Shouldn’t Art have a Platform?
Posted in BLATHER & DRIVEL on 09/28/2012 06:50 pm by admin
Last night, I was fortunate enough to be joined by my friend and colleague, Susan Bush, for the vernissage for ArtPlatform. It was held at the historic, somewhat funky Barker Hangar at the Santa Monica airport. Parking remains problematic, but the organizers put together the best art fair I’ve seen in Los Angeles. Period. The wall height, the quality of lighting, the layout of the booths, the vetting of dealers for quality all left an unmistakably positive impression.
Were there any collectors there? There were. I knew a number of very substantial people there. Will it work? Will LA finally become a national collecting hub? Tune in next time…
In the meantime, check out this image that Susan took of me in the booth for Bitforms Gallery in New York. The software fixed on my gaze and made my eyes smoke. (Insert “Smoke Gets in Your Eyes” reference here.) It rated very highly on what I call “the neato factor.” My colleague Nathan Vonk really responds to “the neato factor,” where I don’t so much. Nonetheless, “the neato factor” (read: some gimmicky idea in material, process, or technology) is an important draw in the contemporary art world, where it creates both product differentiation AND some facsimile of inspiration for people’s imaginations. What do you think? If seeing an art work makes you say, “Wow, cool,” does the feeling last? Is it worth chasing? Check out the new fair and see how much work strikes you as “neato.”
10/06/2012 at 2:34 PM
Much of the work was indeed, neato. Some of the neato, wow-factor feelings stick–but that a is rare treat. That being said, I don’t think I would personally collect art based on the neato factor. I think that the contemporary art scene does a lot for conversation and theory making because of its coolness, which is cool.
I really enjoyed the art fair; I liked the energy.
This post is coming to an end because I am too caffeinated and can no longer process thoughts. EEeeeeks.