The Factory

There is a joy in seeing someone with talent making a good living from things they produce with their own hands. I am also amazed when I see the guile of some that think their wares have a greater value than would be expected. This is kind of like the kid with a Kool Aid stand trying to sell a glass for $5. The philosophy is that all they need to sell is one and that way they won’t have to piddle around selling 100 glasses at 5 cents a piece. Local galleries have a lot of these high dollar artists that they try to sell. As I’ve said many times before, “so many artists, so little art.”

Actually I want this rant to go into a different direction and that is ‘Factory Art” which is when someone gets famous and starts a studio with a bunch of apprentices that end up doing all the work and the artists gets all the product recognition and the money. I’m talking about artists such as Andy Warhol, Jeff Koons and Dale Chihuly.

I compare their art with factory farms. They churn out crap for the masses leaving little for the personal intimate contact for which most art is intended.

I have a reasonable art collection in my house. Each piece has a story that authentically raises its value, at least to me. I pride my self on not having any corporate or factory art. I have even seen pieces that I liked, so I went out of my way to meet the artist. Once I found that I don’t like them as a person I no longer have any interest in buying their art.

Art is like anything else. I don’t support lumber yards I don’t like, so why would I support an artist I didn’t like?