mARTsketing: The Skywhale and social media

Recently we Canberrans witnessed that most rarest of beasts, an artistic undertaking with genuine cut-through into the mainstream and massive social media buzz.

I speak of course of the Skywhale. (Video here )

The major artistic commission for the Centenary of Canberra, this incredibly bold and successful artwork was revealed over the last few weeks to an unsuspecting Canberra public and boy did it get people talking! And not just locally, nationally and internationally as well.

I've posted a list of the coverage below but from the UK, to Europe, Lebanon, Brazil, China and beyond the reach of this work across social media, MSM and more was truly staggering.

But my interest was less about do I like it (yes), do I think its successful public art (yes) and do I think its value for money (yes) but more about whether the work was commissioned in part because of the social and MSM stir it was likely to cause, (and whether any artistic director would ever openly admit this possibility!) or was it purely the result of brave artistic decision making and the coverage followed.

I am also interested in exploring if factoring in "conversation-start-ability" from the outset is good (us marketing types are always pleading for more consideration of audience at the early stages of artistic creation) or unwise (in that it may led to compromised artistic decisions or doing things for the wrong reasons).

I posed the question of being motivated by the possibility of a 'buzz' from the start to Robyn Archer, Artistic Director of the Centenary, amazingly she responded to my within 24 hours with a very considered response. I publish her full response here:

“I am wholly familiar with media attention of this order. I commissioned Rafael Lozano Hemmer for a major work at Federation Square for The Light in Winter. Entitled Solar Equation, it had worldwide coverage in old and new media. We were delighted in the role that social media played in extending the conversation about that work beyond just Fed Square , Melbourne and Australia. We quantified it at around A$4.2 million. So I’m aware that this kind of interest can happen. At no time do I aim for this. Others may feel the need to consider either markets or reactions, but I don’t.

When I have the privilege of commissioning new works from internationally recognised artists, the only aim is to invite them to use their immense skills and creative powers to bring a new work into the world. For the Centenary, composer Andrew Schultz researched and was inspired by the Canberra story for Symphony No 3: Century, visual artist Jyll Bradley was inspired by Canberra’s history and love of trees for City of Trees , choreographer Garry Stewart has researched and been inspired by Aldo Giurgola’s democratic Griffin-inspired approach to New Parliament House for the new ballet, Monument, which will premiere end May, and Patricia Piccinnini has launched her next major sculpture, The Skywhale, which is not only a continuation of the themes of evolution which permeate all her works, but was inspired by Patricia’s years growing up in Canberra where she perceived an ‘artificial city’ set in a natural landscape: she has created an ‘artifical’ , yet in evolutionary terms quite imaginable, creature to fly ( this is a very great feat) in a natural landscape. It evokes so many thoughts, if people are just able to open their minds, lift their curiosity, and use The Skywhale to stimulate their imaginations. If lifeforms, like whales, had not turned back to the sea to evolve and adapt, they might have gone into the air, and something like The Skywhale might have emerged - it is no ‘uglier’ than a camel or a rhinocerous might appear if you’d never seen one before.

Also I love to consider Canberra as the ‘artificial city’ now having grown into a real city: The Skywhale first appeared as an artificial creature, but amongst her millions of followers ( the coverage has now reached more than thirty countries, hundreds of media outlets, and many thousands of social media responses) she is already ‘real’. I’m also delighted that Canberra is now known by so many more people throughout the world, and known again for its courage in boldness and innovation ( as it was in 1912 for choosing an unlikely winner for its design in Walter Burley Griffin) ; and that the name of the Canberra raised and educated artist Patricia Piccinnini has spread throughout the nation, and the world, through this commission.”

So there you have it in the most eloquent and verbose of terms - No Archer does not pre-suppose reactions to a work when curating artistic output. And I for one firmly believe her.

But this work is a visual art piece and most of my readers (yes there ARE some I'm told!) come from the performing arts realm. Interested in a theatre programmer's response to the Skywhale and the central premise of considering conversation-start-ability from the outset I asked Simon Hinton CEO and AD of Merrigong Theatre Company, one of the best thinkers in business and a good mate for his thoughts.

"I honestly can't say I've ever really thought about a work "that's sure to get some twitter / facebook chatter". I do think the natural focus is on securing the best artists to make and show the most exciting work they can, and hope the response and it's echoes take care of themselves. I do think though that the worst thing for a programmer is a lack of audience response. I don't mean a lack of bums on seats (though that's also obviously a problem), I mean that sometimes we don't get a good box office response but the audience that does come has a big response to the work - whether positive or negative - and I guess then we know we have connected with them.

Social media is really just an extension of word of mouth, which has always been our most important marketing tool. Silence is, I guess, the worst possible response - we need people to react one way or the other, to have a way of gauging success. We are starting to have more internal conversations about identifying works that we think are great but almost impossible to communicate to an audience - you know, "those that come will love it, but how do we make them understand that they will love it?". These are the shows that really need the social media response.

I would see Sky Whale as a huge success - it got a big response, and given the conceptual nature of the work, debate about what it means, what is its worth as a piece of art etc. is the desired response. I would see that as "mission accomplished". The "what a waste of money" crowd won't ever understand that their response is kind of the point - in debating the merits of the work, they've contributed to helping define who we are, what we value as a society etc. The irony, I guess, is that in trying to attack the work, they unwittingly make it successful, not only in being part of the desired debate, but of course in bringing attention to it in social media, which is now always echoed in MSM."

So there you have it make brave artistic choices that connect with people and the world will beat a path to your door and in the age of social media they will beat that path faster than ever.

SKYWHALE COVERAGE INCLUDES (not a complete list!):

Wikipedia: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Skywhale

BBC News: http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/in-pictures-22478812

Gulf News: http://gulfnews.com/news/world/other-world/gigantic-skywhale-splits-opinion-in-australia-1.1182066

Huffington Post France: http://www.huffingtonpost.fr/2013/05/10/montgolfiere-skywhale-patricia-piccinini_n_3251825.html?utm_hp_ref=france

Lavenir.net (France): http://www.lavenir.net/article/detail.aspx?articleid=DMF20130510_00308495

Liberation (France): http://www.liberation.fr/culture/2013/05/12/une-baleine-flotte-sur-canberra_902343

Daily Star Lebanon: http://www.dailystar.com.lb/Culture/Art/2013/May-11/216685-aussie-opinion-split-over-the-skywhale.ashx#axzz2T7xGch9V

Australiatimes.com.uk: http://www.australiantimes.co.uk/news/in-australia/canberra-skywhale-birthday-balloon-floats-into-critical-storm.htm

Telegraph UK: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/worldnews/australiaandthepacific/australia/10048688/Canberras-Skywhale-splits-opinion.html

CNN: http://travel.cnn.com/monstrous-skywhale-hot-air-balloon-takes-skies-canberra-747281

Bigpond news: http://bigpondnews.com/articles/OddSpot/2013/05/11/Canberrans_flock_to_see_Skywhale_fly_871301.html