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The studioNOTES e-Journal . . . |
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e-Journal #1
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************************************************************ e-J #1 studioNOTES e-Journal Winter 2003-4 a project of studioNOTES ************************************************************ Welcome to the first issue of the studioNOTES e-Journal. So that all mail programs and computers can handle it, it is in plain text. Your comments are welcomed. The general layout and contents for this issue are: * RESOURCES: CAREER (Information to help you get support for your work or to make it easier or more pleasant) ICS's Online Sculpture Community * Jobs for Art Teachers * Alliance of Artist Communities * Call to Curators * RESOURCES: TECHNICAL (Information on artmaking techniques and materials, art history and related, promotional materials) Art Dictionary * Making Charcoal * Building an Easel * Slide Packet Folder * ART IN GENERAL (Art to look at and think about) International Artists Database Now Online * BraBall Finished * Shocked and Awed * Software Art * IN HOUSE (News about and AOM, Opinions and Observations,) Evan Lindquist Southern Correspondent * PRWorkshop * Why Is Art Necessary * Publisher's Corner * AOM Tops Google Search * Subscriber of the Moment * ASK Questions from readers) Accepting Trade-ins? * THIS AND THAT (Stuff that doesn't necessarily fit into the other categories) Rejection Really Hurts * Destruction, Alteration of Art Prohibited * READERS RECOMMEND (Books, art materials, etc) * HA (Amusing art things) Mr Sincerity * Us Department of Art and Technology * Bad Art Writing Contest * QUOTES ************************* Begin Contents ******************** RESOURCES: CAREER * International Sculpture Society's Online Sculpture Community Russ RuBert, ISC Communications Chairman, www.sculpture.org or www.sculpture.net, writes us that the relatively new ISC online Sculpture Community: "a place where you can: post instant images of your work; check out what's happening in the sculpture world; send or read a sculpture postcard from around the world; give feedback and suggestions for ISC and _Sculpture Magazine;_ get help on construction, installation, or technical related issues; read the latest calls for artists or post your own; check out what's happening in the world of sculpture on the ISC Sculpture Calendar." When you get to the site, select "sculpture community" from the menu. Or go directly to sculpture.net for a full screen display. *Jobs for Art Teachers Looking for a position teaching art, art history or something else at the college level? You can search at HigherEdJobs.com Site also lists administrative/staff, executive, community college and part-time/adjunct positions. * Resource: Alliance of Artist Communities A page of links to the organizational members of the AAC. Ninety-five percent of these have appeared in Art Opportunities Monthly, but if you are interested in pursuing a residency, here is a good place to find all the links together. * Call to Curators: Request for Exhibition Proposals Ann Trinca sends notice of a call for curatorial proposals for 2004 at Off the Preserve!, deadline November 28. See www.org/callforcurators.html for details and requirements. The gallery in Napa CA is a project of the di Rosa Preserve: Art & Nature, a non-profit cultural, educational and environmental resource that houses is one of the largest regional art collections in the country and is a celebration of contemporary California art. The Preserve's 53 acres, in the Carneros region of the Napa and Sonoma Valleys, are entirely surrounded by vineyards and include a 35-acre lake. The collection has been amassed over the last forty years and is comprised of over 2,000 works of art by hundreds of San Francisco Bay Area artists. RESOURCES: TECHNICAL * ArtLex Art Dictionary "Historiated" is probably not in your spell checker, but it is in the ArtLex Art Dictionary, along with more than other 3,300 terms used in discussing visual culture. The site also includes thousands of supporting images, pronunciation notes, relevant quotations and cross-references. It describes itself as " for artists, collectors, students and educators in art production, criticism, history, aesthetics, and education." For artists it offers "access to a vast array of information about the media, techniques, styles, genres, contemporary issues, and cultural contexts of the art that you and other artists have produced in various periods and regions of the world. Oh, historiated means: "ornamented with representation, such as plants, animals, or human figures, that have a narrative -- as distinct from a purely decorative -- function. Historiated initial letters were a popular form of manuscript decoration in the Middle Ages." You can see a sample of an historiated letter "O" at http://www.artlex.com/ArtLex/h/images/historiat_O.lg.jpg * Making Charcoal How to Make Drawing Charcoal, by Evan Lindquist, <http://www.clt.astate.edu/elind/charcoalhome.htm>. Clearly explained, based