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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As an independent curator also affiliated with the programming of a commercial space, I often find a strange tension during studio visits as to whom the visit is on behalf of. As clearly as I try to communicate that my interest is for personal projects, I frequently find myself reiterating in future correspondence that I am not in fact offering representation or an exhibition opportunity on behalf of the gallery. What is the best way to navigate this sort of conflict without being misleading to the numerous artists I have the pleasure of visiting? While it seems appropriate to communicate this before we even meet, I also feel conflicted as to how an immediate disclaimer reflects on my attitude/open-mindedness. Any advice as to timing and phrasing would be a tremendous help!\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your position is a tricky one, and I appreciate that you want to be on the level with the artists whose studios you visit. It sounds like the message you impart about your role isn’t always being taken seriously, and I wonder if some of the artists you are visiting have clogged ears or an overdeveloped sense of optimism. Perhaps despite all the evidence to the contrary they think that you are just testing them, humbly disguising your real intentions to offer them a solo show at your employer’s gallery if the visit goes well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-1.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>Man with Blue Shape\u003c/i>, 1991.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any case, it’s going to behoove you to be confident and direct with your message. I know that artists can sometimes seem misguided, but since you say you feel conflicted about making disclaimers, I wonder if you are really being as forthright as possible? You can avoid confusion or hurt feelings by stating your intentions candidly. By making sure that you convey your specific and limited role when you make the initial contact for the visit (by email, that way it will be in writing), and again in person when you begin the studio visit, you can avoid a miscommunication. You don’t need to feel conflicted about this. Personally — and I suspect I am not alone in this opinion — I would rather work with a curator who speaks plainly about her position and interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In writing, you might try something like, “Though I do work for Gallery X, my interest in your work stems from my own curatorial practice, independent of my employment.” In person, you might want to start the conversation with, “Just so you know…” “Before we really get into it, I’d like to make it clear that…” or “Because of some confusion in the past, I want to clarify…” By reiterating your position in person, I hope you’ll drive the message home. If you think you might be uncomfortable saying something like this, rehearse it with a friend or in front of a mirror. When you deliver your lines, check to make sure that the artist is nodding or otherwise indicating comprehension before you move on. If an artist asks you about representation or other opportunities at your employer’s gallery, you can just say, “Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of decision-making power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve outlined your position twice, in writing and again face-to-face, and yet need to reiterate your intentions to a particular artist it might be a warning sign that this person will be difficult to deal with in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-3.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>Two Whales (with People)\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am an emerging artist in the process of a minor transformation and I could use a little advice. For the past ten years I have made sculptures and installations that are mechanically and technologically very complex. Because of this I have always maintained a large studio/workshop filled with tools, equipment, and materials. Lately I have begun to find this approach burdensome in terms of the resources it requires and the accumulation of physical objects that is its natural result. Therefore I have begun to make work that is immaterial and doesn’t require the infrastructure of a studio, like single channel videos, web projects, etc. These projects are working out for me and I am considering ditching my studio altogether. My question is: Can a contemporary artist expect to be taken seriously if he doesn’t maintain a studio? How might I deal with studio visits with curators/gallerists etc.? Am I being hasty and reactionary?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many artists have gone through a sea change, abandoning one body of work in favor of something new. In 1970 John Baldessari famously burned all his early paintings and made work from the ashes before turning the bulk of his attention to appropriation and photography. Perhaps you are undergoing the same kind of transformation. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not for me to say if you are being hasty and reactionary — that’s an issue you can puzzle out with the friends who know your practice and your work well enough to judge. In fact, it’s difficult to give you hard and fast advice without knowing exactly how you arrived at your decision to stop making sculptures and installation. You might be going through a phase, or you might be on the verge of a whole new life. How do you feel about commitment? If you like to change your style or job frequently, you might want to wait and see what happens before you dump your studio. If you’ve been rocking the same M.O. since high school and tend to follow a course for a long time, this might be an indicator that your days as a sculptor are truly over. Only you can decide if this is a long-term decision or a temporary state of mind. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-2.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>The Pencil Story\u003c/i>, 1972-1973.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can a contemporary artist be taken seriously without a studio? Well, it depends on what kind of artist you are. I can envision, for example, a social practitioner who claims the world as her studio, and I can see the curators of the next Documenta taking that kind of thing very seriously indeed. If your work is strong you can get away with a lot, and I think you could certainly make a case as a conceptual/non-material artist for not needing a physical studio. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But is there a middle ground here, even a temporary one? If you are making videos and want to show them to curators and gallerists you’ll need some sort of place to meet and talk. This could be a spare room in your house or a cleared-out corner of your apartment. You could also consider renting a small space in a large, shared studio or office where you could put a desk and chairs, a place where you could receive visitors without having to clean your bathroom and tidy up your living area. If you have an exhibition, ask the gallery if you can use the exhibition space as a meeting place during off hours. Then you can tour visitors through the exhibition as well as use your laptop or website to show them images of other work. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps you can put your tools and equipment into storage for a while. It’s cheaper than renting a studio and you can always go back to it if you change your mind. Like the box you never open after moving, if you haven’t gone to your storage space in, say, a year or two, you might feel comfortable letting go of what’s inside. Good luck. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As an independent curator also affiliated with the programming of a commercial space, I often find a strange tension during studio visits as to whom the visit is on behalf of. As clearly as I try to communicate that my interest is for personal projects, I frequently find myself reiterating in future correspondence that I am not in fact offering representation or an exhibition opportunity on behalf of the gallery. What is the best way to navigate this sort of conflict without being misleading to the numerous artists I have the pleasure of visiting? While it seems appropriate to communicate this before we even meet, I also feel conflicted as to how an immediate disclaimer reflects on my attitude/open-mindedness. Any advice as to timing and phrasing would be a tremendous help!\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your position is a tricky one, and I appreciate that you want to be on the level with the artists whose studios you visit. It sounds like the message you impart about your role isn’t always being taken seriously, and I wonder if some of the artists you are visiting have clogged ears or an overdeveloped sense of optimism. Perhaps despite all the evidence to the contrary they think that you are just testing them, humbly disguising your real intentions to offer them a solo show at your employer’s gallery if the visit goes well.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-1.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>Man with Blue Shape\u003c/i>, 1991.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In any case, it’s going to behoove you to be confident and direct with your message. I know that artists can sometimes seem misguided, but since you say you feel conflicted about making disclaimers, I wonder if you are really being as forthright as possible? You can avoid confusion or hurt feelings by stating your intentions candidly. By making sure that you convey your specific and limited role when you make the initial contact for the visit (by email, that way it will be in writing), and again in person when you begin the studio visit, you can avoid a miscommunication. You don’t need to feel conflicted about this. Personally — and I suspect I am not alone in this opinion — I would rather work with a curator who speaks plainly about her position and interest.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>In writing, you might try something like, “Though I do work for Gallery X, my interest in your work stems from my own curatorial practice, independent of my employment.” In person, you might want to start the conversation with, “Just so you know…” “Before we really get into it, I’d like to make it clear that…” or “Because of some confusion in the past, I want to clarify…” By reiterating your position in person, I hope you’ll drive the message home. If you think you might be uncomfortable saying something like this, rehearse it with a friend or in front of a mirror. When you deliver your lines, check to make sure that the artist is nodding or otherwise indicating comprehension before you move on. If an artist asks you about representation or other opportunities at your employer’s gallery, you can just say, “Unfortunately, I don’t have that kind of decision-making power.”\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’ve outlined your position twice, in writing and again face-to-face, and yet need to reiterate your intentions to a particular artist it might be a warning sign that this person will be difficult to deal with in the future.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-3.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>Two Whales (with People)\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am an emerging artist in the process of a minor transformation and I could use a little advice. For the past ten years I have made sculptures and installations that are mechanically and technologically very complex. Because of this I have always maintained a large studio/workshop filled with tools, equipment, and materials. Lately I have begun to find this approach burdensome in terms of the resources it requires and the accumulation of physical objects that is its natural result. Therefore I have begun to make work that is immaterial and doesn’t require the infrastructure of a studio, like single channel videos, web projects, etc. These projects are working out for me and I am considering ditching my studio altogether. My question is: Can a contemporary artist expect to be taken seriously if he doesn’t maintain a studio? How might I deal with studio visits with curators/gallerists etc.? Am I being hasty and reactionary?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Many artists have gone through a sea change, abandoning one body of work in favor of something new. In 1970 John Baldessari famously burned all his early paintings and made work from the ashes before turning the bulk of his attention to appropriation and photography. Perhaps you are undergoing the same kind of transformation. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It’s not for me to say if you are being hasty and reactionary — that’s an issue you can puzzle out with the friends who know your practice and your work well enough to judge. In fact, it’s difficult to give you hard and fast advice without knowing exactly how you arrived at your decision to stop making sculptures and installation. You might be going through a phase, or you might be on the verge of a whole new life. How do you feel about commitment? If you like to change your style or job frequently, you might want to wait and see what happens before you dump your studio. If you’ve been rocking the same M.O. since high school and tend to follow a course for a long time, this might be an indicator that your days as a sculptor are truly over. Only you can decide if this is a long-term decision or a temporary state of mind. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-bald-2.jpg\" />\u003cbr />John Baldessari, \u003ci>The Pencil Story\u003c/i>, 1972-1973.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Can a contemporary artist be taken seriously without a studio? Well, it depends on what kind of artist you are. I can envision, for example, a social practitioner who claims the world as her studio, and I can see the curators of the next Documenta taking that kind of thing very seriously indeed. If your work is strong you can get away with a lot, and I think you could certainly make a case as a conceptual/non-material artist for not needing a physical studio. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But is there a middle ground here, even a temporary one? If you are making videos and want to show them to curators and gallerists you’ll need some sort of place to meet and talk. This could be a spare room in your house or a cleared-out corner of your apartment. You could also consider renting a small space in a large, shared studio or office where you could put a desk and chairs, a place where you could receive visitors without having to clean your bathroom and tidy up your living area. If you have an exhibition, ask the gallery if you can use the exhibition space as a meeting place during off hours. Then you can tour visitors through the exhibition as well as use your laptop or website to show them images of other work. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Perhaps you can put your tools and equipment into storage for a while. It’s cheaper than renting a studio and you can always go back to it if you change your mind. Like the box you never open after moving, if you haven’t gone to your storage space in, say, a year or two, you might feel comfortable letting go of what’s inside. Good luck. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email helpdesk@dailyserving.com with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As a Political Science major, my choice to minor in Studio Art has taken more than a few by surprise, especially those who are familiar with my artistic skill level. My question relates to how to cope with being in a setting where others are clearly more skilled, and why you might argue that one should not lose hope and pursue their art knowing that when it is completed it will not receive the highest marks or hardly any praise. I love creating art, and I recognize that I will never have my pieces in a gallery, but sometimes I need a bit of motivation. Art gives me the escape and freedom that my other majors seem to squelch, but should I keep going when I’m simply mediocre? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely you should go on making art if you find it enjoyable. Skill is an issue now because you’re in an academic environment, which (of necessity and long-standing tradition) emphasizes certain kinds of proficiency and maintains a hierarchy. But you won’t always be in school and you won’t always be facing these particular pressures. Eventually you’ll be on your own and it will prove vital to have a pastime that is satisfying. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If instead of art you discovered that you liked to bake, but usually produced cakes that were lopsided in comparison to those of your peers, would you be asking if you ought to give it up? Or would you just accept baking as a hobby and leave it at that? The increasing standardization and professionalization of the fine arts has produced a generation of people who, a hundred years ago, would have been content to be Sunday painters but today feel that if they can’t get an A+ or a solo show or the MacArthur Grant, they’ve failed. This is all wrong because it takes the \u003ci>pleasure\u003c/i> of doing completely out of the picture (pun intended). It’s the logical result of a society that prizes experts and punishes amateurs. But as all dedicated amateurs are wont to point out, the word itself comes from the Latin amator meaning “lover.” You can love what you do simply because it brings joy to your life and not because you are an ambitious professional. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Please don’t stop making art. Try to appreciate the skills of the other artists around you and learn from them while you are in school. When you don’t receive high marks or praise for your work, ask for detailed feedback from people you trust and see if anything they say is useful to you. Spend time with art in galleries, museums and publications — you’ll see that skill is not the only element that counts. Above all, savor the time you have to make your work because soon you’ll graduate and acquire a busy life. Art may well be your solace and comfort in the days ahead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDran.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>Ran\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am an artist whose work typically requires a lot of high tech equipment to be realized. Most of my projects use computers, programming, microprocessors, media processors, digital projectors, video monitors, sound systems etc. etc. etc. Lately I’ve begun to worry that my work is being driven by the technology, rather than the other way around. I sincerely believe that just because you can do something it doesn’t follow that you should, but I have found myself coming up with project ideas that are based primarily on newfound technological capabilities. Is this putting the cart before the horse? How can I avoid the pitfall of relying on the tech spectacle of gadgetry and make sure that the conceptual basis of my work takes center stage? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m happy that you wrote me with this question because I’ve seen so many exhibitions where there was an amazing spectacle of gadgetry (lights, things that moved or beeped, stuff on timers and motions sensors, videos, etc.) and while I’ve marveled at the technical know-how of the makers, I sometimes feel like there’s little beyond the wow-factor. It’s not often that I’ve found the bells and electronic whistles to be well married to the ideas behind them (exceptions include \u003ca href=\"http://www.jonkessler.com/\">Jon Kessler\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.arthurganson.com/\">Arthur Ganson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/\">Ann Hamilton\u003c/a>). In fact, as some kinds of technologies get cheaper and easier to use, the more it seems like ideas are being replaced with \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino\">Arduinos\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDtoywin.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>Toywin\u003c/i>, 2012.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to avoid this in your own work? It might be as simple as sitting down and making a list of the things you think are interesting or exciting. Are you keen on human perception or modern warfare or social relations? Do you moonlight in a job that informs your work? What kinds of books/articles/websites do you find yourself reading these days — romances and celebrity gossip, news and true crime, Cold War biographies? Do you prefer to be soothed or energized? Poke around in the corners of your mind for some thoughts on what makes you tick and write it all down in a big, messy, unedited list. It’ll take you about ten minutes. Do it today and then put the list away. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the week, take the list back out and look it over with fresh eyes. As you read it again you might have further thoughts you want to add — go ahead and do that as you read. Then draw some lines to connect ideas you think are related. Which idea(s) are you most excited about? Are there any that lend themselves well to visual expression? This list gives you a place to start. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDoneo.