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Economics 101
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Economics 101
January 27, 2009
A number of artists have been asking about the current economic downturn. More than anything, they want to know what's going to happen to us creative spirits. While I'm no economist, there's evidence of a hard truth.
Art follows money.
While art still gets made in an economic downturn, the commercial acceptance of art is neither consistent nor predictable. At the present time, the indulgences of the past decades where easy money chased anything slightly artistic have suddenly reversed.
I'm laptopping you from the economic miracle called Singapore. This city-state of skyscrapers and tree-lined boulevards is also suffering. Government workers are accepting wage reductions of 12 to 20 percent just to keep their jobs, and city fathers are looking over the horizon to find the next infusion of capital.
Yesterday I visited a factory where piece-workers hunch over grindstones cutting chips of jade and other semi-precious stones. Other workers skillfully place the stones onto composite dioramas depicting landscapes, birds, animals and historic deities. The factory shop is long on product and short on customers. Downcast salespeople stand idly by, puffing on thin Malaysian cigarettes.
In our current environment, potential customers are easily
more critical of art.
Throughout history, the production of art has followed wealth and leisure. Great civilizations--Egyptian, Sumerian, Greek, Roman and, yes, the American Empire--have been built on it. Other yet-to-be-heard-from civilizations will follow.
To get an idea of when we are coming out of our current setback, you need to look next door to see when that young family thinks they have enough left over to buy season hockey tickets. A healthy, well-regulated economy is the key. When the general population is well fed and well entertained once more, there will once again be enough for art. In the meantime, like for those workers in the Singapore factory, it's important to keep busy.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason." (Ayn Rand)
Esoterica: Based on experience in previous recessions, three strategies are available: (1) Maintain your prices--increasingly prove the investment value of your work and honour those customers who have invested in you in the past. (2) Continue to make first-rate work. In recessions, the bottom end can fall out completely. If anything, aim to improve quality and try to produce more important and challenging work. There will always be collectors of quality work. (3) If you can afford it, grab any opportunities to improve.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current clickback: Compositional keys contains illustrated reader-tips and live comments on the art of composition.
Read this letter online. And please comment or give your own ideas about the current economic downturn. Illustratable comments relating to this letter can also be made at rgenn@saraphina.com. We look after the illustrating by going and finding your work online or using what you send to us.
Facebook: Michelle Moore, 20, who manages our free links, thought my face would be okay for Facebook. She put the letter there too. Please go here.
Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus on opportunities! A Premium Art Listing in the Painter's Keys Art Directory is the most effective thing an artist can do to be tastefully and respectably noticed. This listing--really a mini web page--costs $100 per year and we do all the set-up. Find out how well it might work for you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website.
A number of artists have been asking about the current economic downturn. More than anything, they want to know what's going to happen to us creative spirits. While I'm no economist, there's evidence of a hard truth.
Art follows money.
While art still gets made in an economic downturn, the commercial acceptance of art is neither consistent nor predictable. At the present time, the indulgences of the past decades where easy money chased anything slightly artistic have suddenly reversed.
I'm laptopping you from the economic miracle called Singapore. This city-state of skyscrapers and tree-lined boulevards is also suffering. Government workers are accepting wage reductions of 12 to 20 percent just to keep their jobs, and city fathers are looking over the horizon to find the next infusion of capital.
Yesterday I visited a factory where piece-workers hunch over grindstones cutting chips of jade and other semi-precious stones. Other workers skillfully place the stones onto composite dioramas depicting landscapes, birds, animals and historic deities. The factory shop is long on product and short on customers. Downcast salespeople stand idly by, puffing on thin Malaysian cigarettes.
In our current environment, potential customers are easily
more critical of art.
Throughout history, the production of art has followed wealth and leisure. Great civilizations--Egyptian, Sumerian, Greek, Roman and, yes, the American Empire--have been built on it. Other yet-to-be-heard-from civilizations will follow.
To get an idea of when we are coming out of our current setback, you need to look next door to see when that young family thinks they have enough left over to buy season hockey tickets. A healthy, well-regulated economy is the key. When the general population is well fed and well entertained once more, there will once again be enough for art. In the meantime, like for those workers in the Singapore factory, it's important to keep busy.
Best regards,
Robert
PS: "Money demands that you sell, not your weakness to men's stupidity, but your talent to their reason." (Ayn Rand)
Esoterica: Based on experience in previous recessions, three strategies are available: (1) Maintain your prices--increasingly prove the investment value of your work and honour those customers who have invested in you in the past. (2) Continue to make first-rate work. In recessions, the bottom end can fall out completely. If anything, aim to improve quality and try to produce more important and challenging work. There will always be collectors of quality work. (3) If you can afford it, grab any opportunities to improve.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Current clickback: Compositional keys contains illustrated reader-tips and live comments on the art of composition.
Read this letter online. And please comment or give your own ideas about the current economic downturn. Illustratable comments relating to this letter can also be made at rgenn@saraphina.com. We look after the illustrating by going and finding your work online or using what you send to us.
Facebook: Michelle Moore, 20, who manages our free links, thought my face would be okay for Facebook. She put the letter there too. Please go here.
Featured Responses: Alternative to the instant Live Comments, Featured Responses are illustrated and edited for content. If you would like to submit your own for possible inclusion, please do so. Just click 'reply' on this letter or write to rgenn@saraphina.com.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Focus on opportunities! A Premium Art Listing in the Painter's Keys Art Directory is the most effective thing an artist can do to be tastefully and respectably noticed. This listing--really a mini web page--costs $100 per year and we do all the set-up. Find out how well it might work for you.
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Yes, please go ahead and forward this letter to a friend. This does not mean that they will automatically be subscribed to the Twice-Weekly Letter. They have to do it voluntarily and can find out about it by going to The Painter's Keys website.
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