I created an Instagram business account, focusing on publishing artwork and showing the process of the creation of artwork through video. I’ve done this to help me engage an audience and start to grow a following to assist my artistic practice. I feel having an online presence helps to grow notoriety for your work, as well as having a visual hub that is widely available for most people can engage with. With this accessibility, Instagram also helps with the connection through community and growing network. As well as helping me find other creative practices to be inspired by.
Through Instagram’s use of an algorithm to share content and after research, I found that the best way to engage an audience through Instagram was via reels which are short-form videos easily consumable for a wider audience. I decided to implement this and create a first reel. Documenting the process of myself doing a freestyle graffiti piece as a part of a project at my local skatepark commissioned by my local council. I’ll make sure to edit and shoot the video in the most engaging way possible for a mass audience. implementing humour and text over the edited video paired with the catchy and classic hip-hop tune ‘Don’t sweat the technique’ by Eric B. & Rakim. This accumulated to over 16 thousand views and over 15 thousand different accounts reached through this video. Assisting my work to be viewed by a much larger audience than would get to see the work in person.
https://www.instagram.com/p/Ch-bpnzAYTY/
Since then I have been documenting other aspects of my creative practices such as studio sessions when I have been experimenting with printmaking, showing off the process of screen printing, installations of work and processes of creating final artworks. I think it could be a key aspect to grow an audience on the Instagram platform. I’m using this opportunity with Instagram reels to not only experiment with my video production techniques to also experiment with what works best to create engagement through my work. This I found an experimental practice within itself as not all videos created and posted to Instagram will take off, but I feel this is a key part of any creative practice.
I also created a separate Instagram page for my photographic practice, as I felt the content is separate from my artistic practice and could seem jumbled and unorganised which could miss direct my audience. I’ve also done this because I feel my photographic work has a more commercial viability as to where my creative practice is predominantly what I want to create unapologetically.