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>One-o\u003c/i>, 2011.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, what to do with these ideas? Well, one route would be to try to work their expression into projects that use the programming and digital technology with which you are familiar. This is probably the easier way to go because you are already proficient with the tools you use. But if you’d like a challenge, you could try instead to use these ideas to create a small body of work that doesn’t utilize technology. Make at least three pieces that use other media. You don’t have to show this work to anyone if you don’t want to, and you can quit at any point, but it might be valuable in terms of clarifying your core ideas. Often, simple experimentation can resolve many dilemmas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As you begin to work with your idea list, keep in mind that the medium is the message (yes, still). The format you use to express your ideas will change the character of each concept. A landscape executed in collage is different from a painting, which is different from a video projection even if the image is essentially the same. Of course you might find that the high-tech solution is the right path for some of your concepts, and that’s fine. The key is to determine the right solution for every case, and it seems unlikely that everything you’re thinking about demands the same approach. Just remember to work slowly and check in with your original list from time to time as you go. Consider it a road map for the near future, one in which your ideas take center stage and you use the skills and technologies that are appropriate to the expression of each. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is accompanied by photographs by \u003ca href=\"http://www.bradcarlile.com/\">Brad Carlile\u003c/a>, whose work is included in the upcoming exhibition \u003cb>Fragile Boundaries\u003c/b> at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedcca.org/exhibit/current\">Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts\u003c/a> from June 15 to September 16, 2012.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email helpdesk@dailyserving.com with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>As a Political Science major, my choice to minor in Studio Art has taken more than a few by surprise, especially those who are familiar with my artistic skill level. My question relates to how to cope with being in a setting where others are clearly more skilled, and why you might argue that one should not lose hope and pursue their art knowing that when it is completed it will not receive the highest marks or hardly any praise. I love creating art, and I recognize that I will never have my pieces in a gallery, but sometimes I need a bit of motivation. Art gives me the escape and freedom that my other majors seem to squelch, but should I keep going when I’m simply mediocre? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Absolutely you should go on making art if you find it enjoyable. Skill is an issue now because you’re in an academic environment, which (of necessity and long-standing tradition) emphasizes certain kinds of proficiency and maintains a hierarchy. But you won’t always be in school and you won’t always be facing these particular pressures. Eventually you’ll be on your own and it will prove vital to have a pastime that is satisfying. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If instead of art you discovered that you liked to bake, but usually produced cakes that were lopsided in comparison to those of your peers, would you be asking if you ought to give it up? Or would you just accept baking as a hobby and leave it at that? The increasing standardization and professionalization of the fine arts has produced a generation of people who, a hundred years ago, would have been content to be Sunday painters but today feel that if they can’t get an A+ or a solo show or the MacArthur Grant, they’ve failed. This is all wrong because it takes the \u003ci>pleasure\u003c/i> of doing completely out of the picture (pun intended). It’s the logical result of a society that prizes experts and punishes amateurs. But as all dedicated amateurs are wont to point out, the word itself comes from the Latin amator meaning “lover.” You can love what you do simply because it brings joy to your life and not because you are an ambitious professional. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Please don’t stop making art. Try to appreciate the skills of the other artists around you and learn from them while you are in school. When you don’t receive high marks or praise for your work, ask for detailed feedback from people you trust and see if anything they say is useful to you. Spend time with art in galleries, museums and publications — you’ll see that skill is not the only element that counts. Above all, savor the time you have to make your work because soon you’ll graduate and acquire a busy life. Art may well be your solace and comfort in the days ahead. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDran.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>Ran\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am an artist whose work typically requires a lot of high tech equipment to be realized. Most of my projects use computers, programming, microprocessors, media processors, digital projectors, video monitors, sound systems etc. etc. etc. Lately I’ve begun to worry that my work is being driven by the technology, rather than the other way around. I sincerely believe that just because you can do something it doesn’t follow that you should, but I have found myself coming up with project ideas that are based primarily on newfound technological capabilities. Is this putting the cart before the horse? How can I avoid the pitfall of relying on the tech spectacle of gadgetry and make sure that the conceptual basis of my work takes center stage? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I’m happy that you wrote me with this question because I’ve seen so many exhibitions where there was an amazing spectacle of gadgetry (lights, things that moved or beeped, stuff on timers and motions sensors, videos, etc.) and while I’ve marveled at the technical know-how of the makers, I sometimes feel like there’s little beyond the wow-factor. It’s not often that I’ve found the bells and electronic whistles to be well married to the ideas behind them (exceptions include \u003ca href=\"http://www.jonkessler.com/\">Jon Kessler\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.arthurganson.com/\">Arthur Ganson\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.annhamiltonstudio.com/\">Ann Hamilton\u003c/a>). In fact, as some kinds of technologies get cheaper and easier to use, the more it seems like ideas are being replaced with \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Arduino\">Arduinos\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDtoywin.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>Toywin\u003c/i>, 2012.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How to avoid this in your own work? It might be as simple as sitting down and making a list of the things you think are interesting or exciting. Are you keen on human perception or modern warfare or social relations? Do you moonlight in a job that informs your work? What kinds of books/articles/websites do you find yourself reading these days — romances and celebrity gossip, news and true crime, Cold War biographies? Do you prefer to be soothed or energized? Poke around in the corners of your mind for some thoughts on what makes you tick and write it all down in a big, messy, unedited list. It’ll take you about ten minutes. Do it today and then put the list away. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>At the end of the week, take the list back out and look it over with fresh eyes. As you read it again you might have further thoughts you want to add — go ahead and do that as you read. Then draw some lines to connect ideas you think are related. Which idea(s) are you most excited about? Are there any that lend themselves well to visual expression? This list gives you a place to start. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/06/12/KQEDoneo.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Brad Carlile, \u003ci>One-o\u003c/i>, 2011.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Now, what to do with these ideas? Well, one route would be to try to work their expression into projects that use the programming and digital technology with which you are familiar. This is probably the easier way to go because you are already proficient with the tools you use. But if you’d like a challenge, you could try instead to use these ideas to create a small body of work that doesn’t utilize technology. Make at least three pieces that use other media. You don’t have to show this work to anyone if you don’t want to, and you can quit at any point, but it might be valuable in terms of clarifying your core ideas. Often, simple experimentation can resolve many dilemmas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As you begin to work with your idea list, keep in mind that the medium is the message (yes, still). The format you use to express your ideas will change the character of each concept. A landscape executed in collage is different from a painting, which is different from a video projection even if the image is essentially the same. Of course you might find that the high-tech solution is the right path for some of your concepts, and that’s fine. The key is to determine the right solution for every case, and it seems unlikely that everything you’re thinking about demands the same approach. Just remember to work slowly and check in with your original list from time to time as you go. Consider it a road map for the near future, one in which your ideas take center stage and you use the skills and technologies that are appropriate to the expression of each. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is accompanied by photographs by \u003ca href=\"http://www.bradcarlile.com/\">Brad Carlile\u003c/a>, whose work is included in the upcoming exhibition \u003cb>Fragile Boundaries\u003c/b> at the \u003ca href=\"http://www.thedcca.org/exhibit/current\">Delaware Center for the Contemporary Arts\u003c/a> from June 15 to September 16, 2012.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that contemporary art pieces that are controversial or seem to have required little effort contribute to the opposition of government funding of the arts? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way your question is phrased makes me think you already had an answer in mind when you wrote, but I’m going to play the naïf and take it at face value (to begin with, at least) and simply answer no. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does contribute to the opposition to government funding of the arts? Historically, it’s been individuals and groups not directly involved in the arts who, for various religious, political and ideological reasons, feel that they are entitled to dictate to us all what art is and should be. Others seem to be opposed to government funding of pretty much anything strictly on the basis of their desire to not pay any taxes. So there’s your query answered, right? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But underneath my innocent demeanor is a deep concern that you’re blaming the victim. “It’s controversial, so it was asking for funding cuts,” sounds to me like grossly flawed reasoning. Do you really think that poor old \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ\">\u003ci>Piss Christ\u003c/i>\u003c/a> should take the blame for the funding cuts to the \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts\">NEA\u003c/a>? Or should we blame the politicians like \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms\">Jesse Helms\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_D%27Amato\">Al D’Amato\u003c/a> who worked tirelessly on a campaign of misinformation and propaganda to create a culture war in order to promulgate wedge issues that to this day keep an emotionally unstable populace distracted from issues like racism, sexism, the economy and war? The artworks cited in the struggle to limit funding for the arts are red herrings used to conceal what are, in fact, simple political agendas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further, you cite a nebulous group of works that “seem to have required little effort” and I wonder what effort has to do with any of this. How would we even begin to decide how much effort went into a work of art before it could receive government funding? Should there be a Department of Homeland Artistic Effort? Remember that Marcel Duchamp signed a name to a urinal and exhibited it as a sculpture, an act that was so pivotal that we’re still talking, writing, and arguing about it nearly a hundred years later. Sometimes the simplest ideas turn out to be the most potent. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-fountain.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Marcel Duchamp, \u003ci>Fountain\u003c/i>, 1917.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Right now I am taking a course that introduces students to the images and works that artists in the “contemporary art” sphere are producing. I realize I may be alone in this opinion, but I can’t help but feel discouraged watching piece after piece flash onto the overhead screen. When I produce a painting, drawing, photograph, or even a poem, it is often a painful process and the final product is always emotionally charged. Placing something so personal and painstakingly meaningful in a gallery of chocolate Jesus sculptures, diamond skulls, dot paintings, \u003ci>Piss Christs\u003c/i>, and dead animal tanks just doesn’t seem appropriate. This class makes me regret the decision to major in studio art (a seemingly meaningless and ridiculous discipline) and has ruined all positive connotations the title “artist” used to carry. So my question is: Am I the only person who thinks pieces of the contemporary art world are demeaning and deprive art of any credibility? Where’s the challenge and talent in art if all you have to do is make use of repulsive, explicit, and/or offensive media? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh, those teenage years. Here you are, driven by hormones and angst, searching your soul deeply in order to artistically express your vital emotional states, which no doubt ping-pong between the pit of despair and the mountain’s peak of elation. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am sorry to hear that you find your coursework disheartening, but I’m sure we can all agree that it’s better for you to find out sooner rather than later that contemporary art is not your cup of tea. Really, that’s what the undergraduate experience is all about and you’re always free to change your major to a subject you find less painful, like kinesiology or microeconomics. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-shit.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Piero Manzoni, \u003ci>Merda d’artista\u003c/i>, 1961.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously you are not the only person to have these sad thoughts about contemporary art (c.f. Jesse Helms, above), so I’m going to assume your first actual question is hyperbolic for effect and not because you are a simpleton. However, your second and final question warrants some deliberation: if “all you have to do” indeed is make repulsive, explicit, and offensive art, why don’t you try it? Certainly art created in this manner carries an emotional charge that you might find cathartic. Also, I would love for you to explore the process of making this kind of art and attempting to have it funded and exhibited. You might find the answer to your entreaty for challenge and talent. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily for you, you will never ever be asked to place your emotionally charged and painstakingly meaningful work in the same venue with the \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God\">diamond skulls\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/arts/design/damien-hirsts-spot-paintings-at-gagosian-in-eight-cities.html?pagewanted=all\">dot paintings\u003c/a>, or \u003ca href=\"http://www.damienhirst.com/texts1/series/nat-history\">dead animals in tanks\u003c/a> that you deplore. I guarantee it! And good luck with the rest of your adolescence. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that contemporary art pieces that are controversial or seem to have required little effort contribute to the opposition of government funding of the arts? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The way your question is phrased makes me think you already had an answer in mind when you wrote, but I’m going to play the naïf and take it at face value (to begin with, at least) and simply answer no. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>What does contribute to the opposition to government funding of the arts? Historically, it’s been individuals and groups not directly involved in the arts who, for various religious, political and ideological reasons, feel that they are entitled to dictate to us all what art is and should be. Others seem to be opposed to government funding of pretty much anything strictly on the basis of their desire to not pay any taxes. So there’s your query answered, right? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>But underneath my innocent demeanor is a deep concern that you’re blaming the victim. “It’s controversial, so it was asking for funding cuts,” sounds to me like grossly flawed reasoning. Do you really think that poor old \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Piss_Christ\">\u003ci>Piss Christ\u003c/i>\u003c/a> should take the blame for the funding cuts to the \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/National_Endowment_for_the_Arts\">NEA\u003c/a>? Or should we blame the politicians like \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jesse_Helms\">Jesse Helms\u003c/a> and \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Al_D%27Amato\">Al D’Amato\u003c/a> who worked tirelessly on a campaign of misinformation and propaganda to create a culture war in order to promulgate wedge issues that to this day keep an emotionally unstable populace distracted from issues like racism, sexism, the economy and war? The artworks cited in the struggle to limit funding for the arts are red herrings used to conceal what are, in fact, simple political agendas. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Further, you cite a nebulous group of works that “seem to have required little effort” and I wonder what effort has to do with any of this. How would we even begin to decide how much effort went into a work of art before it could receive government funding? Should there be a Department of Homeland Artistic Effort? Remember that Marcel Duchamp signed a name to a urinal and exhibited it as a sculpture, an act that was so pivotal that we’re still talking, writing, and arguing about it nearly a hundred years later. Sometimes the simplest ideas turn out to be the most potent. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-fountain.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Marcel Duchamp, \u003ci>Fountain\u003c/i>, 1917.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Right now I am taking a course that introduces students to the images and works that artists in the “contemporary art” sphere are producing. I realize I may be alone in this opinion, but I can’t help but feel discouraged watching piece after piece flash onto the overhead screen. When I produce a painting, drawing, photograph, or even a poem, it is often a painful process and the final product is always emotionally charged. Placing something so personal and painstakingly meaningful in a gallery of chocolate Jesus sculptures, diamond skulls, dot paintings, \u003ci>Piss Christs\u003c/i>, and dead animal tanks just doesn’t seem appropriate. This class makes me regret the decision to major in studio art (a seemingly meaningless and ridiculous discipline) and has ruined all positive connotations the title “artist” used to carry. So my question is: Am I the only person who thinks pieces of the contemporary art world are demeaning and deprive art of any credibility? Where’s the challenge and talent in art if all you have to do is make use of repulsive, explicit, and/or offensive media? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Oh, those teenage years. Here you are, driven by hormones and angst, searching your soul deeply in order to artistically express your vital emotional states, which no doubt ping-pong between the pit of despair and the mountain’s peak of elation. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I am sorry to hear that you find your coursework disheartening, but I’m sure we can all agree that it’s better for you to find out sooner rather than later that contemporary art is not your cup of tea. Really, that’s what the undergraduate experience is all about and you’re always free to change your major to a subject you find less painful, like kinesiology or microeconomics. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-shit.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Piero Manzoni, \u003ci>Merda d’artista\u003c/i>, 1961.