About the Birth of The big, Beautiful Art Market
This author begins by comparing the auto market and commercial art to the art of religion from days gone by. A very apt, and decisive comparison. As a former trained commercial artist, I can see the similarities. Yet, he goes on to say that the Whitney Museum, the art school at Yale, and the galleries in downtown New York functioned like General Motors, creating a desire for a product where there had been an obvious need, as in the car market. In other words, even though there is a need for transportation, owning more than one has to become a desire, brought about by the presentation of the product in a glamorous and dreamy manner. I would further add that this is the function of the advertising industry, since desire is their main focus, and creating it the art of psychological manipulation and coercion. He goes on to say that embodied within this philosophy is an ideology of time and location, thereby increasing the options available to the advertising and marketing industries. He goes on to compare Harley Earl, who was the head of the design department at General Motors, to Leonardo Da Vinci or even better, Monet! Earl invented the winged Cadillac, which also was later translated to the Chevrolet and Buick, and sales increased immensely. Earl was a legend of creating desire. People would go on to improve on Harley, and others, designs, helping to augment the desire for said products even more. He goes on to compare the advertising and marketing gurus to a religion, of sorts. He references the Chicano culture of the American Southwest, where they began to cherish the auto industry almost as much as religion, and bring about the Enlightenment of the industry, helping create the impression that the automobile was the icon of life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness. This enlightenment was the Founding Fathers of America's intellectual tenets, helping to establish a legitimacy of the culture of desire in society, and making this desire an approved way of thinking. He hypothesizes that all of these ideas were adopted by the art market, who helped create desire within art collectors for artist's work, and they adopted a strategy of keeping the amount of art work at a certain level that would avoid saturation of the art market with too many works by a particular artist, helping to further the myth of the promise of new work always around the corner, keeping a level of anticipation amongst the buyers and fans at a fever pitch, waiting for the next big "hit". This concept helped to continue to expand the art market, bringing about a homogenization that helped eliminate the "customized art" in a fury of self imposed resentment, mainly because the low lifes like Harley Earl (?) and Luis Jiménez became conversant with the economics of the game. Although I am no altogether clear on his point, it seems he is saying that every Tom, Dick, and Harry now has access to the knowledge of how the art market works, and it has ruined the art field forever. I would disagree with this idea, because the better art available today is typically out of range of the average person due to the cost. Of course, the average person can VIEW the art, should it be placed in a gallery or museum. But to own it would be something that only the wealthy can do.
Who needs a White Cube Anyway?
Ok, so there are renegade art gallery owners who are trying new and different ways to display, promote, and sell art and the artists who create it. I am all for new and different. I think experimenting is the only way to discover a new way to work. As everyone in this school already knows, I, myself, and searching for new and different ways to make art. I feel that the mention of the "Painters without Paintings; Paintings without Painters" sounds absolutely ingenious; a humorous way of of presenting 2d art just sounds delightful! Sadly, there are no photos of these galleries mentioned in the article, which would help those of us who have never been there immensely to envision what they meant when mentioning the "scaffolding" at one gallery, and how it could help even the most mediocre art be a part of a successful show. I feel that unusual space, or space that isn't pristine and white, can be utilized for a successful art show. We did it last year at the Binz Building! Sure, white cubes are a great option for artists in general, due to the versatility it affords for displaying art. Yet, artists are inventive, creative, ingenious types, and they will always find a way of making their art available for viewing. Frankly, I don't see anything wrong with displaying art in an old warehouse, or an old car dealership, or even in a person's home. I've hosted parties everywhere, even in an old auto repair garage. The same idea can be said about restaurants and other retail outlets. Some of the best restaurants I've eaten in were old, historic houses, replete with antique draperies and fireplaces. Others were more novel, such as an old train car, or even the back of an old delivery truck!! And any of these kinds of places would also be a interesting way to presenting art. Heck, if I had an old panel truck, I'd peddle my art out of it, by painting the side with garish, outlandish colors and themes, and putting a weird, old fashioned horn on it. Maybe even updating the sound system to do what they do with children's ice cream trucks, with interesting, unusual music such as Ned Rorem, or John Cage blaring out instead of fairy tale music. It may not resonate "high quality" to the audiences, but it will get some serious attention, by both press and those who encounter the vehicle on the road. So, I am all for any place where a person can sell art, whether it is a white cube, a black van, or an old whorehouse. Nothing should ever be out of the question. EVER!
Ignorance is Bliss
Well, I think many of us had already thought about this sort of thing. Many times, we feel we are doing well, only to find out we really are not. Of course, those of us who learned that our skills were not as good as we thought in our earlier years allow for that option, and admit we aren't quite as good as a matter of humility, just in case we aren't good in a particular situation. Testing and proving this would, in many ways, be almost impossible. First, you would need to be certain that your test subjects will be honest in their critique of a certain subject. Second, that none of them are involved personally with the subject. Third, that the subject is prepare for this test of performance, at least in a basic sort of way. Many variables remain, however, and overcoming them may be impossible, such as knowing just how polite the audience is or how critical they can be. A motivator could try to convince them to be critical, but there is no way of knowing just how critical they will be.
Obviously, this concept applies to almost everything, from being an artist, to being a student, to being a parent. Modesty and humility would be a great way of preventing any such failure, to a certain extent. Society in general would be better off if more people were to practice humility and modesty in their lives everyday. Throw in some manners, and you might even solve a lot of the world's problems!
The Birth of the Contemporary Art Fair
This article was a revelation. I had never researched when the first art fair was started. I think the article was enlightening and encouraging for the market, making it obvious that future possibilities are always an option. It was genius the way Rudolf Zwirner and Hein Stunke decided to invigorate the Cologne Art market by aligning all the galleries and artists to participate in this first art fair. I am surprised no one had ever thought of it before. Frankly, I had felt that the art fair had probably evolved out of necessity from a market at a time when sales were low, and it seems a natural progression. If you'd asked me, I would have said it had probably started back in the 30's or 40's, not the 60's! Of course, understanding the market in Germany and London at the time helped to understand how these two gentlemen came up with the idea. Just as I mentioned previously, necessity was the mother of invention in this instance. The lack of collectors in London had forced Zwirner to abandon his plans of opening a gallery in London, and to return to Germany to help change things there. And to learn how this concept spread to other European cities is also a interesting read. From Cologne, to Lausanne, to Basel, to Paris, people began to realize that an art fair was not only a novel way of presenting the art (in a new way, not unlike the other previous article about the White Cube) but it also alleged fears that an art fair like this didn't seem to reduce the value of the art, but rather helped raise it! Fortunately for us, this idea spread to include American cities, including Art Basel Miami, which for me personally, was a great way of taking in more art in one week than I had EVER consumed before! Let's hope that future developments have such a positive effects as the invention of the Kunstmarkt has had on the art fair circuit!