on the method in "The Book of the Art of Cennino Cennini", a 1437 treatise on Italian painting, with links to other methods. * Easel Build Your Own Easel. <http://www.itg.uiuc.edu/people/grosser/easel/author/index.html>. A useful design for a self-built easel, by Benjamin Grosser. Includes plans, materials list, tool list, and a section on were to buy. * Tip: Slide Packets If you want to send your slide packet in a pocket folder but don't like the ones available at the office supply store, buy one anyway and carefully take it apart. Then buy some attractive but neutral (off white, cream, gray, black) art paper and use the store-bought folder as a pattern to make your own. ART IN GENERAL * International Artists Database Now Online Culturebase.net <http://www.culturebase.net> calls itself the "new Who's Who of the international art and culture scene." The database documents the work of active international artists, performers and promoters in Europe within the last ten years. The artists -- working in visual arts, film, photography, design, theatre, dance and music, literature and science -- are from more than 150 countries in Asia, Africa, Latin America, Middle East, Central and Eastern Europe. One of the search methods on the site allows users to find "crossroads" -- terms like "Islam," "Globalisation" or "Deconstruction," resulting in all artists who deal with such topics in their works, listed by relevance. The producers of the site say, "This free service will serve all those who are interested in art and culture. Journalists and academics can also use culturebase.net for their research. The service works as a virtual contact zone for institutions that are engaged with intercultural exchange. Artists known earlier only in their countries can now present their work to a wider audience. In this way, in initiators hope that culturebase.net will enable 'journeys of discovery through intercultural similarities nd differences. Its sponsors and funders include: European Union - Culture 2000; the Goethe Institute, The city of Copenhagen; The Art Foundation , Sweden; The Ministry of Culture, Denmark; The Nordic Culture Foundation; The Swedish National Council on Cultural Affairs; The British Council; The Culture Ministry of Albania; The Danish National Council on Cultural Affairs; The European Commission; and The Open Society Institute - Soros ( Macedonia) * BraBall Finished Report from Emily Duffy: "The Final BraBall Roll-On was held on August 24, 2003 at SOMARTS Cultural Center in San Francisco. More than 7,000 bras were added that day, making a new total of 17,103! Also, $500 was raised in support of The Women's Building in San Francisco." Photos linked from index page at <http://www.braball.com/> * "Shocked and Awed, Iraqi Children's View of 'Operation Iraqi Freedom.'" No matter your political views on the US invasion and occupation of Iraq you might be interested in seeing how Iraqi children depict "Operation Iraqi Freedom." <http://www.puffinroom.org/iraq/indexhtml> This is a project of the Puffin Foundation, Ltd. http://www.puffinfoundation.org/ *Software Art Runme.org <http://runme.org/> is a software art repository, launched in January 2003. According to its initiators, Alexei Shulgin and Olga Goriunova, "It is an open, moderated database to which people are welcome to submit projects they consider to be interesting examples of software art. Software art is an intersection of two almost non-overlapping realms: software and art. It has a different meaning and aura in each. Software art gets its lifeblood and its techniques from living software culture and represents approaches and strategies similar to those used in the art world." They want to "create an exchange interface for artists and programmers which will work towards a contextualization of this new form of cultural activity. Runme.org welcomes projects regardless of the date and context of their creation. The repository is happy to host different kinds of projects -- ranging from found, anonymous software art to famous projects by established artists and programmers." IN HOUSE * Southern Correspondent. Evan Lindquist, emeritus professor of art (Arkansas State U) and printmaker agreed several months ago to be the Southern correspondent for but this is the first chance we have had to announce it to a wide audience. Evan has been a frequent and valuable contributor to the publication and to the discussion list. * PR Workshop The PR Workshop held Sep 6, at the Danville (CA) Fine Arts Gallery was attended by 34 people from as far away as Foster City, Carmichael, Bethel Island and San Mateo. The presenters were Vallejo Times Herald reporter and editor Richard Freedman and Benny Shaboy. Subjects ranged from the "the big secret" of how things make the news to the basics of a press release to follow-up after interviews. Most of the attendees were artists, but gallery owners, artist-in-residence program directors and business consultants also attended. Each participant received a detailed 8-page outline, a 16-page Bay Area List of Media, a couple of specialized worksheets and optional