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Obviously you are not the only person to have these sad thoughts about contemporary art (c.f. Jesse Helms, above), so I’m going to assume your first actual question is hyperbolic for effect and not because you are a simpleton. However, your second and final question warrants some deliberation: if “all you have to do” indeed is make repulsive, explicit, and offensive art, why don’t you try it? Certainly art created in this manner carries an emotional charge that you might find cathartic. Also, I would love for you to explore the process of making this kind of art and attempting to have it funded and exhibited. You might find the answer to your entreaty for challenge and talent. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Luckily for you, you will never ever be asked to place your emotionally charged and painstakingly meaningful work in the same venue with the \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/For_the_Love_of_God\">diamond skulls\u003c/a>, \u003ca href=\"http://www.nytimes.com/2012/01/13/arts/design/damien-hirsts-spot-paintings-at-gagosian-in-eight-cities.html?pagewanted=all\">dot paintings\u003c/a>, or \u003ca href=\"http://www.damienhirst.com/texts1/series/nat-history\">dead animals in tanks\u003c/a> that you deplore. I guarantee it! And good luck with the rest of your adolescence. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Like two other artists that wrote in\u003c/b> [see \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=89647\">Help Desk: Location, Location, Location\u003c/a>]\u003cb>, I also live in a part of the country that doesn’t have the strongest art market. I get to show locally a few times a year and the artistic community, made up of locals and university members, can be creatively stimulating, engaging and supportive. It’s a great place to make art, but a not-so-great place to sell art.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>My question is, what value do you see in “alternative” exhibition spaces, both digital and physical (Saatchi Online, White Columns Artist Registry, and New American Paintings as a few examples), for being legitimate avenues that lead to show opportunities at galleries in metropolitan art centers? Can having a strong online presence be enough to catch the attention of curators and galleries that already have a line of hopefuls at their street address?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acceptance to an artist registry or a curated publication holds the promise of getting your artwork in front of people who are interested in exhibiting, selling or buying it. But does it really work like that? Are there success stories? What are the pitfalls? I asked around to find some answers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-heimat.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, \u003ci>Heimat Land\u003c/i>, 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One artist I spoke with was initially very excited to have his work included in the \u003ca href=\"http://registry.whitecolumns.org/admin/artist/signup.php\">White Columns Artist Registry\u003c/a>. However, he told me that in the few years that have passed since his acceptance, the only result has been an increase in the amount of junk mail he receives. He does still take the time to update his page, but assumes at this point that nothing will come of it. Another artist whose work was accepted for a \u003ca href=\"http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/\">New American Paintings\u003c/a> catalog a couple of years ago told me that it “did not pan out into anything.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first adopters of \u003ca href=\"http://www.saatchionline.com/\">Saatchi Online\u003c/a> said of the registry, “I don’t think it hurts — but I cannot say it has helped yet. I did receive a query… and they may have found me on Saatchi, but nothing has come of that yet. Otherwise it is such a mixed bag there — most of the artists are not that developed… [but] they do find serious curators for their ‘Showdowns.'” She added, “To be frank, nothing is as good as your own website, and this goes for Blogger, Tumblr and the million other ways you can expose your work.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-pigeon.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, \u003ci>Pigeon House\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granted, these are the accounts of only three random artists among thousands, so it’s hard to say if theirs is the experience of the majority or not. I’d like to believe that the registries are helpful — readers please note that Saatchi Online was where I found the collages of Irina and Silviu Székely, featured in this column a few weeks ago — but the last part of your question acknowledges the necessity of actually being physically present, at least sometimes, in order to be on a gallerist’s or curator’s radar. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no certainties in this game we play. By all means, I think that providing one more place for gallerists and dealers to find your work could prove helpful to your objective of selling. But don’t let the energy you’re putting into an online presence take away from the time you spend connecting to people in real life. The glib phrase “it’s who you know” is not quite accurate — you could be on a first name basis with the pope and it won’t make your work any better — but it’s not entirely \u003ci>inaccurate\u003c/i> either. If you do pursue and get your work into these registries, see if you can use that as a very deliberate stepping stone to a face-to-face meeting with a gallery you’ve had your eye on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-filly.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, Filly, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m an artist without an art school background. I’ve made art my whole life but only for me personally, until the last few years, when I began to devote much more of my time to it and to put it out in juried shows and other exhibitions. I’ve had some serious encouragement with a few large sales and two solo shows (one in a high quality art venue, one in a public space) in the four years since I changed course. I remain self-employed in my “day job” which is tangentially related to the art I make in that I carry themes over from one realm to the other. My question is about how to portray myself to galleries as I reach out to them. I want to be honest about my background but I am realistic enough to know that there are some prejudices against those who come later and roundabout to artmaking. I want to emphasize that I am extremely serious about it and hope to make a complete switch if at all possible. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think you should portray yourself honestly: you have been making art your whole life and have recently produced some bodies of work that have been successful in the marketplace. In terms of gallerists and dealers, why would any other information be germane to the matter at hand? Do I need to know if my dentist has an undergraduate degree in modern dance, or do I want to know if she is experienced, licensed and insured? Capisce? No one (at least no one you’re going to care about) will give a damn about art school if your work is strong and interesting, you present yourself well and have a good statement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would be silly to pretend that there are not all sorts of prejudices in the art world. On one hand I would never suggest that anyone lie about their background, and on the other I detest those cloying self-taught/self-made/”pulled myself up by my bootstraps” stories that sometimes pass for artist statements. Your lack of an art degree should be neither a shame nor a source of pride but a simple fact, one among many. To some people it can matter if you have an MFA or not, are old or young; black or white or Hispanic; male or female, etc. But the people who might have a problem with your age, background or apparent lack of pedigree \u003ci>are not the people you want to work with.\u003c/i> Why? Because these people will not help you on your way, they will not sell your work, and they will not bolster your confidence when you are down. You will not enjoy their company or their version of what passes for wisdom. Leave these people alone because they will definitely be toxic for your studio practice and quite possibly for your career. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are you reading some of the art-career books out there? I highly recommend that you peruse the shelf at your local bookstore. Many of these publications will lay out the specifics of how to talk about your work and your evolution as an artist without sounding defensive or smug. The way to emphasize your seriousness about art is to keep a regular studio practice, invest in your materials and development, and present the best work you have at all times. Good luck! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Like two other artists that wrote in\u003c/b> [see \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=89647\">Help Desk: Location, Location, Location\u003c/a>]\u003cb>, I also live in a part of the country that doesn’t have the strongest art market. I get to show locally a few times a year and the artistic community, made up of locals and university members, can be creatively stimulating, engaging and supportive. It’s a great place to make art, but a not-so-great place to sell art.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>My question is, what value do you see in “alternative” exhibition spaces, both digital and physical (Saatchi Online, White Columns Artist Registry, and New American Paintings as a few examples), for being legitimate avenues that lead to show opportunities at galleries in metropolitan art centers? Can having a strong online presence be enough to catch the attention of curators and galleries that already have a line of hopefuls at their street address?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Acceptance to an artist registry or a curated publication holds the promise of getting your artwork in front of people who are interested in exhibiting, selling or buying it. But does it really work like that? Are there success stories? What are the pitfalls? I asked around to find some answers. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-heimat.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, \u003ci>Heimat Land\u003c/i>, 2004.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One artist I spoke with was initially very excited to have his work included in the \u003ca href=\"http://registry.whitecolumns.org/admin/artist/signup.php\">White Columns Artist Registry\u003c/a>. However, he told me that in the few years that have passed since his acceptance, the only result has been an increase in the amount of junk mail he receives. He does still take the time to update his page, but assumes at this point that nothing will come of it. Another artist whose work was accepted for a \u003ca href=\"http://www.newamericanpaintings.com/\">New American Paintings\u003c/a> catalog a couple of years ago told me that it “did not pan out into anything.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the first adopters of \u003ca href=\"http://www.saatchionline.com/\">Saatchi Online\u003c/a> said of the registry, “I don’t think it hurts — but I cannot say it has helped yet. I did receive a query… and they may have found me on Saatchi, but nothing has come of that yet. Otherwise it is such a mixed bag there — most of the artists are not that developed… [but] they do find serious curators for their ‘Showdowns.'” She added, “To be frank, nothing is as good as your own website, and this goes for Blogger, Tumblr and the million other ways you can expose your work.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-pigeon.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, \u003ci>Pigeon House\u003c/i>, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Granted, these are the accounts of only three random artists among thousands, so it’s hard to say if theirs is the experience of the majority or not. I’d like to believe that the registries are helpful — readers please note that Saatchi Online was where I found the collages of Irina and Silviu Székely, featured in this column a few weeks ago — but the last part of your question acknowledges the necessity of actually being physically present, at least sometimes, in order to be on a gallerist’s or curator’s radar. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are no certainties in this game we play. By all means, I think that providing one more place for gallerists and dealers to find your work could prove helpful to your objective of selling. But don’t let the energy you’re putting into an online presence take away from the time you spend connecting to people in real life. The glib phrase “it’s who you know” is not quite accurate — you could be on a first name basis with the pope and it won’t make your work any better — but it’s not entirely \u003ci>inaccurate\u003c/i> either. If you do pursue and get your work into these registries, see if you can use that as a very deliberate stepping stone to a face-to-face meeting with a gallery you’ve had your eye on.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-filly.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Mamma Andersson, Filly, 2010.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I’m an artist without an art school background. I’ve made art my whole life but only for me personally, until the last few years, when I began to devote much more of my time to it and to put it out in juried shows and other exhibitions. I’ve had some serious encouragement with a few large sales and two solo shows (one in a high quality art venue, one in a public space) in the four years since I changed course. I remain self-employed in my “day job” which is tangentially related to the art I make in that I carry themes over from one realm to the other. My question is about how to portray myself to galleries as I reach out to them. I want to be honest about my background but I am realistic enough to know that there are some prejudices against those who come later and roundabout to artmaking. I want to emphasize that I am extremely serious about it and hope to make a complete switch if at all possible. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I think you should portray yourself honestly: you have been making art your whole life and have recently produced some bodies of work that have been successful in the marketplace. In terms of gallerists and dealers, why would any other information be germane to the matter at hand? Do I need to know if my dentist has an undergraduate degree in modern dance, or do I want to know if she is experienced, licensed and insured? Capisce? No one (at least no one you’re going to care about) will give a damn about art school if your work is strong and interesting, you present yourself well and have a good statement. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It would be silly to pretend that there are not all sorts of prejudices in the art world. On one hand I would never suggest that anyone lie about their background, and on the other I detest those cloying self-taught/self-made/”pulled myself up by my bootstraps” stories that sometimes pass for artist statements. Your lack of an art degree should be neither a shame nor a source of pride but a simple fact, one among many. To some people it can matter if you have an MFA or not, are old or young; black or white or Hispanic; male or female, etc. But the people who might have a problem with your age, background or apparent lack of pedigree \u003ci>are not the people you want to work with.\u003c/i> Why? Because these people will not help you on your way, they will not sell your work, and they will not bolster your confidence when you are down. You will not enjoy their company or their version of what passes for wisdom. Leave these people alone because they will definitely be toxic for your studio practice and quite possibly for your career. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Are you reading some of the art-career books out there? I highly recommend that you peruse the shelf at your local bookstore. Many of these publications will lay out the specifics of how to talk about your work and your evolution as an artist without sounding defensive or smug. The way to emphasize your seriousness about art is to keep a regular studio practice, invest in your materials and development, and present the best work you have at all times. Good luck! \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>For the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, \u003ci>Spark\u003c/i>-featured artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/spark/profile.jsp?essid=22692\">Stephanie Syjuco\u003c/a> was commissioned by the FOR-SITE foundation to create an artistic response to San Francisco’s famous orange landmark. Syjuco produced an expansive shop of souvenirs, all in a monochrome palette: the memorable orange hue of the Golden Gate Bridge. Working with the same paint used to keep the bridge looking fresh, Syjuco’s installation features all things reddish-orange: teacups, jewelry, postcards and tchotchkes that are surprisingly not for sale, but presented together as a conceptual art installation. This project contributes to the artist’s oeuvre, which instigates dialogue about consumerism and our natural desire for objects and mementos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We stopped by Syjuco’s studio and interviewed her about her \u003ca href=\"http://www.international-orange.org/\">\u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b>\u003c/a> project and got a behind-the-scenes look at her collaborative process. Her project is part of several artworks to be installed at \u003ca href=\"http://www.nps.gov/fopo/index.htm\">Fort Point\u003c/a> in celebration of the Bridge’s milestone anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re an educator, head over to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"http://education.kqed.org/edspace/2012/05/18/internationalorange/\">EdSpace\u003c/a> for an Educator Guide with lesson plan ideas related to Syjuco’s work and other \u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b> artists’ projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit KQED’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/ggbridge75\">Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary page\u003c/a> for more coverage. The \u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b> projects will be on view starting May 25, 2012. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.international-orange.org/visit/\">more information\u003c/a> visit international-orange.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>For the 75th anniversary of the Golden Gate Bridge, \u003ci>Spark\u003c/i>-featured artist \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/programs/spark/profile.jsp?essid=22692\">Stephanie Syjuco\u003c/a> was commissioned by the FOR-SITE foundation to create an artistic response to San Francisco’s famous orange landmark. Syjuco produced an expansive shop of souvenirs, all in a monochrome palette: the memorable orange hue of the Golden Gate Bridge. Working with the same paint used to keep the bridge looking fresh, Syjuco’s installation features all things reddish-orange: teacups, jewelry, postcards and tchotchkes that are surprisingly not for sale, but presented together as a conceptual art installation. This project contributes to the artist’s oeuvre, which instigates dialogue about consumerism and our natural desire for objects and mementos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>We stopped by Syjuco’s studio and interviewed her about her \u003ca href=\"http://www.international-orange.org/\">\u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b>\u003c/a> project and got a behind-the-scenes look at her collaborative process. Her project is part of several artworks to be installed at \u003ca href=\"http://www.nps.gov/fopo/index.htm\">Fort Point\u003c/a> in celebration of the Bridge’s milestone anniversary.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re an educator, head over to KQED’s \u003ca href=\"http://education.kqed.org/edspace/2012/05/18/internationalorange/\">EdSpace\u003c/a> for an Educator Guide with lesson plan ideas related to Syjuco’s work and other \u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b> artists’ projects.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Visit KQED’s \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/ggbridge75\">Golden Gate Bridge 75th Anniversary page\u003c/a> for more coverage. The \u003cb>International Orange\u003c/b> projects will be on view starting May 25, 2012. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.international-orange.org/visit/\">more information\u003c/a> visit international-orange.org.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How important is it to consider the intent of an artist when viewing his or her work? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your position on this matter depends on how you feel about the artist’s desire for a particular expression versus your own powers of interpretation. On one hand, we might wish to honor — or at least consider — the stated intentions of the artist when viewing the work, even if only to see how it matches up against our own perception. On the other hand, “works of the imagination are sites of interpretation,” claims artist David Robbins in his book \u003ci>Concrete Comedy\u003c/i>. “Indeed they are made in order to be interpreted; art is not simply a matter of ‘appreciation,’ of ‘understanding the artist’s intentions.’ If we accept that the spectator completes the work, then it follows that the audience for imaginative works may interpret them with the same freedom and intensity that informed their creation. Nothing can and should prevent us from offering imaginative interpretations of works of the imagination, since every individual’s relation to their own imagination is sacred — more sacred, even, then is respecting an artist’s intentions. The idea that certain interpretations must be cordoned off and others reinforced without challenge… is a position finally impossible to defend. To do so is to violate an essential principle of human history.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes I think a former professor had the last word on pointing out the limits of artistic intent when he asked, “Given how very little most people really know about themselves, why should we trust their stated intentions?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-shoot.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Shoot\u003c/i>, 1971.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that tattooing/tattoo derived imagery (drawings, flash, etc) is a valid form of contemporary art? Would you view it as a fine art, an occupation, or a mixture of both? Do you think a hierarchy of importance should be in place when talking about contemporary art and its applications? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is not exactly my area of expertise, but thankfully I found just the person to answer your query: Dan Gilsdorf, who has been tattooing professionally for 20 years, agreed to guest-write the opinions below. He also has a professional career in the fine arts, and so was uniquely qualified to opine on both tattooing and contemporary art. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ought to make a couple of clarifications before diving into an answer. I’m going to assume that by “tattooing” you mean as it’s practiced conventionally in the U.S. and other developed countries — that is to say a professionalized activity that takes place in a business context and provides, to a greater or lesser extent, a living in the economic sense. Let me also state that art is a term that gets thrown around pretty loosely and is often misapplied to anything that is done in a highly skilled manner, such as graphic design, furniture making, plumbing, etc. For our purposes here, let’s agree not to use the term ‘art’ as a value judgment (either positive or negative) and let’s concede that a great plumber is best and most suitably appreciated for his or her greatness as a plumber, not as a plumbing artist. After all, who of us would really want our toilet to subvert the dominant conceptual paradigm? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-lapd.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>L.A.P.D. Uniform\u003c/i>, 1994.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, on to your first question about the validity of tattooing as a form of contemporary art. One of the great features of postmodernity is that there are no invalid forms of contemporary art. An artist’s work can take on any form whatsoever, and that form can change at any time and to any extent. Indeed, artwork need not take a “form” at all, as seen in the examples of conceptualism and social practice. The flip side of this principle is that there are no forms whose validity as contemporary art is a given. Painting a wall and doing a painting on a wall are essentially the same thing, yet we categorize them differently based on subtle distinctions such as context, intent, etc. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-relic.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Relic from Jaizu\u003c/i>, 1972.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same holds true for tattooing. Many artists have utilized tattooing and tattoo imagery with the intent to create contemporary art and have presented their work within a fine arts context. (Santiago Sierra, Spider Webb, Tony Fitzpatrick, Shelley Jackson, Dr. Lakra and Don Ed Hardy are examples) However, this does not mean that all tattooing qualifies as contemporary art. Likewise, a lot of this kind of work, great art though it may be, doesn’t really make good tattoos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike the examples above, the vast majority of tattoos in the world are made according to the specifications of the people wearing them, that is, the customers. In this way, most tattooing has more in common with a design service than with contemporary art. Of course, as with any design service there are considerations of style, and customers will choose tattooists based on the style of their work, but stylistic input doesn’t make it art, at least as far as the tattooist is concerned. Therefore, if you’re considering taking up tattooing as means to express yourself artistically, I’d suggest finding another medium; one that doesn’t bleed, squirm, or make off-the-wall design requests that you find to be in horrible taste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-ships.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Three Ghost Ships\u003c/i>, 1991.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for tattoo imagery, the flash designs drawn or painted by tattooists are typically intended to be sold individually as tattoos and are akin to a catalogue of available motifs. Many tattooists make and sell paintings, drawings, prints, and the like without necessarily intending that they end up on someone’s skin, but these tend to be shown and marketed to a tattoo audience rather than a fine arts audience. Granted there is significant potential overlap in these two audiences but, generally speaking, they are quite dissimilar in their tastes and expectations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to hierarchies. Hierarchies abound in the arts, for better or worse. Most of us would agree that work of higher quality should be regarded above work of lower quality, but what constitutes a quality work of art turns out to be remarkably subjective. In tattooing, the standards of quality are much simpler; if the customer likes his or her tattoo, and is happy with it, then mission accomplished. It doesn’t really matter what the tattooist, the tattoo community, or anybody else thinks about it, and that’s pretty much the end of the story in my opinion. But then there is the question of hierarchy in a more general sense; is tattooing “lower” than contemporary art? Not surprisingly, it depends on whom you ask and how they valuate such things. It’s a little like comparing ice hockey to basketball. They’re not without their similarities but they are different games. The good news is that you can appreciate both for what they are. It’s perfectly acceptable to love art and to love tattoos equally and simultaneously. \u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>How important is it to consider the intent of an artist when viewing his or her work? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your position on this matter depends on how you feel about the artist’s desire for a particular expression versus your own powers of interpretation. On one hand, we might wish to honor — or at least consider — the stated intentions of the artist when viewing the work, even if only to see how it matches up against our own perception. On the other hand, “works of the imagination are sites of interpretation,” claims artist David Robbins in his book \u003ci>Concrete Comedy\u003c/i>. “Indeed they are made in order to be interpreted; art is not simply a matter of ‘appreciation,’ of ‘understanding the artist’s intentions.’ If we accept that the spectator completes the work, then it follows that the audience for imaginative works may interpret them with the same freedom and intensity that informed their creation. Nothing can and should prevent us from offering imaginative interpretations of works of the imagination, since every individual’s relation to their own imagination is sacred — more sacred, even, then is respecting an artist’s intentions. The idea that certain interpretations must be cordoned off and others reinforced without challenge… is a position finally impossible to defend. To do so is to violate an essential principle of human history.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Sometimes I think a former professor had the last word on pointing out the limits of artistic intent when he asked, “Given how very little most people really know about themselves, why should we trust their stated intentions?” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-shoot.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Shoot\u003c/i>, 1971.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that tattooing/tattoo derived imagery (drawings, flash, etc) is a valid form of contemporary art? Would you view it as a fine art, an occupation, or a mixture of both? Do you think a hierarchy of importance should be in place when talking about contemporary art and its applications? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This is not exactly my area of expertise, but thankfully I found just the person to answer your query: Dan Gilsdorf, who has been tattooing professionally for 20 years, agreed to guest-write the opinions below. He also has a professional career in the fine arts, and so was uniquely qualified to opine on both tattooing and contemporary art. \u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I ought to make a couple of clarifications before diving into an answer. I’m going to assume that by “tattooing” you mean as it’s practiced conventionally in the U.S. and other developed countries — that is to say a professionalized activity that takes place in a business context and provides, to a greater or lesser extent, a living in the economic sense. Let me also state that art is a term that gets thrown around pretty loosely and is often misapplied to anything that is done in a highly skilled manner, such as graphic design, furniture making, plumbing, etc. For our purposes here, let’s agree not to use the term ‘art’ as a value judgment (either positive or negative) and let’s concede that a great plumber is best and most suitably appreciated for his or her greatness as a plumber, not as a plumbing artist. After all, who of us would really want our toilet to subvert the dominant conceptual paradigm? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-lapd.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>L.A.P.D. Uniform\u003c/i>, 1994.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>So, on to your first question about the validity of tattooing as a form of contemporary art. One of the great features of postmodernity is that there are no invalid forms of contemporary art. An artist’s work can take on any form whatsoever, and that form can change at any time and to any extent. Indeed, artwork need not take a “form” at all, as seen in the examples of conceptualism and social practice. The flip side of this principle is that there are no forms whose validity as contemporary art is a given. Painting a wall and doing a painting on a wall are essentially the same thing, yet we categorize them differently based on subtle distinctions such as context, intent, etc. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-relic.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Relic from Jaizu\u003c/i>, 1972.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The same holds true for tattooing. Many artists have utilized tattooing and tattoo imagery with the intent to create contemporary art and have presented their work within a fine arts context. (Santiago Sierra, Spider Webb, Tony Fitzpatrick, Shelley Jackson, Dr. Lakra and Don Ed Hardy are examples) However, this does not mean that all tattooing qualifies as contemporary art. Likewise, a lot of this kind of work, great art though it may be, doesn’t really make good tattoos.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Unlike the examples above, the vast majority of tattoos in the world are made according to the specifications of the people wearing them, that is, the customers. In this way, most tattooing has more in common with a design service than with contemporary art. Of course, as with any design service there are considerations of style, and customers will choose tattooists based on the style of their work, but stylistic input doesn’t make it art, at least as far as the tattooist is concerned. Therefore, if you’re considering taking up tattooing as means to express yourself artistically, I’d suggest finding another medium; one that doesn’t bleed, squirm, or make off-the-wall design requests that you find to be in horrible taste.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-burden-ships.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Chris Burden, \u003ci>Three Ghost Ships\u003c/i>, 1991.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As for tattoo imagery, the flash designs drawn or painted by tattooists are typically intended to be sold individually as tattoos and are akin to a catalogue of available motifs. Many tattooists make and sell paintings, drawings, prints, and the like without necessarily intending that they end up on someone’s skin, but these tend to be shown and marketed to a tattoo audience rather than a fine arts audience. Granted there is significant potential overlap in these two audiences but, generally speaking, they are quite dissimilar in their tastes and expectations. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Which brings us to hierarchies. Hierarchies abound in the arts, for better or worse. Most of us would agree that work of higher quality should be regarded above work of lower quality, but what constitutes a quality work of art turns out to be remarkably subjective. In tattooing, the standards of quality are much simpler; if the customer likes his or her tattoo, and is happy with it, then mission accomplished. It doesn’t really matter what the tattooist, the tattoo community, or anybody else thinks about it, and that’s pretty much the end of the story in my opinion. But then there is the question of hierarchy in a more general sense; is tattooing “lower” than contemporary art? Not surprisingly, it depends on whom you ask and how they valuate such things. It’s a little like comparing ice hockey to basketball. They’re not without their similarities but they are different games. The good news is that you can appreciate both for what they are. It’s perfectly acceptable to love art and to love tattoos equally and simultaneously. \u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>Now is a good time to see a whole lot of art all at once. Between the Spring MFA exhibitions and the commercial Art Fair selection, viewers can see a boatload of art in one place, and one-percenters can conveniently make a big dent in their art-collecting budgets. ArtMrkt, the SF Fine Art Fair, and ArtPadSF are all going down this weekend, and we jumped on the first pair of free tickets we were offered (Thank you, kind folks at Marx Zavattero Gallery).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cobject width=\"500\" height=\"375\">\u003cparam name=\"flashvars\" value=\"offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2F&set_id=72157629789425736&jump_to=\">\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615\">\u003cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\">\u003cembed type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" flashvars=\"offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2F&set_id=72157629789425736&jump_to=\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/object>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Art Fairs are new to San Francisco; this is the second annual showdown. They are strange occasions where the blissfully ignored line between art and commerce stands proudly in the spotlight. ArtPadSF was our chosen fair, held in the Phoenix hotel on the heels of SFAI’s MFA show. It would be easy to make a sleazy joke about galleries paying hourly rates to sell their goods in skeezy hotel rooms, so we won’t. There was a Butoh performance in the hotel’s pool, and that was funny enough for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of our favorite local galleries took up residence at the Phoenix, including Electric Works, Eleanor Harwood, The Luggage Store, Marx Zavattero, and Swarm, and we were also excited for the opportunity to see out-of-towners on our home turf, such as New Image Art from LA, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, we were disappointed. Safe, salable works were aplenty, but we did see a few gems, including an appropriately sexy George Kuchar tribute leftover from the SFAI show, and loveable pieces from a few of our favorites like Libby Black, Barry McGee, Andrew Schoultz, Os Gemeos, and the Date Farmers. We were also stunned by an incredibly realistic sculpture of a dead Courtney Love lookalike, who \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/profile/index.jsp?essid=20082\">Emmanuel\u003c/a> apologized to as he shot an awkward close-up several moments before realizing he was photographing a dummy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One art fair perk was major: the celebrity sightings. Ron Turner of Last Gasp, and local artists Paul Madonna and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=38532\">Ann Weber\u003c/a> were just a few of the luminaries we spotted. And at the veggie Vietnamese restaurant around the corner, we dined a few yards from Mission School royalty: Barry McGee, Chris Johanson, and Jo Jackson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was our first SF Art Fair, and we’ve concluded that it was worth a late-night trip to the TL, but that we’d rather see a mobile art fair fleet: airstream trailers and cruise ships travelling the Bay Area, overflowing with art and champagne. We demand more decadence and splendor in 2013. We want a fair to remember.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>Now is a good time to see a whole lot of art all at once. Between the Spring MFA exhibitions and the commercial Art Fair selection, viewers can see a boatload of art in one place, and one-percenters can conveniently make a big dent in their art-collecting budgets. ArtMrkt, the SF Fine Art Fair, and ArtPadSF are all going down this weekend, and we jumped on the first pair of free tickets we were offered (Thank you, kind folks at Marx Zavattero Gallery).\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cobject width=\"500\" height=\"375\">\u003cparam name=\"flashvars\" value=\"offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2F&set_id=72157629789425736&jump_to=\">\u003cparam name=\"movie\" value=\"http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615\">\u003cparam name=\"allowFullScreen\" value=\"true\">\u003cembed type=\"application/x-shockwave-flash\" src=\"http://www.flickr.com/apps/slideshow/show.swf?v=109615\" allowfullscreen=\"true\" flashvars=\"offsite=true&lang=en-us&page_show_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2Fshow%2F&page_show_back_url=%2Fphotos%2F8837740%40N04%2Fsets%2F72157629789425736%2F&set_id=72157629789425736&jump_to=\" width=\"500\" height=\"375\">\u003c/embed>\u003c/object>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Art Fairs are new to San Francisco; this is the second annual showdown. They are strange occasions where the blissfully ignored line between art and commerce stands proudly in the spotlight. ArtPadSF was our chosen fair, held in the Phoenix hotel on the heels of SFAI’s MFA show. It would be easy to make a sleazy joke about galleries paying hourly rates to sell their goods in skeezy hotel rooms, so we won’t. There was a Butoh performance in the hotel’s pool, and that was funny enough for us.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of our favorite local galleries took up residence at the Phoenix, including Electric Works, Eleanor Harwood, The Luggage Store, Marx Zavattero, and Swarm, and we were also excited for the opportunity to see out-of-towners on our home turf, such as New Image Art from LA, among others.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>On one hand, we were disappointed. Safe, salable works were aplenty, but we did see a few gems, including an appropriately sexy George Kuchar tribute leftover from the SFAI show, and loveable pieces from a few of our favorites like Libby Black, Barry McGee, Andrew Schoultz, Os Gemeos, and the Date Farmers. We were also stunned by an incredibly realistic sculpture of a dead Courtney Love lookalike, who \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/profile/index.jsp?essid=20082\">Emmanuel\u003c/a> apologized to as he shot an awkward close-up several moments before realizing he was photographing a dummy.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One art fair perk was major: the celebrity sightings. Ron Turner of Last Gasp, and local artists Paul Madonna and \u003ca href=\"http://www.kqed.org/arts/visualarts/article.jsp?essid=38532\">Ann Weber\u003c/a> were just a few of the luminaries we spotted. And at the veggie Vietnamese restaurant around the corner, we dined a few yards from Mission School royalty: Barry McGee, Chris Johanson, and Jo Jackson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This was our first SF Art Fair, and we’ve concluded that it was worth a late-night trip to the TL, but that we’d rather see a mobile art fair fleet: airstream trailers and cruise ships travelling the Bay Area, overflowing with art and champagne. We demand more decadence and splendor in 2013. We want a fair to remember.