What's it like to be an artist
trying to make it?
Historically, the art world marketplace
can be a very tough club to get into.
What does that mean, and how
will the internet play a role?
Galleries, museums and the media control what
the viewer sees. The internet is going to change all that.
How quickly will these changes
take place? What's happening?
---The art world has been slow to warm to
technology, although I think more and more, even dealers, critics,
and artists realize that they can't afford to ignore it. As a
result a lot of what we've been exposed to on the internet in
the way of art is technology driven, by the artists drawn to
what computers can do. That's great, but the aesthetic is narrow,
and generally does not reflect art world sensibilities. I think
that will change. It has to and there is no reason why it shouldn't.
And what will this mean to
the average artist?
-----the internet gives artists a chance to
have more control over their own destiny. They can make their
work available to a global audience. This is a revolution.
What are some of the reasons
this revolution is possible?
-----the very nature of art is interactivity.
-----especially art of the twentieth century.
-----the viewer has more and more power to determine the experience
and meaning of art.
-----when we look at the Mona Lisa the ambiguity is for the most
part in the smile.
-----for the last hundred years ambiguity has been the bottom
line in art. it has meant freedom and possibility. From Picasso
to DeKooning to Kiki Smith we have art that invites us to decide
the outcome of the work. This is something that the art world
has failed to get across to the public. This has been a century
of art for the masses, but the masses rejected it because the
people handling it were the elitists. That is going to change
because of the internet. the interactivity of the internet is
ideal. as the technology improves this marriage is only going
to get better. Dealers, critics, curators are scrambling to figure
out just what this all is going to mean, just what's going to
happen, and how they can make it work for them instead of against
them. But lets face it, this is a revolution, and like all revolutions,
it's going to get ugly for some people, and those people are
the one's who have been in charge. the art world has been awful
to artists, all artists, and when the heads role, well, there
will be a lot of cheering.
What does it matter to you?
This business of artist recognition...
It's just part of the process. It takes two
to tango...
What is the purpose of your
internet site, Artdeal?
I try to offer a perspective that will make
artists feel better about what they are doing.They are alone,
but I want to offer them a way to accept, and revel in what they
are doing. I try to talk about the art experience from the inside
out. To celebrate what they feel they are up to. I think the
internet has already healed some of the alienation and isolation
that so many artists suffer. I get email that testifies to this
daily. This is all only going to get better.
Addison Parks/Artdeal, 1999
Or hear the interview that
prompted this one with Real Audio:
Interviewed by John Rody on
KRLD Radio's THE INTERNET
REPORT(9/6/98)(listen
in!)
or read
the feedback page
