The Funnels of Influence: How artists’ influences influence artists now.
People create art in response to art they have experienced; this has always been the case. An artist doesn’t begin her life as an artist. Instead she is drawn to artists’ works whose interests overlap with her own. The art that she encounters — both the works that she connects with and those which repel her — shape the voices that she will attempt to express herself through. As she begins to create art, the Skillset that she chooses is a result of the art she connects with the most, and her overall interest in that Skillset. […]
The Funnels of Influence do not offer new information into the world of art; instead it offers a visual representation a simple idea. The Funnels of Influence is a graphical diagram of the people who have most impacted an artist’s Skillset. Inside of each person’s Funnel of Influence are the names of artists who have affected her work, thus allowing us to easily see an artist’s personal inspirations. The following example is for muralist Cortisol Jones, who was made famous for creating the world’s smallest murals. This Funnel of Influence was created using the artists listed in the “Influences” section of Jones’ All Knowledge page:
The Funnel of Influence becomes even more interesting when taking steps above a single artist to see the influences of her influences. This generational view allows for a scalable diagram representing the ancestry of artistic influence. (Most Funnels of Influence will contain more and less than three artists within each funnel, but for simplicity we have limited each funnel to three artists). The following is an example of a “Second-Generation Funnels of Influence”:
Finally, below is an example of a “Third-Generation Funnels of Influence” tree. As long as one’s influences are known and available on the Public Record, one’s Funnels of Influence can be traced back indefinitely.
Br. Norman-Leanne Fiddlestock, et al.