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that learning the technique of mediums before using them (instead of just doing something arbitrary with the medium) is stifling to creativity? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, I don’t. Creativity isn’t arbitrary, it is direct imaginative action oriented toward a medium. The more you know, the more calculating and precise you can be (all while making it seem effortless). What \u003ci>is\u003c/i> stifling to creativity is when the urge to create is stymied by a lack of knowledge. Stop complaining about your color theory homework — I promise it will stand you in good stead some day. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-greenwood.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Wynne Greenwood, \u003cb>Peace In\u003c/b> installation view\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I have Asperger’s Syndrome. I’ve known this since I was very young, and was fortunate enough to have parents who helped me sort through it in the right way. It is very mild, and I don’t even really think much of it, however I’ve noticed that my behavior tends to color people’s opinion of my artwork. Sometimes I get the impression that they think I am some narrowly-focused-boy-wonder-type. I can’t say that this impression has hurt me — in fact, I believe it amplifies any interest in my work — however I’m not sure how I feel about being contextualized this way. Should I fight against this reputation I seem to be inadvertently building? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wonder what you could possibly do to combat the impression you believe you are making. After all, you don’t know what conclusions people are actually coming to when you interact with them. You’re just guessing. But if you want to try to fight this assumption (yours and, potentially, your studio visitor’s) you’ll have to beat them to the punch. Maybe you could make a t-shirt that says, “I think that you think that I’m some kind of boy wonder, but I want to preemptively let you know that I’m not.” For brevity’s sake, on the back it could just say ASPERGER’S — you know, like a team jersey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, fashion’s not really my thing (see column lead picture, above) so in place of sartorial advice let’s get to the heart of this matter: the problem of how an artist controls her public image. Obviously, it’s necessary for the professional artist to have some information about herself out in the world (name, birthplace, education, and exhibitions are all basic resume items and statements often mention inspirations, etc.), but it’s funny how quickly this can get distorted or mischaracterized. Sometimes it seems that fact checking is passé: if someone gets a notion about who you are, and especially if it enlivens a story, there’s not much you can do. It’s no easy task to fight the rising tide of misinformation that gets circulated, especially when we live in a culture that fetishizes artists even as it undervalues them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-greenwood-2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Wynne Greenwood, \u003ci>Head #1 with Pillar\u003c/i>, 2012.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me give you an extreme example of how biographical information gets twisted: one young artist I know was born in Africa but raised in the US. She has an American accent. Upon meeting her, one patron said enthusiastically, “Oh, you’re African!” “No,” corrected my pal, “I was born in Africa, but I was raised in the US, in the South.” The patron immediately switched to expressing her sympathy, appearing to believe that the artist grew up in poverty-stricken circumstances. In reality, the artist had a comfortable middle-class suburban childhood, but this woman clearly wanted to put her into a particular category: either the “foreign/exotic” box or, when that didn’t work, in the “black ghetto” box. She wanted the artist’s life experience to be one that neatly dovetailed with her own assumptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even at its most benign, the art world (indeed, the entire world) loves a good narrative. Many artists have cannily crafted a detailed back-story for themselves that enhances the reception of their work. Others (like collectives) eschew authorship and, in the process, reject the idea of creating a personal history that supports their oeuvre. But in contemporary art — which, let’s face it, is often confusing or opaque — there’s a lust for biography and a desire to make direct connections between the life of the artist and her work. No matter what you do, if critics, gallerists and curators are paying attention to your practice they are going to construct a narrative that links their perception of your personal tale with your artmaking. It’s just one way that humans attempt to explain the circumstances of imagination and creativity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems that there is little you can do about it — at least preemptively — without falling victim to your \u003ci>own\u003c/i> conjectures about what other people might think of you and your work. Consider the possibility that your work is simply good enough to merit attention. If your natural behavioral eccentricities make you an even more charming or romantic figure, so be it. As long as you are not being disingenuous, then there’s nothing wrong with allowing people to cultivate whatever notions they want about you — and remember that they’re going to do it anyway. If you feel that it’s important to correct any possible misunderstanding of your work or your studio practice, you’re free to mention Asperger’s in your artist statement or in studio visits. But be warned that this information will create another dialog around the work that will only play into another set of assumptions, ones that you may not want to deal with. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is accompanied by images from \u003ca href=\"http://www.wynnegreenwood.com/\">Wynne Greenwood\u003c/a>‘s recent show \u003cb>Peace In\u003c/b> at \u003ca href=\"http://www.lawrimoreproject.com/\">Lawrimore Project\u003c/a> in Seattle.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>Do you think that learning the technique of mediums before using them (instead of just doing something arbitrary with the medium) is stifling to creativity? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>No, I don’t. Creativity isn’t arbitrary, it is direct imaginative action oriented toward a medium. The more you know, the more calculating and precise you can be (all while making it seem effortless). What \u003ci>is\u003c/i> stifling to creativity is when the urge to create is stymied by a lack of knowledge. Stop complaining about your color theory homework — I promise it will stand you in good stead some day. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-greenwood.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Wynne Greenwood, \u003cb>Peace In\u003c/b> installation view\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I have Asperger’s Syndrome. I’ve known this since I was very young, and was fortunate enough to have parents who helped me sort through it in the right way. It is very mild, and I don’t even really think much of it, however I’ve noticed that my behavior tends to color people’s opinion of my artwork. Sometimes I get the impression that they think I am some narrowly-focused-boy-wonder-type. I can’t say that this impression has hurt me — in fact, I believe it amplifies any interest in my work — however I’m not sure how I feel about being contextualized this way. Should I fight against this reputation I seem to be inadvertently building? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I wonder what you could possibly do to combat the impression you believe you are making. After all, you don’t know what conclusions people are actually coming to when you interact with them. You’re just guessing. But if you want to try to fight this assumption (yours and, potentially, your studio visitor’s) you’ll have to beat them to the punch. Maybe you could make a t-shirt that says, “I think that you think that I’m some kind of boy wonder, but I want to preemptively let you know that I’m not.” For brevity’s sake, on the back it could just say ASPERGER’S — you know, like a team jersey.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, fashion’s not really my thing (see column lead picture, above) so in place of sartorial advice let’s get to the heart of this matter: the problem of how an artist controls her public image. Obviously, it’s necessary for the professional artist to have some information about herself out in the world (name, birthplace, education, and exhibitions are all basic resume items and statements often mention inspirations, etc.), but it’s funny how quickly this can get distorted or mischaracterized. Sometimes it seems that fact checking is passé: if someone gets a notion about who you are, and especially if it enlivens a story, there’s not much you can do. It’s no easy task to fight the rising tide of misinformation that gets circulated, especially when we live in a culture that fetishizes artists even as it undervalues them. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-greenwood-2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Wynne Greenwood, \u003ci>Head #1 with Pillar\u003c/i>, 2012.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Let me give you an extreme example of how biographical information gets twisted: one young artist I know was born in Africa but raised in the US. She has an American accent. Upon meeting her, one patron said enthusiastically, “Oh, you’re African!” “No,” corrected my pal, “I was born in Africa, but I was raised in the US, in the South.” The patron immediately switched to expressing her sympathy, appearing to believe that the artist grew up in poverty-stricken circumstances. In reality, the artist had a comfortable middle-class suburban childhood, but this woman clearly wanted to put her into a particular category: either the “foreign/exotic” box or, when that didn’t work, in the “black ghetto” box. She wanted the artist’s life experience to be one that neatly dovetailed with her own assumptions.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Even at its most benign, the art world (indeed, the entire world) loves a good narrative. Many artists have cannily crafted a detailed back-story for themselves that enhances the reception of their work. Others (like collectives) eschew authorship and, in the process, reject the idea of creating a personal history that supports their oeuvre. But in contemporary art — which, let’s face it, is often confusing or opaque — there’s a lust for biography and a desire to make direct connections between the life of the artist and her work. No matter what you do, if critics, gallerists and curators are paying attention to your practice they are going to construct a narrative that links their perception of your personal tale with your artmaking. It’s just one way that humans attempt to explain the circumstances of imagination and creativity. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>It seems that there is little you can do about it — at least preemptively — without falling victim to your \u003ci>own\u003c/i> conjectures about what other people might think of you and your work. Consider the possibility that your work is simply good enough to merit attention. If your natural behavioral eccentricities make you an even more charming or romantic figure, so be it. As long as you are not being disingenuous, then there’s nothing wrong with allowing people to cultivate whatever notions they want about you — and remember that they’re going to do it anyway. If you feel that it’s important to correct any possible misunderstanding of your work or your studio practice, you’re free to mention Asperger’s in your artist statement or in studio visits. But be warned that this information will create another dialog around the work that will only play into another set of assumptions, ones that you may not want to deal with. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is accompanied by images from \u003ca href=\"http://www.wynnegreenwood.com/\">Wynne Greenwood\u003c/a>‘s recent show \u003cb>Peace In\u003c/b> at \u003ca href=\"http://www.lawrimoreproject.com/\">Lawrimore Project\u003c/a> in Seattle.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving. Help Desk is co-sponsored by KQED.org.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>My question is: how does an artist decide how much a certain piece is worth, monetarily?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most difficult things to do is put a dollar value on your work. In the absence of a gallerist’s guiding hand and prior knowledge, you have to ask yourself all kinds of ancillary questions: where am I at in my career, is this object well-made, is it unique, what have I sold in the past? etc. Pricing your work means it’s time to be brutally honest about where you stand in your career vis à vis what the market will bear. It can be a tough call. Who — at least of the unrepresented among us — hasn’t sold a piece and then wished they had asked for more? Or wondered if unsold work might have had a buyer if it was offered for less? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is just one more situation in which artists need to do their research. Start with the local galleries and art fairs and look at the prices of work that is similar to yours to get a range of values. This will help you create a basic list of prices, but don’t stop there because numbers aren’t the only part of the equation. Take a look at the resumes of the artists, too, as accomplishments make a difference in setting a price. If the paintings of an established mid-career artist with work in private and public collections sell for $30,000, and you’re fresh out of a BFA program, then your work is not going to sell for the same amount even if the size, medium, and style are comparable. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-framing.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ framing, deframing and reframing of semi-accidental linkages ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll also need to consider what it takes to make your work and what kind of work you’re making. For example, take the economics of production into account. What do you spend on your materials? Likewise, if you’re selling framed work you need to account for the costs of matting and framing. The type of work you’re making also has a particular value. If the work is part of an edition, it’s valued less than an original. A print from an edition of three hundred is less expensive than one from an edition of five. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’ve accounted for as many variables as possible, give yourself a small range of prices that you think are acceptable and run them by an artist friend who understands the art market. If you have access to a sympathetic teacher or dealer, you could ask those folks, too. I find that bouncing a number off a neutral party can help me make a final decision. I also take into account the words of a former professor, who told me that his sales strategy was to price things on the lower end of the scale. “I’d rather have a slightly smaller check than store [my paintings] indefinitely,” he said, and this is yet another thing to consider when you’re trying to put a dollar value on your work. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-amputated.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ the amputated experience of Sir Coincidence Sobject ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am a performance artist. I have had many invitations lately to show my work, but I am worried I won’t have enough money to pay for all of the travel and materials. Is there a way to get an ‘art loan’? What would you do? I’m right on the cusp of something. It is so much about freeness, but also, it’s crazy to be running on hot air.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing I want to say is that if you’re receiving invitations to perform, you should be getting at least some financial support from the institutions and venues themselves. Have you written any emails along the lines of, “Thank you for your interest in my work. Here are the costs associated with my performance, including airfare to your city. Please let me know how you are going to fund this performance”? Though I suspect that this is not a magical solution to your problem, I would love for your work to be supported by the venues that ask you to perform for them. That’s not going to happen if you don’t ask directly, and at least it gives you a place to start. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As always, there are some larger issues at work here. We all know of some great institutions that operate on a shoestring budget. What happens when one of those worthy venues sends you an invitation? Do you turn them down if they can’t fully fund your work, thereby maintaining your financial integrity but losing an opportunity? Or do you suck it up, go into debt, and hope that this performance leads to one that will be fully financed? In a broader sense, how much do we artists have to give away before our work has (real cash) value? Can any of us afford to turn down an opportunity on principle? It’s frustrating to feel manipulated by a system that asks the very producers of culture to give it away for free. Considered on a global scale, someone somewhere is making money on our collective work, and it’s no good if you’re contributing meaningful effort and not getting your slice. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-temps.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ temps de rêver au temps de vie, s’écrire et s’en douter ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would I get an art loan? Only if absolutely necessary and with a clear and realistic repayment strategy in place. Debt has a way of spiraling out of control, and it might be a while before you can get out from under the lead thumb of interest rates and minimum monthly payments. After all, this isn’t just about cold hard cash; it’s about your mental and emotional health, too. If the debt from today’s performance crushes your soul, how in the world are you going to get out of bed to make tomorrow’s? You need to consider the long-term implications of debt so that you can have a satisfying career instead of money-related burnout. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After you try to get some funding directly from your venues, the next step is to look into grants and awards. \u003ca href=\"http://grantspace.org/Tools/Knowledge-Base/Individual-Grantseekers/Artists/Funding-for-performing-artists\">Grant Space at the Foundation Center\u003c/a> has a comprehensive list of grant-making institutions. The online guide is by subscription (about $19/mo), but you can search their site for a bricks-and-mortar location near you where you can look through the guide for free. Grants are great. Not only do you get some money toward a project, you also get a line-item on your resume; even if the grant is small it has more than a financial benefit. One of the related perks of getting a grant is that it provides you with a grant history, which makes it easier to receive grants in the future (in general, granting institutions want to give their money to artists who have a proven record of being able to manage their funding properly). Start small and work your way up — a $200 grant today might not cover many of your expenses but it boosts your chance of getting a $2000 grant next year. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-simulacram.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ simulacrum of an aesthetic mistrust prepared on the back of a postcard after periods of ontological fissures ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local funding can be crucial. Is there an institution in your area that provides small grants and awards? Try googling the name of your city and “art grant” to see what comes up. The great thing about funding on a local level is that it gives you the chance to form relationships beyond mere dollars. One artist I know received two grants from \u003ca href=\"http://racc.org/\">this regional institution\u003c/a> and then was asked to sit on a grant-judging panel a few years later. The money came at the right time, to be sure; but additionally he got a wonderful “grant education” from being a judge and helping evaluate the applications. That’s the kind of knowledge that will help him get larger grants in the future. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of my friends have had substantial success with \u003ca href=\"http://www.kickstarter.com/start\">Kickstarter\u003c/a> and similar crowd-sourced funding. One friend raised enough money to go off to a two-month residency across the country, and another’s campaign was so effective that he raised almost $4000 more than he requested. However, a good Kickstarter campaign takes time and energy to put together. If you’re going to try it, I suggest you spend a lot of time researching the site’s prior funded projects to determine what elements contributed to their success. