Frustrated Artists - the plight of the 2.0 artist
I have been hearing from the grapevine (the blogosphere) that there are some frustrated artists out there. Artists, wanting a place where artists could unite together and display their work all in one place. I know that there are services out there that do this. But no one site has really pulled together a conglomerate effort that has befriended the artists themselves in such a way as to make it all possible. I am not sure that there is a definitive answer to this. No one thing seems to really work for everyone.
If it is run by one individual, expenses need to be covered such as web hosting and domain renewals (unless it is done on a free host such as wordpress.com or Blogger). Even then there is not any reimbursement for the person doing all the work. Uploading tons of pictures each day to a site can take a lot of time and energy. And then if you don’t have the traffic to really draw people to your work…
As an artist, blogging your own work is hard to do and build successful traffic. Your time becomes divided between writing and doing art. It’s hard to make that kind of thing successful because in reality it means being successful on two fronts and truth be told, most of us have to supplement our passions with gainful (meaning actual monetary gains) employment too. We live in the 2.0 digital era where publishing is instantaneous and everyone is heard, or are we? There can be a cacophony of voices where no one person is seemingly heard. Too much of a good thing. Great, we live in the era where I can click “publish post” and instantaneously my art can be seen…. but, is anyone looking?
So my discussion questions that I would like to spend some time on are these.
What works as an artist today? How can we market ourselves more effectively? What ways work best? Is it a blog? Another site that shows your work? Doing physical shows where you set up your artwork? And if the answer only is 42, what if it doesn’t add up? How do we balance marketing with creation? Should we even focus on the market? Or does the mere fact that we pay attention to the market rob us of our creative juices?
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POSTED IN: Brain Shavings
6 opinions for Frustrated Artists - the plight of the 2.0 artist
casey
Feb 7, 2007 at 5:34 pm
What works? I was hoping you would tell me!
The former paradigm for success was to be critiqued in the newspaper, and represented by a gallery/dealer with patrons in his pocket.
Let’s see…critics don’t seem to be that many of them anymore. Newspaper…what’s that? Gallery: in trouble due to self representation, volatility of the market. Patrons, those are still out there, big time.
Well, I guess that’s all good news, then. My own opinion is be original, and have an original marketing thread for that side of the “house”.
Rebecca Lehman
Feb 8, 2007 at 10:36 am
Nice reference to Douglas Adams! Any who. . . .I’ve never been one to advertise my art. Mostly I just tell all my friends and family, “Hey! Look what I did!” Also I think I’m too possessive of my art to actually sell it. I’d be more likely to just give it away! So I guess I’m more of the opinion that if I try to do too much publicity, then it takes some of the fun out of creating. Suddenly, instead of simply drawing because I enjoy it, I start thinking, “what can I draw that other people will want to see?” It becomes less personal. I create something, I like it, I might let the world know about it. As for the best outlet to let the world see my endevours? No idea. I imagine it is a mix of everything. But if you are looking for monetary gain, I doubt the internet is really the best place, short of putting your art on a site specifically designed to sell art. When people invest in art, they are looking to deal with people who know what they are doing. Art in any form is usually expensive, (depending on the artist.) Personally, if I was looking to buy art, I’d go to an auction of some sort, be it online or in person. If I’m simply wanting to look at art, the internet would definitely be my place to look, but usually not with the intent to buy. And even then I would probably bee so overwhelmed with all the different galleries that I would probably only visit a few sites. I guess it depends on the audience you want to reach. Local, or global? As for whether people will actually see your art? Well it isn’t that different now then before the blog scene, or even before the internet. How likely were people living in the United States in the late 1800’s likely to see artists work over in France? No, even then artist’s had to put forth money out of pocket in order to travel and reach a broader, but limited number of people. So how different is it today being so overwhelmed with info that we really don’t reach that broad of an audience? So I say, skip the publicity all together! Create art for the simple enjoyment of it! Make your blog if you must, showcase your art on different sites and local stores simply to say, “Hey! Look what I can do!” Except for artists blessed with wealthy benefactors, or an inate genius on plublicity, the starving artist will always be starving! That’s the way I like it!
William Lehman
Feb 8, 2007 at 10:41 am
LOL… that’s my wife!
Derek Andrews
Feb 9, 2007 at 4:39 am
Getting back to your original thought about web2.0 for artists, I think the problem is that they build communities soley for artists. Collectors can come and look, but unless they get really involved, they won’t ever become a part of the community. What is really needed is one big community, with seperate spaces and identities for artists AND collectors.
The collectors are the hard part of the equation. The site would need to offer them something they can’t get elsewhere. Do they want a place where they can come and chat amongst themselves, ask questions, make recommendations and, most importantly, talk enthusiastically about their latest art find.
Glenn Badham
Mar 30, 2007 at 6:40 am
As a practising painter for thirteen years I have become acutely aware of the need for a great looking and functioning online presence to represent what I create. I want something that is clean, simple to use and where my work can breathe and be appreciated but above all be found. Due to a lack of any professional looking or good functioning sites offering a democratic entry system I have co-founded a company called Doors Opening (www.doorsopening.net) with en expert web-developer where people can get their work and portfolio details online easily, quickly and are able to update this information as often as they like themselves. We have built in all the features to help our members collaborate, communicate and tell the world about upcoming events and in addition to this we promote our members to industry insiders and help get them found. Doors Opening does not sell work but aims to bring the emerging talent before the people who need it to survive and then let the professionals do that selling. In short kudos and association count and as an artist I know first impressions last. There is a small cost of course, a yearly membership fee of £35 which helps our small team keep pushing our brand and helping our members get found. We do not get tied down trying to market each individual member but push the collective as a brand and then make it easy to be found within the site. This allows me the time to make my own work while letting others know about what I do and am doing for other creatives. I believe from our successes and the feedback we are getting from Doors Opening members that this clean and simple product will rapidly become the answer for many, but obviously not all. What indelible memory does your online presence leave? I intend to make it the right one for me and my Doors Opening members?
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Mar 30, 2007 at 9:13 am
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