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OF SHARKS IN TANKS, CRYPTOART, AND THE PRIESTHOOD OF PURITY.
…….Kelani Nichole, who first priced and sold artworks in bitcoin in 2013 as the owner of the Transfer Gallery who said that ‘it’s absurdity at every level of implementation [the auction sale]. They, Christies, sold a JPEG. This was a $69 million marketing stunt……
CENSURE, ETHICS. FREEDOM OF SPEECH AND THE VAULT OF HISTORY.
The idea of self-regulation in the Arts is an interesting one and given the process through which Magnum photos is currently going to cull unacceptable images and their tags from their million strong collection, an apropos one.
DEATH OF AN ARTIST
He never called himself an artist and knew little or nothing about the world of artists, but the drawings on the walls of his house of cityscapes and the portraits he drew as a teenager said otherwise. Born at a different time, who knows. He died in March 2021 a few months shy of his 99th birthday. A life lived.
CONSENSUS, FUNGIBILITY AND THE RUNAWAY TRAIN
One of the commonest questions asked by the general public [along with ‘how long did it take to do?] is’ why does some art cost so much? Both pointless questions but part of the inexplicable myth
THE GOOD, THE BAD AND THE UGLY
If or when you decide to send one of your...
AS AN ARTIST YOU’D BETTER HAVE YOUR LAWYER READY
AS AN ARTIST YOU’D BETTER HAVE YOUR LAWYER READY
THE INHERENT DANGER OF ART
2,500 years ago Plato through his Republic sought to banish the mimetic arts from his notion of an ideal society, in that he recognised the distracting and destabilizing effects of art on its citizens
WHEN HACKING LOSES ITS THRILL YOU CAN ALWAYS TRY ART THEFT
There is no doubt that Rembrandt would have been surprised that he holds the Guinness Book of Records medal for the most stolen work. Jacob de Gheyn III was stolen in 1966, 1973, 1981 and 1983.
THE ART COMPETITION, THE VALIDATION, THE NON-RETURNABLE FEE.
Art contest judges have to pick at least one “winner” just to keep the competition going and the truth is that success for artists doesn’t come from participating in petty competitions against your peers.
HOW DO YOU WANT TO BE LABELLED? EMERGING [unknown], MID-CAREER [a darling of the shopping trolley] or MATURE [dead].
At what point do you start and stop being an emerging artist? Many artists remain in the ‘emerging’ category all of their lives in spite of a sustained practice and sales and some never attain that status at all.
THE HONOUR, THE PRIZE, THE DECISION, THE FUTURE
The ultimate honour for any visual artist is to be recognised by their country as having contributed to the collective imagination and identity of the country
KEEPING PUBLIC ART SAFE – BANNING UMBRELLAS, MUFFS, PARCELS, SELFIE STICKS, CANAPES, FORKLIFTS, WOMEN, CHILDREN AND ARTISTS
Trying to destroy the Mona Lisa [many have tried] to get your name in the papers may not seem on a par with shooting John Lennon but inevitably, cultural artefacts of all types are seen as soft targets and a way to instant fame, however short-lived.