It’s curious. The punters will go to a huge arean and pay $100 dollars to watch someone lipsynch a cd on a big repeater screen but wont turn up to their local hall to listen to real live musicians.
I think art galleries are a little different, watching the punters at the art gallery in town. Mostly cashed up bored tourists. They seemto be looking for something to match their curtains. Its decore rather than art that sells. The serious artists, who put blood, sweat and tears into their work don’t sell while the glib and the mannered walks out the door.
I think more and more that for the serious artist it has to be about the process with the final product as a kinda by-product.
If you go to serious writers workshops (rather than the tea and knitting sort) you bo barded with info about ‘what sells’ and how to write it. The result is that everyone is writing like each other in a horrid homogenity. There are exceptions of course. I used to read the slushpile for The EJ Brady SS competition and you could tell which writers had been to which workshops.
I think us artists have to have fun together and create greatness and include the punters where appropriate but do it for ourselves.
You can always eat froute.
Skullthorpe's Blog 