membership in an email list for followup and further discussion. More info on the PR Workshops in general is on the Web at <http://www.org/pr_workshop.html>. If you'd like to hold one at your art group, school or arts council, please get in touch at pr@org. Also, sometime later we'll turn the information into a book, tentatively called "Publicity for Artists". If interested in being notified of its publication, let us know. *Why Is Art Necessary? Reader responses to this question are now posted at <http://www.org/whyart.html>, along with images from some contributors (Nikki Ausschnitt, Mernie Buchanan, Larry Gregson, Jessica Phrogus, Matthew Purdon and Ricardo Toronto) to that article or to the two-part series on competitions. You may also send your response to be (or not to be) posted. * Publisher's Corner Painting down, a personal observation: artists whose work sells well to "the public" are usually not "painting down" to the public, no matter what they claim; they tend to have approximately the same taste as their buyers, although they may have more education. The corollary is: an artist who tries to paint down in order to sell often doesn't do a good job of either. In short, the artist is wasting time better spent on developing his or her vision and voice and trying to connect with the few people who can appreciate those. ~~~ I got an email from a woman who had taken an art course or two after her son had grown and left home. She discovered she could copy photographs well enough for friends and family to praise and could draw other things well enough for the instructor to give her a good grade. Thus armed, she wanted to turn pro and "make money immediately," according to her note. It seemed only natural to her to also inquire as to the "best selling subject," one that would ensure her sales. While that may sound naive to artists who have worked for long years, it would be a reasonable question in most other fields (What are the cars that need servicing most often, what fast foods sell best in this area, etc?), and it is true, as Komar and Melamid found that certain kinds of paintings are most appealing -- although there are major geographic differences throughout the world. But the idea that you can or should go for "mass appeal" is a phantom at best even if your artistic principles would allow you to. In the first place, there are nearly 300 million people in the US, about half of them, or 150 million, having enough of an income to be potential buyers. If your work appeals to just one percent of them, you'd have a market audience of 1.5 million, still too huge ever accommodate. One one-thousandth of one percent (.001%) gets you down to 15,000 people, still more than you could ever count on to buy your work. It made more sense, I told the woman when we later talked on the phone, to concentrate on doing the things she does best and then finding the buyers. It's not always that simple, of course, but probably works better in the long run. As it turned out after a few question about what she was best at and how she actually worked, this woman decided she would be most comfortable working as a commercial artist, on staff or accepting assignments, so the conversation went off in that direction, but the numbers above are worth thinking about. * AOM Tops Google Search If you Google the words "art opportunities" (without the quote marks), Art Opportunities Monthly <http://www.ArtOpportunitiesMonthly.com/> is at the top of the list out of, depending on the day, anywhere between 9,700,000 and 21,400,000 hits. * Subscriber of the Moment We'll occasionally post links to sites of AOM or e-Journal subscribers on the Blog <http://www.blogger.html>. There will be a short description of the site and its owner. We'll post about a site a week, chosen at random from the pool. The sites will then be added to a links page on the sN site. You can enter your site to be listed by sending us an email.*There is an entry fee of sorts: Get at least one other person to subscribe to the e-journal (free).* They can do this by sending an email to journal@org and saying that you asked them to subscribe. THIS AND THAT * Rejection Really Hurts Gallery says no, juried competition says no, potential buyer says no. You don't care, right? You just move on the next challenge. You're tough, not one of those Oh-I've-just-got-to-express- myself-this-weekend artists. It may not be that easy. According to Dr. Matthew D. Lieberman, one of the researchers in a new study about rejection, "Rationally we can say being excluded doesn't matter, but rejection of any form still appears to register automatically in the brain, and the mechanism appears to be similar to the experience of physical pain." Read the story here: <http://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2003/10/031010074045.htm>, ScienceDaily, Rejection Really Hurts, UCLA Psychologists Find. "Two key areas of the brain appear to respond to the pain of rejection in the same way as physical pain, a UCLA-led team of psychologists reports in the Oct. 10 issue of Science." * Destruction, Alteration of Art Prohibited: