> Lack of permanence is a characteristic many artists
> cite as what attracted them to media art (or performance,
> earthwork, etc) as
> it allowed them to avoid the art market and keep focus on the value
> of the
> work as art rather than as a commodity.
Simon,
Yes this is a thorny issue. I too remember becoming interested in
video as an art student for precisely these reasons, and now,
seventeen years later still believe the commodification of an art
work is something for careful consideration rather than a given.
It's a double edged sword as impoverishment can distract one's focus
as much as commercial success, which often binds artists to a path of
production which simply repeats what sells. For my part I often feel
like I'm having to walk a line and that the vagaries of the art
market, artistic trends, public funding and the like are all to be
negotiated as best as one can in a bid to develop the work (and by
that I mean the work's value as art and not commodity).
Having had only some contact with the art market rather than relying
on it, I must continually consider how to earn enough to get to the
supermarket &c. Like many I find myself in academia, which is hugely
rewarding if not relatively poorly paid in UK, but also think public
art has been offering artists other ways of earning fees that would
not be forthcoming in commercial galleries and which are often quite
modest in publicly funded spaces.
In many cases the 'permanence' of these public works is far from
absolute as already suggested, but also tend to be site specific, so
function as a commodity in a different way to the traditional
transportable artefact or installation.
bw
Jon
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Unprepared Piano, ISEA 2006, San Jose CA
Edge Conditions, San Jose Museum of Art, CA
Flat Earth. Animate! commission with Channel 4 Television.
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