Dandelion futures: creative anxiety and making art in the digital age

Abstract

The Internet and other rapidly changing digital technologies have had a revolutionary effect on how we make and consume art. In this essay, I map how these changes have been translated into an increased level of creative anxiety in creative artists as they are forced to engage with the prospect of dwindling revenues and income streams, how it has led to debates around ‘dandelion futures’ for artists and how we can employ Bourdieusian concepts of consecration and hysteresis to conceptualise these profound changes for our culture.