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing to note about all of these sources is that they don’t provide money overnight, so it’s a good idea to think as far ahead as possible. Kickstarter may be among the fastest to pay out, but for any of these options it can take weeks to put together a strong application, and the checks from granting institutions come months after the application process ends. Where will you be in a year, and what will you be making? If you can start planning well in advance of production you’ll have a better chance of finding financial help. Art is so much about freeness: to experiment, create and perform. The trick is to find financial backing so that you can continue to develop your work without the weight of pecuniary shackles. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week’s column is illustrated with collages by \u003ca href=\"http://deuxbricoleurs.tumblr.com/\">Irina and Silviu Szekely\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving. Help Desk is co-sponsored by KQED.org.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>My question is: how does an artist decide how much a certain piece is worth, monetarily?\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One of the most difficult things to do is put a dollar value on your work. In the absence of a gallerist’s guiding hand and prior knowledge, you have to ask yourself all kinds of ancillary questions: where am I at in my career, is this object well-made, is it unique, what have I sold in the past? etc. Pricing your work means it’s time to be brutally honest about where you stand in your career vis à vis what the market will bear. It can be a tough call. Who — at least of the unrepresented among us — hasn’t sold a piece and then wished they had asked for more? Or wondered if unsold work might have had a buyer if it was offered for less? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This is just one more situation in which artists need to do their research. Start with the local galleries and art fairs and look at the prices of work that is similar to yours to get a range of values. This will help you create a basic list of prices, but don’t stop there because numbers aren’t the only part of the equation. Take a look at the resumes of the artists, too, as accomplishments make a difference in setting a price. If the paintings of an established mid-career artist with work in private and public collections sell for $30,000, and you’re fresh out of a BFA program, then your work is not going to sell for the same amount even if the size, medium, and style are comparable. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-framing.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ framing, deframing and reframing of semi-accidental linkages ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ll also need to consider what it takes to make your work and what kind of work you’re making. For example, take the economics of production into account. What do you spend on your materials? Likewise, if you’re selling framed work you need to account for the costs of matting and framing. The type of work you’re making also has a particular value. If the work is part of an edition, it’s valued less than an original. A print from an edition of three hundred is less expensive than one from an edition of five. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>When you’ve accounted for as many variables as possible, give yourself a small range of prices that you think are acceptable and run them by an artist friend who understands the art market. If you have access to a sympathetic teacher or dealer, you could ask those folks, too. I find that bouncing a number off a neutral party can help me make a final decision. I also take into account the words of a former professor, who told me that his sales strategy was to price things on the lower end of the scale. “I’d rather have a slightly smaller check than store [my paintings] indefinitely,” he said, and this is yet another thing to consider when you’re trying to put a dollar value on your work. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-amputated.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ the amputated experience of Sir Coincidence Sobject ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am a performance artist. I have had many invitations lately to show my work, but I am worried I won’t have enough money to pay for all of the travel and materials. Is there a way to get an ‘art loan’? What would you do? I’m right on the cusp of something. It is so much about freeness, but also, it’s crazy to be running on hot air.\u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>The first thing I want to say is that if you’re receiving invitations to perform, you should be getting at least some financial support from the institutions and venues themselves. Have you written any emails along the lines of, “Thank you for your interest in my work. Here are the costs associated with my performance, including airfare to your city. Please let me know how you are going to fund this performance”? Though I suspect that this is not a magical solution to your problem, I would love for your work to be supported by the venues that ask you to perform for them. That’s not going to happen if you don’t ask directly, and at least it gives you a place to start. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>As always, there are some larger issues at work here. We all know of some great institutions that operate on a shoestring budget. What happens when one of those worthy venues sends you an invitation? Do you turn them down if they can’t fully fund your work, thereby maintaining your financial integrity but losing an opportunity? Or do you suck it up, go into debt, and hope that this performance leads to one that will be fully financed? In a broader sense, how much do we artists have to give away before our work has (real cash) value? Can any of us afford to turn down an opportunity on principle? It’s frustrating to feel manipulated by a system that asks the very producers of culture to give it away for free. Considered on a global scale, someone somewhere is making money on our collective work, and it’s no good if you’re contributing meaningful effort and not getting your slice. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-temps.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ temps de rêver au temps de vie, s’écrire et s’en douter ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Would I get an art loan? Only if absolutely necessary and with a clear and realistic repayment strategy in place. Debt has a way of spiraling out of control, and it might be a while before you can get out from under the lead thumb of interest rates and minimum monthly payments. After all, this isn’t just about cold hard cash; it’s about your mental and emotional health, too. If the debt from today’s performance crushes your soul, how in the world are you going to get out of bed to make tomorrow’s? You need to consider the long-term implications of debt so that you can have a satisfying career instead of money-related burnout. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>After you try to get some funding directly from your venues, the next step is to look into grants and awards. \u003ca href=\"http://grantspace.org/Tools/Knowledge-Base/Individual-Grantseekers/Artists/Funding-for-performing-artists\">Grant Space at the Foundation Center\u003c/a> has a comprehensive list of grant-making institutions. The online guide is by subscription (about $19/mo), but you can search their site for a bricks-and-mortar location near you where you can look through the guide for free. Grants are great. Not only do you get some money toward a project, you also get a line-item on your resume; even if the grant is small it has more than a financial benefit. One of the related perks of getting a grant is that it provides you with a grant history, which makes it easier to receive grants in the future (in general, granting institutions want to give their money to artists who have a proven record of being able to manage their funding properly). Start small and work your way up — a $200 grant today might not cover many of your expenses but it boosts your chance of getting a $2000 grant next year. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-simulacram.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />\u003ci>[ simulacrum of an aesthetic mistrust prepared on the back of a postcard after periods of ontological fissures ]\u003c/i>, Irina and Silviu Szekely; courtesy of the artists.\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Local funding can be crucial. Is there an institution in your area that provides small grants and awards? Try googling the name of your city and “art grant” to see what comes up. The great thing about funding on a local level is that it gives you the chance to form relationships beyond mere dollars. One artist I know received two grants from \u003ca href=\"http://racc.org/\">this regional institution\u003c/a> and then was asked to sit on a grant-judging panel a few years later. The money came at the right time, to be sure; but additionally he got a wonderful “grant education” from being a judge and helping evaluate the applications. That’s the kind of knowledge that will help him get larger grants in the future. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Some of my friends have had substantial success with \u003ca href=\"http://www.kickstarter.com/start\">Kickstarter\u003c/a> and similar crowd-sourced funding. One friend raised enough money to go off to a two-month residency across the country, and another’s campaign was so effective that he raised almost $4000 more than he requested. However, a good Kickstarter campaign takes time and energy to put together. If you’re going to try it, I suggest you spend a lot of time researching the site’s prior funded projects to determine what elements contributed to their success. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>One thing to note about all of these sources is that they don’t provide money overnight, so it’s a good idea to think as far ahead as possible. Kickstarter may be among the fastest to pay out, but for any of these options it can take weeks to put together a strong application, and the checks from granting institutions come months after the application process ends. Where will you be in a year, and what will you be making? If you can start planning well in advance of production you’ll have a better chance of finding financial help. Art is so much about freeness: to experiment, create and perform. The trick is to find financial backing so that you can continue to develop your work without the weight of pecuniary shackles. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>This week’s column is illustrated with collages by \u003ca href=\"http://deuxbricoleurs.tumblr.com/\">Irina and Silviu Szekely\u003c/a>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to HELP DESK, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions and save the comments section to chime in on the topics of the day. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Also, check it out: \u003ca href=\"http://blog.art21.org/2012/04/12/praxis-makes-perfect-help/\">Help Desk was interviewed\u003c/a> for the Art21 blog!\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>If an artist is attempting to call attention to a particular issue that in some way either oppresses a group of people or includes imagery of unethical actions, is their artwork also unethical if they intentionally include or use oppressive tactics or graphic images to do so? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no permanent, fixed equation that we can apply to art — especially art that intends to become activism — and I’m not amenable to making an ultimate pronouncement on work that exists as a hypothetical. It’s better to be aware of the concerns surrounding art and activism in general and proffer judgments on a case-by-case basis. An artist who wishes to take an activist stance in regard to an issue must think very carefully through the problem at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-target.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Target No. 32 (Wayne Thiebaud Painting)\u003c/i>, 2008.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I contacted a few artists that are currently making work that intends to be activist, but for the first time in the brief history of this column, not one of them responded. Perhaps they were afraid to go on record regarding the conflicts and contradictions their work presents? In any case, \u003ca href=\"http://www.curativeprojects.net/bio.html\">Anuradha Vikram\u003c/a>, Curator of the Worth Ryder Art Gallery at UC Berkeley, kindly shed some light on this matter. She asks would-be activist-artists to ponder some art-world assumptions: “When seeking to call attention to any troubling issue, one key maxim to consider is that of the physician: ‘first, do no harm.’ Too often, artists seem to mistake demonstrating a set of conditions for critiquing them. If the work is replicating unethical behaviors, what is the artist doing besides perpetuating those behaviors? Perhaps, if one assumes that the context for art is a neutral one (the proverbial ‘white cube’) then it could be argued that by isolating and framing such actions, the artist makes the critique implicitly. However, if the last 40 years of art-world controversy have taught us anything, it is that ‘neutrality’ is often interchangeable with ‘privilege.’ Recreating oppression within a space of privilege is simply oppressive. A critique needs to go farther than that, and a sophisticated critique does not need to replicate such dynamics in order to unpack them.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree, and can’t emphasize that last sentence enough: a sophisticated critique is what any artist-activist should be working toward. I also think the issue of commodification is important here. Can art truly make a change if it doesn’t materially aid the victims whose cause it purports to advance? If it only “raises awareness” of an issue by replicating abuse, it’s possible that its primary consequence is simply to turn the expression of subjugation into an exchangeable commodity (for money, status, notoriety, etc.) which primarily benefits the artist or the art establishment. And on a personal level, if your activism turns you into a celebrity but does nothing to change the brutality you supposedly decry, your innocent intentions become worse than worldly cynicism. Emancipation cannot be achieved by oppressive means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cp>Related reading: \u003ca href=\"http://groundswellcollective.com/\">groundswellcollective.com\u003c/a> and the books \u003ca href=\"http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2011/05/art-agenda-political-art-and-a.php\">\u003cem>Art & Agenda\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://highlandercenter.org/products-page/art-and-culture/wild-fire-art-as-activism/\">Wild Fire: Art as Activism\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Judd Montage No. 1\u003c/i>, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am in my junior year of a BFA program at a university that I love. My grades have always been stellar, and I feel empowered to make work that extends far beyond the minimal requirements of assignments – work that I would be proud to exhibit; however, my work has been rejected from several local juried shows recently (in the past, I have been accepted to shows and even sold work). In addition, one of my main professors has been giving me lower grades than I am used to. I’m open to criticism, and I know I have a lot to learn, but the direction seems to be simply that I’m not making the work that they expect. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There is a small part of me that wants to conform and get good grades so I can move on to an MFA program elsewhere. The louder, bossier side of me believes that my Postmodern ideas are valid, but happen to be inconsistent with the traditional Modernist teaching methods of the faculty at my university. Can you give me some ideas about how to make the most of my education without burning bridges or officially ruining my transcript? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are really three parts to your query: how to make the most of your time in school now; the correlation between grades and MFA programs; and the larger idea of the feedback you’ve been getting. I think they’re all related in the end, but let’s deal with the MFA part first because it might be the easiest. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Judd Montage No. 17\u003c/i>, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My understanding of the MFA admissions process (which I went through in 2009) is that it is heavily weighted toward the quality of the applicant’s work, her CV, her recommendations and how she performs in the interview, more or less in that order. Unlike medical school, undergraduate grades don’t really count for much when applying for the MFA. I confirmed this with one department chair at a well-known art school in a Midwestern city (all my experts requested anonymity). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another department head, this one from an art school on the east coast, said, “First and foremost is the portfolio! This seems a rule and something that can be applied across the board. If the work is strong, other things become secondary.” My third expert, a painting chair from a well-regarded school in California, said, “Strong, well-documented work and a well-written statement are 90% of the battle.” Some MFA programs do have a minimum GPA requirement, but it doesn’t sound as though you’re in danger of getting an F. So on one hand, it seems that you don’t have to worry about your grades if you only consider them in aid of going for the MFA later. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, your question touches on larger issues. It seems like your prior work was more successful in the past, earning you good grades and exhibitions alike. Your newer work isn’t being met with the same regard. There could be some good reasons for that: it might be that the work still needs to be developed (it’s new, after all), or that it doesn’t fit in with the status quo of your Modernist milieu, or any number of other possibilities. There’s only one way to find out for sure, and that’s to get people into your studio to see the work and talk with you about it. Here’s where we come to the subject of how to make the most of your time now. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, Judd Montage No. 13, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed that I’m an ardent advocate for following your own course. I think that if you want to make this work, you should. I’ll always stand by your right to define yourself and your work on your own terms. However, passion alone doesn’t necessarily make good art and it’s your charge to determine if your new direction shows promise or not. How can you do that? By making a concerted effort to have as many conversations about the work as possible over the next year. Begin this process with your own professors, including the one who has been giving you lesser grades. Have you asked this person directly what drives his decisions regarding your lower marks? Asking someone to explain their grading process is not the same as whining for an A; just be blunt: “I noticed that my grades are lower than before, and I’m not sure I understand why. Can you please walk me through your decision?” If nothing else, you’ll clear the air with this person and figure out if you want to work with him during your final year of school. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this is a good place to start, I suggest you expand the field. If your suspicion is that the new work simply goes against the grain of the academic atmosphere, then you must investigate this hypothesis by requesting studio visits with artists who are not part of your university’s faculty. Are there visiting artists or lecturers you can contact? Are there local people (artists working in your medium, gallerists, or independent curators) that you can approach? Write them all an email asking for a visit and explain your situation: you’re not looking for a show, you’re trying to get some non-academic feedback on new work. These visits should be absolutely candid. Say what you’ve told me about your prior work versus your new work and its reception at school. Ask these people to be honest and direct. It sounds to me like you can take it, and you don’t want to waste your time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before I wrap up, I want to say something about the MFA and graduate school in general. Don’t go straight from the BFA to the MFA. Unlike undergraduate studies, graduate programs are entirely self-directed, and two years goes by very quickly. The only way to make the most of a graduate program is to go in knowing what you \u003ci>don’t\u003c/i> know so that you can ask the right questions while you are there. This requires a level of maturity and self-knowledge that can only be gained through living in the real world and negotiating a life as an artist outside the support system of school. Get your BFA, make a studio life for yourself, work on your oeuvre and your CV, and then apply for the MFA when your portfolio is so dazzling that it could blind an admissions panel to a string of Cs on your transcript.