41 pages • 1 hour read
Austin KleonSteal Like an Artist: 10 Things Nobody Told You About Being Creative
Nonfiction | Book | Adult | Published in 2012A modern alternative to SparkNotes and CliffsNotes, SuperSummary offers high-quality Study Guides with detailed chapter summaries and analysis of major themes, characters, and more.
Chapter 7Chapter Summaries & Analyses
Chapter 7 Summary: “Geography Is No Longer Our Master.”
Kleon shows how the internet age has enabled online spaces to be cultural and artistic hubs, rather than strictly geographical spaces. Artists with financial or geographical restrictions can use the internet to enter online spaces that complement their creative process.
Similarly, artists should “build [their] own world around [themselves]” (90) by surrounding themselves with things they like. Even though artists no longer have to be restricted by geography, place is still important to the creative process. Leaving home and seeing new places can refresh the mind and brains. Whatever location artists settle in should feed them “creatively, socially, spiritually, and literally” (96). Changing one’s physical space doesn’t have to be overwhelming, since one’s online community will remain constant.
Chapter 7 Analysis
This chapter emphasizes how one’s surroundings—both physical and online—influence creativity. Now that artists engage in Creativity in the Digital Age, Kleon argues that they must think about more than just their physical surroundings, but that does not mean artists should neglect physical space altogether. This chapter explores how Technology in the internet age has drastically changed the way people can be creative or interact with art. There are more options for making art. People can use popular graphic design and photo editing software to draw digitally, manipulate photographs, or add new effects to visual art. Writers can use word processors to easily edit and format written works. Designers, coders, businesspeople, and more, all use technology and the internet to facilitate their creations.
The internet also democratizes learning art. Anyone with access to the internet can use a search engine to find tutorials in their chosen subject. Experts can post videos to video sharing sites that anyone who wants to learn a particular creative process can watch. Previously, someone who wanted to get their master’s in creative writing or business administration would have to move to a city or cosmopolitan center with programs that offered those degrees. Now, anyone can acquire their MFA or MBA online, no matter where they live. This has allowed people whose personal or financial circumstances don’t allow for geographical relocation to access these knowledge forms.
Kleon writes that this does not invalidate the value of physical place, but heightens it. Due to the geographical freedom provided by the internet, “You don’t have to live anywhere other than the place you are to start connect with the world you want to be in” (90). If someone finds peace and enjoyment in living in a rural area, it’s no longer vital to move to a large cosmopolitan center to find creative community and success. The freedom provided by the internet allows people to work anywhere while surrounding themselves with places they love.
