Art But Make It Sports: Behind the Social Media Account Connecting Viral Sports Moments and Fine Art

art-but-make-it-sports:-behind-the-social-media-account-connecting-viral-sports-moments-and-fine-art

Do you care if the athlete is recognizable?

People will tag me in pictures they want me to match, and if I can get a one-to-one and it’s great, and I’ll post it. But if not, there’s really no point, because it’s much more niche than what people come to expect. That being said, I like to do different sports and try to feature a blend of everyone.

So we’ll see some Women’s World Cup this summer?

Hell yeah. Women’s soccer gets the most traction, in terms of comments and shares and the athletes themselves. Alex Morgan re-shared one of the ones about her. Soccer and basketball, men’s or women’s, tend to be global. The account has a pretty strong international following now. So if you post a baseball one, you’re limiting your audience a bit. 

Do you ever hear from the athletes who you’re posting about? 

I’ll tag the athletes, and maybe they’ll double tap and like the post. There’s two members of the Bills O-line who are big fans. I did one for them and they were pumped about it.

I don’t often hear from the athletes, but I do from sports photographers. I always try to credit the photographers because, to me, they are just as much an artist as the artwork artist. During games, when editorial outlets share these photos and they hit my timeline and people send them to me, I’ll credit the photographers.

Are you watching and reading about sports 24/7?

I can’t watch every game. Sometimes, someone will Tweet a picture and then someone else will respond with the account’s handle. And then it drops into my notifications. That happens 10 to 20 times a day. Sometimes people will DM images, too, and ask if I can turn it into something.

Is there one that’s gone particularly viral?

Honestly, it’s always the next one. The last NBA playoffs, when Luka [Doncic] was staring down [Devin] Booker, that one blew up. That was the most viral. I watched it live, but I waited until the series ended to post it. 

I don’t want to oversaturate the Instagram account. I’ll post everything on Twitter. If it makes Instagram, it’ll be on Twitter, but if it’s on Twitter, it might not be on Instagram. I see Instagram as more a museum/library, whereas Twitter is just firing stuff off.

No TikTok?

No. If someone reading this piece knows how to do TikTok and wants to do it for me … but there’s a line I have to draw. There are places on the internet that I just don’t go.

So will this be your full-time job soon? 

I’m definitely never going to do advertising; I appreciate keeping the integrity of the account. I’ve done a few collaborations. I feel like I’d get burned out if it were my actual job. That being said, it would be fun to make money off of it. 

I don’t say this to be arrogant, but every day, there are comments that are like, “This is the only reason I’m still on Twitter,” and “This is the best account on the Internet.” If people like it that much, it’d be cool to make money off of it. There are a few things I’m experimenting with. I was asked to attend the Palm Springs Art Fair, where I curated a booth and printed one of my pieces. It’s sitting in my apartment, it’s pretty sweet. I’m thinking about potentially selling prints or paintings. Or making it more subscription-based, since that’s what content creators do these days. We’ll see.

Copyright : https://www.gq.com/story/art-but-make-it-sports-interview

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