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is illustrated with collages by \u003ca href=\"http://www.lovelake.org/\">Eva Lake\u003c/a>, whose solo show “Judd Women Targets” is currently on view at \u003ca href=\"http://www.froschportmann.com/exhibitions.html\">Frosch & Portmann\u003c/a> in New York, through June 3, 2012.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to HELP DESK, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions and save the comments section to chime in on the topics of the day. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Also, check it out: \u003ca href=\"http://blog.art21.org/2012/04/12/praxis-makes-perfect-help/\">Help Desk was interviewed\u003c/a> for the Art21 blog!\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>If an artist is attempting to call attention to a particular issue that in some way either oppresses a group of people or includes imagery of unethical actions, is their artwork also unethical if they intentionally include or use oppressive tactics or graphic images to do so? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There is no permanent, fixed equation that we can apply to art — especially art that intends to become activism — and I’m not amenable to making an ultimate pronouncement on work that exists as a hypothetical. It’s better to be aware of the concerns surrounding art and activism in general and proffer judgments on a case-by-case basis. An artist who wishes to take an activist stance in regard to an issue must think very carefully through the problem at hand.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-target.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Target No. 32 (Wayne Thiebaud Painting)\u003c/i>, 2008.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I contacted a few artists that are currently making work that intends to be activist, but for the first time in the brief history of this column, not one of them responded. Perhaps they were afraid to go on record regarding the conflicts and contradictions their work presents? In any case, \u003ca href=\"http://www.curativeprojects.net/bio.html\">Anuradha Vikram\u003c/a>, Curator of the Worth Ryder Art Gallery at UC Berkeley, kindly shed some light on this matter. She asks would-be activist-artists to ponder some art-world assumptions: “When seeking to call attention to any troubling issue, one key maxim to consider is that of the physician: ‘first, do no harm.’ Too often, artists seem to mistake demonstrating a set of conditions for critiquing them. If the work is replicating unethical behaviors, what is the artist doing besides perpetuating those behaviors? Perhaps, if one assumes that the context for art is a neutral one (the proverbial ‘white cube’) then it could be argued that by isolating and framing such actions, the artist makes the critique implicitly. However, if the last 40 years of art-world controversy have taught us anything, it is that ‘neutrality’ is often interchangeable with ‘privilege.’ Recreating oppression within a space of privilege is simply oppressive. A critique needs to go farther than that, and a sophisticated critique does not need to replicate such dynamics in order to unpack them.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I agree, and can’t emphasize that last sentence enough: a sophisticated critique is what any artist-activist should be working toward. I also think the issue of commodification is important here. Can art truly make a change if it doesn’t materially aid the victims whose cause it purports to advance? If it only “raises awareness” of an issue by replicating abuse, it’s possible that its primary consequence is simply to turn the expression of subjugation into an exchangeable commodity (for money, status, notoriety, etc.) which primarily benefits the artist or the art establishment. And on a personal level, if your activism turns you into a celebrity but does nothing to change the brutality you supposedly decry, your innocent intentions become worse than worldly cynicism. Emancipation cannot be achieved by oppressive means.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cp>Related reading: \u003ca href=\"http://groundswellcollective.com/\">groundswellcollective.com\u003c/a> and the books \u003ca href=\"http://we-make-money-not-art.com/archives/2011/05/art-agenda-political-art-and-a.php\">\u003cem>Art & Agenda\u003c/em>\u003c/a> and \u003cem>\u003ca href=\"http://highlandercenter.org/products-page/art-and-culture/wild-fire-art-as-activism/\">Wild Fire: Art as Activism\u003c/a>\u003c/em>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-3.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Judd Montage No. 1\u003c/i>, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I am in my junior year of a BFA program at a university that I love. My grades have always been stellar, and I feel empowered to make work that extends far beyond the minimal requirements of assignments – work that I would be proud to exhibit; however, my work has been rejected from several local juried shows recently (in the past, I have been accepted to shows and even sold work). In addition, one of my main professors has been giving me lower grades than I am used to. I’m open to criticism, and I know I have a lot to learn, but the direction seems to be simply that I’m not making the work that they expect. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>There is a small part of me that wants to conform and get good grades so I can move on to an MFA program elsewhere. The louder, bossier side of me believes that my Postmodern ideas are valid, but happen to be inconsistent with the traditional Modernist teaching methods of the faculty at my university. Can you give me some ideas about how to make the most of my education without burning bridges or officially ruining my transcript? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>There are really three parts to your query: how to make the most of your time in school now; the correlation between grades and MFA programs; and the larger idea of the feedback you’ve been getting. I think they’re all related in the end, but let’s deal with the MFA part first because it might be the easiest. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, \u003ci>Judd Montage No. 17\u003c/i>, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>My understanding of the MFA admissions process (which I went through in 2009) is that it is heavily weighted toward the quality of the applicant’s work, her CV, her recommendations and how she performs in the interview, more or less in that order. Unlike medical school, undergraduate grades don’t really count for much when applying for the MFA. I confirmed this with one department chair at a well-known art school in a Midwestern city (all my experts requested anonymity). \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Another department head, this one from an art school on the east coast, said, “First and foremost is the portfolio! This seems a rule and something that can be applied across the board. If the work is strong, other things become secondary.” My third expert, a painting chair from a well-regarded school in California, said, “Strong, well-documented work and a well-written statement are 90% of the battle.” Some MFA programs do have a minimum GPA requirement, but it doesn’t sound as though you’re in danger of getting an F. So on one hand, it seems that you don’t have to worry about your grades if you only consider them in aid of going for the MFA later. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>However, your question touches on larger issues. It seems like your prior work was more successful in the past, earning you good grades and exhibitions alike. Your newer work isn’t being met with the same regard. There could be some good reasons for that: it might be that the work still needs to be developed (it’s new, after all), or that it doesn’t fit in with the status quo of your Modernist milieu, or any number of other possibilities. There’s only one way to find out for sure, and that’s to get people into your studio to see the work and talk with you about it. Here’s where we come to the subject of how to make the most of your time now. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-judd-2.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\"alt=\"\" />\u003cbr />Eva Lake, Judd Montage No. 13, 2007.\u003cbr />\u003c/center>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you’re a regular reader, you may have noticed that I’m an ardent advocate for following your own course. I think that if you want to make this work, you should. I’ll always stand by your right to define yourself and your work on your own terms. However, passion alone doesn’t necessarily make good art and it’s your charge to determine if your new direction shows promise or not. How can you do that? By making a concerted effort to have as many conversations about the work as possible over the next year. Begin this process with your own professors, including the one who has been giving you lesser grades. Have you asked this person directly what drives his decisions regarding your lower marks? Asking someone to explain their grading process is not the same as whining for an A; just be blunt: “I noticed that my grades are lower than before, and I’m not sure I understand why. Can you please walk me through your decision?” If nothing else, you’ll clear the air with this person and figure out if you want to work with him during your final year of school. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>While this is a good place to start, I suggest you expand the field. If your suspicion is that the new work simply goes against the grain of the academic atmosphere, then you must investigate this hypothesis by requesting studio visits with artists who are not part of your university’s faculty. Are there visiting artists or lecturers you can contact? Are there local people (artists working in your medium, gallerists, or independent curators) that you can approach? Write them all an email asking for a visit and explain your situation: you’re not looking for a show, you’re trying to get some non-academic feedback on new work. These visits should be absolutely candid. Say what you’ve told me about your prior work versus your new work and its reception at school. Ask these people to be honest and direct. It sounds to me like you can take it, and you don’t want to waste your time.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Before I wrap up, I want to say something about the MFA and graduate school in general. Don’t go straight from the BFA to the MFA. Unlike undergraduate studies, graduate programs are entirely self-directed, and two years goes by very quickly. The only way to make the most of a graduate program is to go in knowing what you \u003ci>don’t\u003c/i> know so that you can ask the right questions while you are there. This requires a level of maturity and self-knowledge that can only be gained through living in the real world and negotiating a life as an artist outside the support system of school. Get your BFA, make a studio life for yourself, work on your oeuvre and your CV, and then apply for the MFA when your portfolio is so dazzling that it could blind an admissions panel to a string of Cs on your transcript.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>This week’s column is illustrated with collages by \u003ca href=\"http://www.lovelake.org/\">Eva Lake\u003c/a>, whose solo show “Judd Women Targets” is currently on view at \u003ca href=\"http://www.froschportmann.com/exhibitions.html\">Frosch & Portmann\u003c/a> in New York, through June 3, 2012.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"content": "\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions and save the comments section to chime in on the topics of the day. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I have created a book about mail art, done over a 30-year span, which served as a communication between another artist and myself. Besides containing a lot of artwork, it is also a semi-autobiographical portrait of a modern artist’s life. I’d like to find a smart way to market it, but know nothing about publishing such a highly unique product. I’ve done some research online, but much of it is still confusing. Do I need an agent? Should I try to market it myself? It’s packaged, sealed and ready to go. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You have quite a few options for this project. The obvious one is to find an established publisher. Generally speaking, they’ll have the means to reproduce your images nicely and will provide for the marketing and distribution of your book. Not a bad way to go if you can find the right fit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this is what you desire, you’ll want to start the process by finding a good match for your creation. This part is just like looking for a gallery: you must do your research and look for someone who is already publishing books that are similar (or as similar as possible) to yours. Take some time to dig through the pertinent sections of your local bookstores and public library — is there anything there that strikes the same note? Jot down those publishers. \u003ca href=\"http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/how-to-publish.html\">This website\u003c/a> had some other good information about finding a publisher. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-barry.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Two pages from Lynda Barry’s \u003ci>What It Is\u003c/i> (Drawn and Quarterly Press)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pretty much everyone says that you do need an agent if you want your book to be published by a large house. How do you find an agent? Try putting a list of search terms related to your book into Google with the word “agent” and see what you get. For example, \u003ca href=\"http://voices.yahoo.com/how-snag-memoir-literary-agent-where-target-316704.html\">here is a list of agents\u003c/a> I found using the terms “memoir & agent.” You can also look on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.pw.org/literary_agents\">Poets & Writers website\u003c/a> under the Agents tab. I found the agent who represents \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Barry\">Lynda Barry\u003c/a> there. Lynda Barry wrote \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/What-It-Is-Lynda-Barry/dp/1897299354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335113686&sr=8-1\">\u003cem>What It Is\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a book that sounds like it might be more similar to your project than not, so even though most of the agents listed at P&W work with fiction, you might find a few who are a good match. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How committed to this project are you? A large publishing house isn’t the only way to go — just ask \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tufte\">Edward Tufte\u003c/a>, who specializes in visual information. When he couldn’t find a publisher willing to create \u003ca href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi\">\u003cem>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information\u003c/em>\u003c/a> to his specifications, he formed his own publishing imprint and has gone on to publish four other books (all lovely, by the way — I own the set). Of course, doing it yourself requires not just time but also a potentially sizeable investment of money as well. And after you publish the book, you’ll also have to market it. I found \u003ca href=\"http://www.wordclay.com/BookMarketing.aspx\">some ideas on marketing here\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-tufte.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Edward Tufte’s \u003ci>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information\u003c/i> (Graphics Press is Tufte’s own imprint); Image: Iwan Gabovitch’s Flickr photostream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-publishing is a grand undertaking, and you’ll want to visit with printers and binders in your area to talk with them about materials, costs, file sizes, and production time. If you’re not familiar with publishing software, you may also need to hire a graphic designer to help you scan and lay out the images and text of the book using a program like \u003ca href=\"http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html\">InDesign\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you hand your manuscript over to a publisher, you lose some creative control but will be more or less free to move on to the next project. If you publish it yourself, you will live and breathe this book for quite some time, but you can make exactly what you want. Good luck! In my opinion, the world needs more books about what it means to be an artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-loser.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Nate Lowman, \u003ci>Loser\u003c/i>, 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I recently discovered an artist’s work that is a little too similar to mine for comfort. This artist is more established than I am and has probably been making this kind of work longer than I have, but I am committed to the work and don’t really want to change. To complicate matters I have an exhibition coming up and all the work for the show is finished. I don’t want to be accused of plagiarism or written off as an imitator, especially because I made the work in complete ignorance of this other artist. What should I do? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First things first: I believe you. It’s depressing to find out that you’re not a lone genius producing quality original artwork, but it does happen. Even with a high level of education in art history and a commitment to following the contemporary art scene, one can’t be aware of every individual artist’s work. Well, not, that is, until a well-meaning friend forwards an email with a link, saying “I saw this work and thought of yours!” Hey, thanks. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You say that having work finished for an upcoming show complicates the matter. Is that really true? If you hadn’t completed this body of work, or if the opening was a year from now, would you have thrown your ideas away and changed your work? The implication is that you would have taken another direction, but I’m not convinced that this would be a beneficial course of action. Why? Because there are a lot of factors that must have influenced your decisions as you were making this work, and I believe in following your lights to their logical and emotional conclusions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re also discounting the shared forum of culture and the uncontrollable effects of zeitgeist. I’m not really sure what the specific factors are that compel everyone to have the same impulse at the same time, but it happens. Art communities are relatively small (even the global contemporary art community) and we’re all reacting to the circumstances of our shared epoch. Isn’t it natural that there is at least some degree of material or conceptual overlap if we are facing some of the same pressures and inspirations? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-poets.jpg\" />\u003cbr />L-R: William Shakespeare, John Keats, Alfred Tennyson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your question also calls up the ghosts of antiquated arguments about art, authorship and originality. It’s likely that you and this other artist are both reacting to artwork that preceded your own. \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anxiety_of_Influence\">\u003cem>The Anxiety of Influence\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Harold Bloom discusses this subject in relation to poetry. “‘Influence’ is a metaphor, one that implicates a matrix of relationships — imagistic, temporal, spiritual, psychological — all of them ultimately defensive in their nature,” writes Bloom. “Without Keats’s reading of Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth, we could not have Keats’s odes and sonnets and his two Hyperions. Without Tennyson’s reading of Keats, we would have almost no Tennyson.” So while you may not have known about this other artist’s work, you both are probably acquainted with a common ancestral body of work that inspired your own. That’s how artistic lineage is created: we react to what came before. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ve finished the work and it’s time to hang it, evaluate it, and move on. If you get it up on the gallery walls and you’re pleased, continue pushing your ideas; if you’re not, take some time to assess your goals for the work and determine what’s successful and what’s not. And if anyone accuses you of plagiarism or imitation, just smile and say, “Yes, I just found out about Artist X. A friend sent me a link to her work.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>\u003ci>Welcome to Help Desk, where I answer your queries about making, exhibiting, finding, marketing, buying, selling — or any other activity related to — contemporary art. Together, we’ll sort through some of art’s thornier issues. Email \u003ca href=\"mailto:helpdesk@dailyserving.com\">helpdesk@dailyserving.com\u003c/a> with your questions and save the comments section to chime in on the topics of the day. All submissions remain strictly anonymous and become the property of Daily Serving.