curse & blessing, why?
For more than 6 years my pictures have been available digitally. My online presence also goes back many years – I took the first steps on my homepage as early as 1999. The first online gallery presence was in 2015 with SaatchiArt – there are now 7 digital online galleries worldwide. The latest is “the artling” – based in Singapore and Shanghai. Why am I listing this? Well, because it is a great success for me to be represented in the most well-known online galleries worldwide and to be able to offer and of course sell my work to a large circle of art lovers worldwide.
And this is where the dilema begins – the CURSE. Worldwide is quite large, i.e. the so-called “reach” is of course sensational, but at the same time there is also the wide field of “competition”. Even if it is not quite appropriate to speak of competition in the field of art, it is very easy for those interested in art to compare works. Where previously catalogs or publications had to be laboriously studied and combed through, or trade fairs and galleries had to be visited – often without price information – all information is now available with just a few clicks.
“Every man an artist” (J.B)
Everything is there, everything is visible, countless works that are available worldwide can be viewed (and thus also compared) with just a few clicks. Well, of course there can never be enough artists – “Everyone is an artist” (J.B) – is and will remain my motto, so where the blessing of countless creative people becomes visible here, the curse of the digital begins. The wide field of fine arts is simply huge.
The same applies to music, literature and all other trades. Digital Pandora’s box is open and will never be closed again. But what does that mean in concrete terms?
Well, as the last two Corona years have shown, a digital online presence is a must today. And those who are not available online will have a hard time in the future. This is now accompanied by the requirement for artists to delight the wide world of the digital with works. Show yourself and become comparable. A curse AND a blessing.
Curse and blessing
Precisely because this relatively new form of art presentation is still so young, it means for me to take this field of experimentation seriously. The outcome is uncertain because the process itself will probably never be completed. It remains exciting…
+++++++ QUOTE by Mery Ketch++++++++++++
“Artistic work cannot be compared to other work which is billed by the hour. I often see artist’s starting out charging by the hour, and I think this is a big mistake. It’s similar to when a non-artist asks, “How long did it take you to make this?” First of all, you’re a business and so your business costs are not only your time, but all the other costs involved in running a business, and so artists tend to undercharge.
And secondly, a lot of creating artwork is about experimenting and creating things that don’t make it out into the marketplace. In that regard, it is very similar to scientific research, but it is still part of the process, part of what I have to do to be an artist and put work out in the world that does sell. When someone asks me, “How long did it take to make this?” I take it as a sign that they just want to engage with me, but don’t know what other question to ask. So, I take it as a cue to start talking about my process, which is what I think they want to talk about anyway.”
Mary James Ketch Studio
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