Artists' Rights after the Sale Destruction of Artwork <http://www.ivanhoffman.com/artwork.html> is a short article about the rights of an artist to protect his or artwork from being altered or destroyed. The author, Ivan Hoffman, is a lawyer who specializes in issues of interest to publishers and artists. The Visual Artists Rights Act and related laws mean, basically, that no one can paint a mustache on your Mona Lisa or trash it, or even claim that they rather than you painted it. The "catch" is that you have to be "of recognized stature," but that is normally interpreted to mean that you are a professional rather than an amateur. About three years ago, published an article on this particular issue, titled "Artists' 'Moral' Rights," written in consultation with attorney Brooke Oliver, an expert in the field. If you would like a free copy of that article, please email us at VARA@org. ASK ACCEPTING TRADES Question: I know an artist who freely offers trades to his collectors, but can see problems, such as much time has passed, what if the artist has raised prices, etc. I was wondering what most artists do if a collector requests this. --Jocelyn Audette, <http://www.jocelynaudette.com> Answers: From Benny Shaboy: In my experience, this doesn't come up often -- because of the potential problems you cite. A couple of artists I've known havetrade-in policies, and I believe there is a definite time limit in each case. I also recall one or two instances in which a collector requested a trade without the artist ever having mentioned the possibility. I can certainly see having a trade-in policy as an attempt to increase sales, but only if there is a time limit -- say 30 or 90 days -- AND the work can be traded only for a work that is not newer than the one purchased. These limits would avoid the problems you mention, I think. The underlying but tacit philosophy would be: You like my work and want it. My work is simply a manifestations of my vision, which is what you are buying. But I understand that upon reflection, you may realize that a different piece suits your environment, disposition, partner, whatever better. Fine, I'm happy to accommodate that up to a reasonable point. It becomes unreasonable if six months or a year later you say, "Oh, gosh, I've changed my mind. I've lived with this piece all that time. I've looked at it, I've thought about it, I've shown it off to my friends and neighbors, but now I want to trade it in for your newer work, which I want for the same price. Of course I wouldn't do that with a book or a movie, but you're just an artist." I do think one should have some kind of policy about trades, either No Trades, or Trades with Specific Limits, but I also think that it's entirely appropriate to make exceptions as circumstances warrant. For instance, I once instigated a trade of a newer piece to a collector who had an older piece that I wanted back. ~~~~~ From Evan Lindquist: It's a tough subject to cover. I thought I would pass on some experience -- all involving prints. Some may be relevant to drawings, paintings, etc. People have often asked about my "trade-in policy" while considering what to buy. During the first 10 years or so, when sales were slow, I voluntarily brought up the possibility of trade-ins as an inducement to buy, subject to a few terms. Nothing was in writing, but I simply mentioned that they could live with the work for awhile, and later, they would be welcome to call and discuss the possibility of a trade-in. Perhaps fewer than ten people (out of more than a thousand) actually called to discuss it. One condition was availability -- no trade-ins for something I could not deliver. Trading-in would be based on the current list price (less commission and frame) of the returned print against the current price of their new selection. And of course, the print would have to be in good condition. No gallery sale obligations, no cash buy-backs. There were a few other commonsense details. Of the few who did ask, I think I rejected only the first request, because the guy had modified a color etching by cutting off the paper margins, signature, etc. Then he framed it to look like a stretched painting. He eventually understood why he would be stuck with it and that I would never acknowledge his modified etching to be an example of my original work. Several people have had tragedies (home fires, tornado damage, etc.) in which one of more of my prints were damaged or destroyed. Insurance took care of several, but others got a complete trade-in of the remains anyway (gratis). I've been rewarded by their loyalty many times over. On one occasion, a client had purchased several prints from editions that later sold out completely. I was very happy to get some of those prints back to "rehome" with people who were on my "watch" list. Again, this results in a version of "brand loyalty." Today, I could not make a trade-in promise, because my circumstances have changed. But here is my most important principle of marketing: Each person who owns my work is my "agent." I usually tell purchasers that I expect them to be an "agent", that they should show my work proudly, and I want them to brag about it. I want to be informed if they no longer have that pride. I would not want my agent to be embarrassed, make excuses, or joke about being tired of seeing my work every day -- that's a bad agent. If they don't like it, it would be to my benefit to do an exchange -- get something in there that they would like to brag about. I have hoped to see a strong secondary market for my work where people can sell or auction an unloved or orphaned piece to someone who will love it. By accepting trade-ins, I have tried to remove uncertainty from a current market by performing some functions of a secondary market. Generally, a person who trades in a work will see the exchange as a short-term solution to a problem, while the artist (or dealer) should consider the long-term benefit of loyalty and market building. (Followup from Benny: Evan's answer has convinced me that most artists should have a liberal trade in policy such as his, at least in the beginning of their careers. I think his paragraph on every buyer being an "agent"is so important that every artist who wants to sell work consistently should copy it out and put it in the studio or above his or her desk.) READERS RECOMMEND There are no items in this section this issue. Please send your recommendations for art materials, books, equipment, software or other things that you think others should know about to rr@org. HA * Mr Sincerity We got the email below, addressed to "opps@org," an address we used for receiving prospectuses by email. There is of course no Mr. or Ms. Opps nor artwork to go with the address, but that did not stop Mr. Westerman from gushing "Love the work," and asking old Oppsie to give him a call. A few weeks after this we got an identical email. Let's do lunch, Eric, baby. Love the patter. ~~~~ "To: opps@org Subject: LOVE THE WORK From: "Eric Westerman" Ewesterman@art-exchange.com Date: Tue, 9 Sep 2003 07:18:14 -0500 "I had the opportunity to see some of your work today and just have one question. "Do you want to sell some of it ? "At <http://www.art-exchange.com> we are serious about selling your work to art-consultants, interior decorators, commercial designers, art galleries, corporate art buyers, frame shops and anyone else who sells art for a living. We average over 23,000 unique visitors to our Gallery everyday. Not people looking at pretty pictures but serious buyers that need art. "If you would like to learn more.log on to my site and then call me at 800-647-6336 X 103." * US Department of Art and Technology <http://www.usdat.us/> From the site: "The US Department of Art and Technology is the principal conduit for facilitating the artist's need to extend aesthetic inquiry into the broader culture where ideas become real action. It also serves the psychological and spiritual well-being of all Americans by supporting cultural efforts that provide immunity from the extension of new media technologies into the social sphere." Of course this is an art piece or a put-on, but done well enough that the careless and excitable reader will mistake it for reality. * Bad Art Writing Contest There's a lot of bad writing on art. Pretentious, self-indulgent, self-serving, obtuse, obtuse-because-I-don't-know-what-I'm- talking-about, I'll-bet this will-impress-my-colleagues, look-Ma- I'm-a-critic -- that sort of thing. So send us your favorite sentence of bad art writing. We'll publish them at in each issue, space permitting, and at the end of the year make some kind of an award to the "winner." Stay tuned. ". . . Quotes. . . "
We haven't asked the impertinent question. Until you ask an
impertinent question of nature, you do not get a pertinent answer.
Great answers in nature are always hidden in the questions. When
Einstein in 1905 questioned the assumption held for over three hundred
years that time is a given, he asked one of the great impertinent
questions: "Why" How do I know my time is the same as yours?" Now the
artist asks the same kind of question; not about dead, but living
nature; not about the outside, but the inside world; not about facts
but about the self.
--Jacob Bronowski to Studs Terkel, p 234-5, Talking To Myself,
Pantheon, 1977* There is a right and wrong way to do everything, and it is always a revelation to find fully grown people continually making the same mistakes, never having observed closely enough to copy the expert craftsman who has found the best method by long experience. -- Malvina Hoffman, Sculpture Inside and Out, 1939 ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~* ~ * ~* ~* ~* ~* Edited by Benny Shaboy. The e-Journal is a project of Copyright 2003. Portions of this publication may be copied ONLY IF full credit is given by including the email journal@studionnotes.org and the URL www.studioNOTES.org ### Box 502 Benicia CA 94510 ============================================================== * * Subscribe to the e-Journal by emailing ej at studionotes.org ** ============================================================== |
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