outta here
Post #681 • December 7, 2005, 10:08 AM • 15 Comments
Well, people, it looks like I'm going to sign off for the week - I have a lot to take care of before I leave to Taiwan on Saturday. The upcoming publications on Van Gogh and Fra Angelico will have to wait until I get settled, although it will give me something nice to do on the plane.
The Taiwanese are famous for their technophilia and I expect to find Internet access easily enough, but the question is SFTP access, which will also probably be fine, but I don't know for sure. In any case, there's settling in, adjusting to the eleven hour time difference, and whatnot. Posts will resume next week, as soon as possible. I will disable comments while en route.
Be good.
2.
December 7, 2005, 11:03 AM
Yes, have a nice trip Franklin.
3.
December 7, 2005, 7:39 PM
I provide a little dissent to the New York Observer. Hey, somebody's gotta do it.
4.
December 7, 2005, 11:57 PM
They should have quoted you at greater length.
5.
December 8, 2005, 8:34 AM
Quoting Franklin, It was all a bit much for Miami painter and artblog.net editor Franklin Einspruch. “When you want to check someone’s pulse, you don’t do it after they’ve gone on a three-mile jog and done a line of coke,” he e-mailed during the fair, calling cheery economic forecasts based on Miami sales ridiculous.
Nicely put.
Looks to me like Art Basel was the art market top for a few years, it will be interesting to see what happens next.
6.
December 8, 2005, 8:45 AM
If the vast tracts of negligible and unexceptional stuff I saw at Basel sold as well as it appears to have, it means there's a significant population of collectors with far more more money than discernment. As long as they keep buying the same sort of stuff, there will be little change in the quality, not only because the unexceptional is much easier to crank out, but also because these collectors may not be able to tell the difference.
7.
December 8, 2005, 9:20 AM
While reviewing the ACA (Atlantic Center for the Arts) artist residency application form and web page, I was amazed to discover that Laura Owens is listed as one of the master artists.
8.
December 8, 2005, 9:24 AM
Jack, whether anything is any good is entirely submerged in the branding that enables the Bas phenomenon, for example, to spiral out of control. It matters far less whether the pictures have esthetic merit than it does that a lot of people think so.
Kant said "don't count opinion, weigh it". When it comes to marketing it is quite the opposite.
9.
December 8, 2005, 10:03 AM
Yes, Oldpro. The evident lust for what's perceived as hot, regardless of actual quality, is a major driving force behind the feeding frenzy. Trouble is, given enough collectors like that with an annual art budget of up to $25M (if not more), the makers and purveyors of the negligible and unexceptional need only worry about marketing issues, not quality, because it obviously isn't about quality. It's about buzz, heat, status, image, investment potential, politics, whatever. Very disheartening, not to mention depressing.
10.
December 8, 2005, 10:16 AM
By "master," the ACA must mean "famous."
I'm all over Robert Colescott, though, in residence later that fall. He spoke at RISD and had a lot of good common sense to share.
11.
December 8, 2005, 11:43 AM
From the New York Observer article linked to above:
Still, the only dealers in attendance not smiling were those who’d been denied a berth among NADA’s 83 slots. “I would have made a killing there,” groused one rejected Wynwood gallery owner. “All you need is their stamp of approval for collectors to start throwing down.”
Well, I know I'm not part of the heat-chasing target audience in question, but if you want me to start throwing down, you'd better have a hell of a lot more going for you than a NADA booth.
12.
December 8, 2005, 1:11 PM
From the linked article previously cited:
London’s White Cube sold all five editions of Tracey Emin’s new The Last Century DVD for $104,000—each.
No comment is really needed; suffice it to say that if any of you took home one of these jewels, please, don't tell me. Ever.
13.
December 8, 2005, 3:01 PM
Be sure to eats lots of chicken and other assorted fowl and bring lots back for your bloggy buddies.
cheers.
14.
December 8, 2005, 4:52 PM
Happiness, health, and long life to you, Chicken. To all - thanks for the good wishes.
15.
December 9, 2005, 1:26 PM
Safe travels Franklin. Look forward to your posts from abroad. And thanks for all those posts during Basel.
1.
onesock
December 7, 2005, 10:36 AM
I am wishing you a safe and happy trip, my friend!!