Sunday, November 28, 2010

Contradictions: Appropriation Vipers are Easy to Spot

Contradictions: Appropriation Vipers are Easy to Spot

I’ve been involved with a debate on critic Alan Bamberger’s Facebook Wall about the challenges some people have while visiting artist websites. Today I decided to catch up on the conversation and I noticed that New York based artist Joy Garnett offered her two cents on the topic. Garnett stated, “It's also important to allow people to grab jpegs of your work with ease - as opposed to preventing it - so they can easily post and distribute them…”. Garnett’s advice caused me to laugh because her history-- and what she has supported in the face of copyright and the rights of the majority of artists-- speaks for itself.

Wednesday, November 24, 2010

Brian Sherwin’s Thoughts Concerning Media Hyped Art

Brian Sherwin’s Thoughts Concerning Media Hyped Art
 
The media hype surrounding a work of art can be fascinating up until the point that fad becomes the status quo. I think with the art world today we see a lot of art that is only respected because of a landslide of press-- both legitimate and financially spurred. Warrant enough buzz and any news story is worth being in awe over, true? In that sense, the media-- specifically online media-- attempts to define what the public views as being of worth. Who are we to question the masses if Yahoo! News tells us that gold dust on vomit, titled ’Sprinkling of Fate’, is the most influential artwork of the year because the work conveys the losses endured in Iraq? I for one question it.


Friday, November 19, 2010

Update: Brian Sherwin Writing for FineArtViews

Update: Brian Sherwin Writing for FineArtViews

I’m pleased to announce that I’m officially a regular contributing writer for FineArtViews (FAV). FineArtViews is a free daily e-newsletter that focuses on art marketing, general art advice, and other art related information. FAV is known for having great art content that can be helpful to artists, art collectors, and gallery owners-- or anyone else interested in art.

FAV is maintained by Clint Watson-- a former gallery owner who is the driving force behind FineArtStudioOnline (FASO). FASO is a website creation tool that allows artists to create their own website in minutes. In other words, FASO artist websites make the tech side of art marketing easier for artists to manage so that they can focus more time on creating art instead of being bogged down by technicalities, so to speak. As for FineArtViews, Clint has done a great job of gathering contributors who are experts in art marketing online, aspects of e-Commerce, and gaining exposure for artwork online. I’m excited to be included in the team.

My most recent contribution to FineArtViews, titled Copyright Registration: Protecting Yourself as Well as Your Collectors, deals with the importance of copyright registration. I firmly believe that copyright registration protects artists as well as their art collectors. Excerpt below:

“The issue of copyright registration is always a hot topic among artists. Copyright registration can be an important aspect of marketing your art. The protection offered by copyright law is one of the best ways to secure the future growth of your art business. Copyright registration provides a strong foundation for future sales via means of prints and other merchandise-- and protects your creative investments if issues over who owns your images arise. Not only does copyright registration protect you-- it also protects art collectors who have invested in your artwork. It is something that all selling artists should do-- but I’m fully aware that most artists don’t.” -- Brian Sherwin

To read the article visit the FineArtViews blog. Be sure to subscribe to the FAV newsletter!

Take care, Stay true,

Brian Sherwin

Wednesday, November 17, 2010

When the Art World kills You: Some thoughts on Dash Snow

When the Art World kills You: Some thoughts on Dash Snow

I had an interesting conversation recently about the idea of artists creating a persona in order to advance themselves as far as public interest is concerned. During the debate it was suggested that gallery owners and curators help to establish-- or focus upon-- specific traits that will warrant press and all the fame that comes with it-- and that perhaps artists get trapped in that persona. The artist Dash Snow-- who died in 2009 at the age of 27-- instantly came to mind. It forced me to wonder if aspects of the gritty side of the mainstream art world played a role in Snow’s death.

Sunday, November 14, 2010

Things Artists do That Annoy Me: Begging OR the Guilt Game-- Followed by Anger

Things Artists do That Annoy Me: Begging OR the Guilt Game-- Followed by Anger 

One of the most annoying aspects of being a humble art writer is that one is often faced with artists who can’t take a kindly “No” for what it is worth. Artists who beg for coverage-- even more so if they turn their petty begging into a Guilt Game against me-- happens to be one of the unfortunate obstacles an art writer faces if it is known that he or she has a following. I say obstacle because I don’t really enjoy turning artists away-- but sometimes I must in order to uphold my integrity and the integrity of every artist and art professional who has offered their time to me.

If I was all-inclusive my writing-- specifically the interviews-- would have never been as successful as they have been. Needless to say, I’ve upset my fair share of hopeful artists during my years writing for Myartspace.com and other art related companies and magazines. Sometimes those artists get trapped by their anger. Thus, I felt it important to discuss this aspect of my experience so that hopefully more artists will think before reacting.

Saturday, November 13, 2010

Things Artists do That Annoy Me: The Sex Game

Things Artists do That Annoy Me: The Sex Game

I’ve decided to post about another annoyance I sometimes face with artists-- that being what I like to call the Sex Game. The Sex Game tends to be played by artists who are desperate for exposure-- so desperate that they will throw sexual advances towards a humble art writer such as myself. The Sex Game takes different forms-- but the intentions are always the same.

The idea behind the Sex Game is simple enough, ‘If I offer him this, that, or THIS he will write about my art.’. WRONG. I won’t-- in fact, petty sexual advances have turned me away from writing about some very talented artists in the past. Said advances reek of insecurity and general low self-esteem-- which does not make a good impression as far as I’m concerned. Get a tougher skin or at least use protection if that is how you are going to promote your art!

Monday, November 8, 2010

Art Marketing News: FASO Launches Enhanced Analytics

Art Marketing News: FASO Launches Enhanced Analytics

FASO recently launched enhanced analytics for FASO artist websites. Artists who use FASO’s service can utilize the enhanced analytics feature in order to keep track of the number of visitors to their FASO supported website and observe a graph of that traffic over time. Furthermore, artists can get detailed information about traffic from other websites, know what pages on their FASO artist website is the most popular, and know what keywords people are using on search engines that result in discovering their website. The features can help you with your online art marketing strategy.