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>I have created a book about mail art, done over a 30-year span, which served as a communication between another artist and myself. Besides containing a lot of artwork, it is also a semi-autobiographical portrait of a modern artist’s life. I’d like to find a smart way to market it, but know nothing about publishing such a highly unique product. I’ve done some research online, but much of it is still confusing. Do I need an agent? Should I try to market it myself? It’s packaged, sealed and ready to go. \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You have quite a few options for this project. The obvious one is to find an established publisher. Generally speaking, they’ll have the means to reproduce your images nicely and will provide for the marketing and distribution of your book. Not a bad way to go if you can find the right fit. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If this is what you desire, you’ll want to start the process by finding a good match for your creation. This part is just like looking for a gallery: you must do your research and look for someone who is already publishing books that are similar (or as similar as possible) to yours. Take some time to dig through the pertinent sections of your local bookstores and public library — is there anything there that strikes the same note? Jot down those publishers. \u003ca href=\"http://books.eserver.org/nonfiction/how-to-publish.html\">This website\u003c/a> had some other good information about finding a publisher. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-barry.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Two pages from Lynda Barry’s \u003ci>What It Is\u003c/i> (Drawn and Quarterly Press)\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Pretty much everyone says that you do need an agent if you want your book to be published by a large house. How do you find an agent? Try putting a list of search terms related to your book into Google with the word “agent” and see what you get. For example, \u003ca href=\"http://voices.yahoo.com/how-snag-memoir-literary-agent-where-target-316704.html\">here is a list of agents\u003c/a> I found using the terms “memoir & agent.” You can also look on the \u003ca href=\"http://www.pw.org/literary_agents\">Poets & Writers website\u003c/a> under the Agents tab. I found the agent who represents \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lynda_Barry\">Lynda Barry\u003c/a> there. Lynda Barry wrote \u003ca href=\"http://www.amazon.com/What-It-Is-Lynda-Barry/dp/1897299354/ref=sr_1_1?ie=UTF8&qid=1335113686&sr=8-1\">\u003cem>What It Is\u003c/em>\u003c/a>, a book that sounds like it might be more similar to your project than not, so even though most of the agents listed at P&W work with fiction, you might find a few who are a good match. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>How committed to this project are you? A large publishing house isn’t the only way to go — just ask \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Edward_Tufte\">Edward Tufte\u003c/a>, who specializes in visual information. When he couldn’t find a publisher willing to create \u003ca href=\"http://www.edwardtufte.com/tufte/books_vdqi\">\u003cem>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information\u003c/em>\u003c/a> to his specifications, he formed his own publishing imprint and has gone on to publish four other books (all lovely, by the way — I own the set). Of course, doing it yourself requires not just time but also a potentially sizeable investment of money as well. And after you publish the book, you’ll also have to market it. I found \u003ca href=\"http://www.wordclay.com/BookMarketing.aspx\">some ideas on marketing here\u003c/a>. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-tufte.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Edward Tufte’s \u003ci>The Visual Display of Quantitative Information\u003c/i> (Graphics Press is Tufte’s own imprint); Image: Iwan Gabovitch’s Flickr photostream.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Self-publishing is a grand undertaking, and you’ll want to visit with printers and binders in your area to talk with them about materials, costs, file sizes, and production time. If you’re not familiar with publishing software, you may also need to hire a graphic designer to help you scan and lay out the images and text of the book using a program like \u003ca href=\"http://www.adobe.com/products/indesign.html\">InDesign\u003c/a>.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>If you hand your manuscript over to a publisher, you lose some creative control but will be more or less free to move on to the next project. If you publish it yourself, you will live and breathe this book for quite some time, but you can make exactly what you want. Good luck! In my opinion, the world needs more books about what it means to be an artist.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-loser.jpg\" />\u003cbr />Nate Lowman, \u003ci>Loser\u003c/i>, 2009.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>I recently discovered an artist’s work that is a little too similar to mine for comfort. This artist is more established than I am and has probably been making this kind of work longer than I have, but I am committed to the work and don’t really want to change. To complicate matters I have an exhibition coming up and all the work for the show is finished. I don’t want to be accused of plagiarism or written off as an imitator, especially because I made the work in complete ignorance of this other artist. What should I do? \u003c/b>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>First things first: I believe you. It’s depressing to find out that you’re not a lone genius producing quality original artwork, but it does happen. Even with a high level of education in art history and a commitment to following the contemporary art scene, one can’t be aware of every individual artist’s work. Well, not, that is, until a well-meaning friend forwards an email with a link, saying “I saw this work and thought of yours!” Hey, thanks. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You say that having work finished for an upcoming show complicates the matter. Is that really true? If you hadn’t completed this body of work, or if the opening was a year from now, would you have thrown your ideas away and changed your work? The implication is that you would have taken another direction, but I’m not convinced that this would be a beneficial course of action. Why? Because there are a lot of factors that must have influenced your decisions as you were making this work, and I believe in following your lights to their logical and emotional conclusions. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’re also discounting the shared forum of culture and the uncontrollable effects of zeitgeist. I’m not really sure what the specific factors are that compel everyone to have the same impulse at the same time, but it happens. Art communities are relatively small (even the global contemporary art community) and we’re all reacting to the circumstances of our shared epoch. Isn’t it natural that there is at least some degree of material or conceptual overlap if we are facing some of the same pressures and inspirations? \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"http://a.s.kqed.net/img/arts/blog/hd-poets.jpg\" />\u003cbr />L-R: William Shakespeare, John Keats, Alfred Tennyson.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Your question also calls up the ghosts of antiquated arguments about art, authorship and originality. It’s likely that you and this other artist are both reacting to artwork that preceded your own. \u003ca href=\"http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Anxiety_of_Influence\">\u003cem>The Anxiety of Influence\u003c/em>\u003c/a> by Harold Bloom discusses this subject in relation to poetry. “‘Influence’ is a metaphor, one that implicates a matrix of relationships — imagistic, temporal, spiritual, psychological — all of them ultimately defensive in their nature,” writes Bloom. “Without Keats’s reading of Shakespeare, Milton, and Wordsworth, we could not have Keats’s odes and sonnets and his two Hyperions. Without Tennyson’s reading of Keats, we would have almost no Tennyson.” So while you may not have known about this other artist’s work, you both are probably acquainted with a common ancestral body of work that inspired your own. That’s how artistic lineage is created: we react to what came before. \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>You’ve finished the work and it’s time to hang it, evaluate it, and move on. If you get it up on the gallery walls and you’re pleased, continue pushing your ideas; if you’re not, take some time to assess your goals for the work and determine what’s successful and what’s not. And if anyone accuses you of plagiarism or imitation, just smile and say, “Yes, I just found out about Artist X. A friend sent me a link to her work.” \u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003ci>Help Desk is a collaboration between KQED and \u003ca href=\"http://dailyserving.com/\">Daily Serving\u003c/a>, an international forum for the contemporary visual arts. Please use the comments section below to ask for help and to tell us what you think.\u003c/i>\u003c/p>\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"title": "'The Office' at San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art",
"headTitle": "‘The Office’ at San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art | KQED",
"content": "\u003cp>The first vividly bleak picture of the contemporary office environment was painted by Mike Judge, whose 1999 film \u003ci>Office Space\u003c/i> made the prosaic struggle to control a lowly stapler a metaphor for oppressed white-color workers everywhere. The 2001 Ricky Gervais show \u003ci>The Office,\u003c/i> followed in 2005 by the Greg Daniels version for U.S. audiences, codified the dull despair of those who push paper in order to sell it. Naturally, both were comedies, otherwise the exercises would have been unbearable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Office\u003c/b>, on display now through June 2, 2012, at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, owes as much to these pop-culture phenomena as to the comparatively stuffy traditions of visual art. Indeed, the pieces in the show that try to play the art game first — rather than mining all they can from their subject — are generally less successful than their counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/Cfakepathofficepanel1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/Cfakepathofficepanel16.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Packard Jennings, \u003ci>Business Reply Pamphlet,\u003c/i> Panels 1 and 16\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Take the work of Packard Jennings, whose cartoony illustrations for \u003ci>Business Reply Pamphlet,\u003c/i> 2006, were initially designed for the business-reply envelopes that accompany junk mail. Jennings conceived his 16-part piece as an instruction manual for office workers whose job it is to open those returned business-reply envelopes, the charming conceit being that Jennings’s handy how-to manual would enable them to overthrow their office hierarchy and replace it with a tribal culture in which the work space is used for homesteading, hunting and growing crops. Coincidentally, Jennings’s aesthetic lends itself to the content of his piece, but he was smart to recognize this bizarre opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>[ad fullwidth]\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other artists use office supplies for their work. Jill Sylvia cuts countless rectangles out of ledger paper, transforming this pre-Excel/Google Docs artifact into something resembling fine lace or delicately pierced silver. Sylvia’s material of choice was obsolete before she made it doubly useless, but by destroying these sheets of green or yellow ledger paper, she gives us hope, as if proving that relics of the office, us included, might have some purpose after technology finally passes the last of the old ways by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/CfakepathFosheeDrift.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Alison Foshee, \u003ci>Drift\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Alison Foshee also uses office supplies to create her pieces, but unlike Sylvia, who adds to the impact of her work by systematically eliminating it from our view, Foshee builds her pieces bit by bit. One collection of quiet pieces presents an array of delicate feathers created from nothing more than staples. Nearby, a collage of mostly red packaging labels affixed to canvas screams for our attention, thanks to the fact that its floral and optical patterns are produced by noisy “Do Not Bend,” “Please Handle With Care,” “Fragile,” “This Side Up” and other stickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less successful are pieces like \u003ci>Cling\u003c/i> by Mitra Fabian, whose contribution to the show is a wall garlanded here and there with binder clips that have been secured to each other. It’s a passionless arrangement that’s contrived to look organic but is merely dull. The pieces in Lauren DiCioccio’s \u003ci>Paper Reconfiguration Series\u003c/i> have been lavished with more attention (they are hand-stitched to create three-dimensional shapes resembling tubes and donuts), but unlike Sylvia’s work, which is ostensibly similar due to its material, these pieces don’t provoke thoughts about offices and the people who work in them. Alas, like Fabian’s installation of binder clips, DiCioccio’s work is overly infatuated with itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/CfakepathKirkCrippens36301684604.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Kirk Crippens, from the \u003ci>Plants on the Job\u003c/i> series\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Better is Ian Treasure’s installation of a dozen office water coolers, which have been arranged in a grid and configured so that each bubbles at an irregular interval. The result is a symphony of bloops and gurgles, a watery version, perhaps, of the countless conversations that take place beside these monuments to the imperative of hydration. And I liked the quintet of photographs of seriously neglected office plants by Kirk Crippens. These symbols of the half-hearted effort to humanize the workplace struck me as weirdly poignant, especially those juxtaposed with plates of herbal tea and a photograph of a man holding an umbrella over his cello to protect it from the rain. Would that anyone cared as much about these plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Office\u003c/b> is on view through June 2, 2012, at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.sjica.org/detail.html?eid=846\" target=\"offsite\" rel=\"noopener\">information\u003c/a>, visit sjica.org.\u003c/p>\n\n",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003cp>The first vividly bleak picture of the contemporary office environment was painted by Mike Judge, whose 1999 film \u003ci>Office Space\u003c/i> made the prosaic struggle to control a lowly stapler a metaphor for oppressed white-color workers everywhere. The 2001 Ricky Gervais show \u003ci>The Office,\u003c/i> followed in 2005 by the Greg Daniels version for U.S. audiences, codified the dull despair of those who push paper in order to sell it. Naturally, both were comedies, otherwise the exercises would have been unbearable.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Office\u003c/b>, on display now through June 2, 2012, at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art, owes as much to these pop-culture phenomena as to the comparatively stuffy traditions of visual art. Indeed, the pieces in the show that try to play the art game first — rather than mining all they can from their subject — are generally less successful than their counterparts.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/Cfakepathofficepanel1.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/Cfakepathofficepanel16.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Packard Jennings, \u003ci>Business Reply Pamphlet,\u003c/i> Panels 1 and 16\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Take the work of Packard Jennings, whose cartoony illustrations for \u003ci>Business Reply Pamphlet,\u003c/i> 2006, were initially designed for the business-reply envelopes that accompany junk mail. Jennings conceived his 16-part piece as an instruction manual for office workers whose job it is to open those returned business-reply envelopes, the charming conceit being that Jennings’s handy how-to manual would enable them to overthrow their office hierarchy and replace it with a tribal culture in which the work space is used for homesteading, hunting and growing crops. Coincidentally, Jennings’s aesthetic lends itself to the content of his piece, but he was smart to recognize this bizarre opportunity.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003c/div>",
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"content": "\u003cdiv class=\"post-body\">\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Other artists use office supplies for their work. Jill Sylvia cuts countless rectangles out of ledger paper, transforming this pre-Excel/Google Docs artifact into something resembling fine lace or delicately pierced silver. Sylvia’s material of choice was obsolete before she made it doubly useless, but by destroying these sheets of green or yellow ledger paper, she gives us hope, as if proving that relics of the office, us included, might have some purpose after technology finally passes the last of the old ways by.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/CfakepathFosheeDrift.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Alison Foshee, \u003ci>Drift\u003c/i>\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Alison Foshee also uses office supplies to create her pieces, but unlike Sylvia, who adds to the impact of her work by systematically eliminating it from our view, Foshee builds her pieces bit by bit. One collection of quiet pieces presents an array of delicate feathers created from nothing more than staples. Nearby, a collage of mostly red packaging labels affixed to canvas screams for our attention, thanks to the fact that its floral and optical patterns are produced by noisy “Do Not Bend,” “Please Handle With Care,” “Fragile,” “This Side Up” and other stickers.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>Less successful are pieces like \u003ci>Cling\u003c/i> by Mitra Fabian, whose contribution to the show is a wall garlanded here and there with binder clips that have been secured to each other. It’s a passionless arrangement that’s contrived to look organic but is merely dull. The pieces in Lauren DiCioccio’s \u003ci>Paper Reconfiguration Series\u003c/i> have been lavished with more attention (they are hand-stitched to create three-dimensional shapes resembling tubes and donuts), but unlike Sylvia’s work, which is ostensibly similar due to its material, these pieces don’t provoke thoughts about offices and the people who work in them. Alas, like Fabian’s installation of binder clips, DiCioccio’s work is overly infatuated with itself.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\u003ccenter>\u003cimg decoding=\"async\" src=\"//u.s.kqed.net/2012/04/19/CfakepathKirkCrippens36301684604.jpg\" style=\"margin-bottom: 10px;\" alt=\"\">\u003cbr>Kirk Crippens, from the \u003ci>Plants on the Job\u003c/i> series\u003cbr>\u003c/center>\n\u003cp>Better is Ian Treasure’s installation of a dozen office water coolers, which have been arranged in a grid and configured so that each bubbles at an irregular interval. The result is a symphony of bloops and gurgles, a watery version, perhaps, of the countless conversations that take place beside these monuments to the imperative of hydration. And I liked the quintet of photographs of seriously neglected office plants by Kirk Crippens. These symbols of the half-hearted effort to humanize the workplace struck me as weirdly poignant, especially those juxtaposed with plates of herbal tea and a photograph of a man holding an umbrella over his cello to protect it from the rain. Would that anyone cared as much about these plants.\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003c/p>\n\u003cp>\u003cb>The Office\u003c/b> is on view through June 2, 2012, at the San Jose Institute of Contemporary Art. For \u003ca href=\"http://www.sjica.org/detail.html?eid=846\" target=\"offsite\" rel=\"noopener\">information\u003c/a>, visit sjica.org.\u003c/p>\n\n\u003c/div>\u003c/p>",
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"info": "Possible is hosted by entrepreneur Reid Hoffman and writer Aria Finger. Together in Possible, Hoffman and Finger lead enlightening discussions about building a brighter collective future. The show features interviews with visionary guests like Trevor Noah, Sam Altman and Janette Sadik-Khan. Possible paints an optimistic portrait of the world we can create through science, policy, business, art and our shared humanity. It asks: What if everything goes right for once? How can we get there? Each episode also includes a short fiction story generated by advanced AI GPT-4, serving as a thought-provoking springboard to speculate how humanity could leverage technology for good.",
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"tagline": "Art is where you find it",
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"soldout": {
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