October 2, 2010
NYC
Elevation: 80m
At last, September is finally behind us. 30 days pass us by in a flurry of art openings and art related ventures, a very important one too, the inaugural Baang and Burne private art event. Before we get to the debrief of Jane Zweibel’s Stitched Identities, I wanted to talk about two particular art events that we attended.
One Thursday night, Kesha and I went to a gallery opening in Chelsea. There were a few celebrities in attendance, a few legends, and of course the artist. At this particular opening, everyone only talks to the people that they came with. Something about the way its set up makes it hard to mingle and meet people. The one sheet for the prices of the work is only available at the counter so you have to walk across the gallery in order to know what you would have to pay in order to be the proud owner of said art work. The work itself is not of my taste but I kinda have this feeling that no one is really there for the art anyways. At 8 o’clock sharp the wine is put away and now the gallerias try to get people to leave politely. All in all, it was a typical opening. You didn’t get to talk to the artist at all because she was occupied by the celebrities present.
The following night, Kesha and I went to the reception at Philip de Pury’s Latin America auction. Free alcohol naturally ( art + booze, one doesn’t seem to exist without the other, in creation or in sale and presentation) and there are a lot of really amazing works hung through out the auction house that are up for sale in auction the following Monday. There is something different about this auction reception. We talked to people. We talked to people we didn’t know. These people were happy to talk to us as well. The overall vibe was a lot more relaxed and no one seemed as guarded as the crowd at the opening previous night.
At dinner, Kesha and I tried to break down what it is that made the reception at Philip de Pury’s a much more pleasurable experience than the typical opening that we had attended the night prior. Commonalities of both events: art on the wall and free alcohol. Major noticeable difference, at Philip de Pury’s the estimated bid price for each piece of art is next to the work, right there on the wall. Kesha really enjoyed seeing the estimated bid price for each work and we both believe that contributed to the difference in experience.
Why you wonder? Well, here is my hypothesis. Once the price for the said object is clearly displayed, something as ephemeral and subjective as art becomes tangible. Even if you do not like the said art work, you now have the option to have a different discussion about it. You can say, “well its not worth X dollars to me,” instead of “I don’t like it.” “I don’t like it” often feels like it needs to backed up with some sort of academic analysis. Where as when the art becomes an object, we know how to deal with it better. It takes the pressure off somehow.
Galleries are in the business of selling art. Why then do they make it challenging to know the asking price for any said work? Why in most galleries, the prices are never listed next to the work, instead it’s listed on a one sheet somewhere where you must trek across the gallery in order to find? Perhaps its time to make art available to all, easy to buy and easy to talk about. The current model is not working, so how can we redefine it and rework it?
