is what it is, and everyone needs to figure out what's best for them. We all know creators who manage their social media accounts with all the enthusiasm of a petulant teenager who’s been told to do their homework. And we all know the ones who have engaged with it so much that they’re lost sight of the fact they are creating work and are now just churning out more creation content.

I’m not here to be judgmental, but neither extreme seems particularly honest, if creating art is what they’re actually here for. But maybe complete honesty is impossible anyway?

Paul Giamatti on the set of Planet of the Apes.

I like to believe I get the balance just about right for me, but I’m probably being as delusional as everybody else. My guiding personal principle has always been to find a way to enjoy the process and not let it become a chore, as nothing is a waste of time if you’re genuinely having fun or learning something.

Website.

In much the same way as the lesson leaned by writing the KIOSK, the main response it gets from me, is to focus on the elements of an online existence I can control. The most obvious one being my website.

Websites almost felt like they were a dying breed a couple of years ago (‘Guys, you just need an Insta account, yeah?!’), but now it feels like one of the only spaces left where you get to present your work in the way you want it to be seen. It's also free of all the well-documented negative stuff that comes with most social media, such as chasing likes, absorbing time, being buffeted by the algorithms etc. And sure, those things are all bad, but also from a purely aesthetic and curatorial perspective, I like that I get to decide how I present my own work. Which weirdly feels quite of liberating these days.

How freeing it is to make work in a format that suits your work rather than ‘the platform', or content that genuinely interests you rather than worrying it might infringe on a platform’s agenda!

So, in celebration of having such a basic revelation, I’ve had a long overdue update of my website, and to make my efforts worthwhile, you should take a look.

www.owenpomery.com

Also, like any task that involves reflection, I always forget how useful it is to take stock of what I've done in recent times. As each job and drawing gets finished and filed away, I often forget to step back and review what I’ve done, and what direction I'm heading in.

Similarly, I like the portfolio of work kept by my agency, BRILLIANT ARTISTS. Both feel like places to view what I do in a very unpolluted way, which is weirdly increasingly rare. An island of calm.

The personal take home is probably a reassuring reminder that it doesn’t really matter (something that I discussed in a recent newsletter, with it's accompanying illustration that apparently had too much nudity for Instagram’s taste), or rather to worry about it all less, and focus that energy in creating the work that interests me. It’s a reminder that should be written in neon on the KIOSK wall, to be honest.

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Like I said at the start, I’m not sure what my plan is going forward, but for what it’s worth, these are all the ways you can stay up to date with what I do, or support my work » HERE.

You are, of course, always welcome at the KIOSK. And you can have a free cinnamon bun today for listening to me rattle on. Next time, I’m going to talk to you about drawing. I promise.

Enjoy the rest of your day, and I’ll see you all again soon.

Owen D. Pomery.

ps. Fashion brands often choose a celebrity around who they build a clothing collection. If my KIOSK newsletter has a holotype, it's probably Paul Giamatti, reading a book, dressed as an orangutan.