It’s very hard to survive as an artist without participating in capitalism and the marketing and selling of one’s work. Although it seems tainted, the art world system does sustain and support many artists – but at a certain cost. If your work is selling well, what happens when you change direction and start producing completely different work? What if you no longer want your art to take the form of objects at all??? For those artists at the top, changing styles of expression doesn’t’ matter so much – they have a certain carte blanche that comes with fame. But for most artists, getting into a gallery and selling work is a long and difficult path. In addition to creating the work – a full-time job, and costly in itself – one has to get out there and schmooze the critics, dealers and audience – which could be another full-time job.
Art is now another item of consumption, ever increasing in market value and often destined to be sold and resold at auction at much higher prices than the original object was sold for…generating collectors who invest in art for its potential resale value. Sadly, the market consumes everything, high-minded or base. How to cope with this unfortunate trend?
