Anonymity & Pseudonym
My choice to use a pseudonym for my return to making art was multi-fold.
Using a pseudonym allowed me to publish creative work that I otherwise would feel nervous about having associated with my public persona. I am involved in several other businesses, and I did not want my public business life associated through the magic of the search engine with my new art projects.
Using a pseudonym has freed me from worrying about public perception of follower-counts or activity or style of work.
Using a pseudonym, ironically, has reduced my self-criticism and enhanced my objectivity with regards to the work and how it appears to the public. Going anonymous has helped me approach sharing and publishing work in a more rational and scientific fashion. It has improved my constructive self-criticism and reduced my negative thinking about the work.
Choosing to not share my work with family and friends has restricted the number of clumsy comments or questions I am faced with.
This stance on anonymity is not a forever choice. But it is appropriate for the first several years of developing a new project. Of course, this route might not apply to a self-assured extrovert who thrives off feedback, regardless of quality!
It is funny to think back to the internet twenty years ago, when anonymity was the default and it was a challenge to link a person’s public persona with their online activities. Now, the default- pushed by the big internet companies- discourages anonymity. Try to sign up for a twitter account or email account without providing a phone number and you’ll get a sense of how much anonymity is discouraged.
(Just in case it provokes a question, this blog is NOT written under a pseudonym.)
