Talent, Technology and Great Art

Photo credit to Jeremy Keith

"(Hardware/software) has made (hobby/discipline/craft) so easy that you don't need to have talent to be able to create great art."

We've all heard some variation of the above sentence over the last decade or so. In place of the above parentheses, insert:

Garageband and Music Production.

Portable Budget Cameras and Film Making.

iMovie and Film Production.

Camera phones and Photography. 

Instagram and Photography.

Certainly, technology has democratized access and simplified the ability for the average person to 'process media' in any of the above disciplines. You don't need to have spent years learning an instrument or working in a darkroom to create art that resonates. I don't have any problem with that.

I do have a problem with the belief that "you don't need to have any talent to create great art".

This suggests that talent resides in the conversion process. That the mechanics and the physical production activity is the most critical component.

It's not.

Talent is in the eye and the ear. Talent is in the mind. Talent is being able to discern what would make a good picture or what would make a good song.

Talent is in the conception of the idea.

This isn't to take away from the idea of putting in the hours to learn your craft. We all love the great guitarists, the great film makers, the great musicians and songwriters. And there will always be a place for them. A prominent place.

But we love them because they had great ideas and were able to translate them into a reality we could appreciate. That is the essence of great art.

So the next time you hear someone say that you don't need talent to create great art, know that that isn't true. It just isn't.

Talent is in the conception of the idea