What I want to know from those of you like Linda, Bert, Sara, Monica etc. is, do you feel then that there are absolutely no parameters or standards by which a work of art can be assessed beyond personal taste? Is all work somewhere in the range of good to great? Doesn't it make a difference how someone is putting it out there? I mean if you say, I'm just getting going and here is what I have done isn't there a completely different standard than someone who says they are putting out fine art?
Absolutely. There are very definite parameters. That's why I said that it is approprate for my work to be priced so much less than some other people's work (for now). And yours to be priced higher. I was trying to take the discussion away from Colleen and her work, because I know Colleen, but not her work, and I did not want to make it a discussion about one particular person's work. My comments stand - if the market will bear it, MAYBE it's worth it. If the maket won't, then the artist will adjust.
I'm not sure that you can classify work from "good to great", but I think you can classify from 'beginner to advanced', from 'rustic to sophisticated,' from 'crap to sublime.' You just have to remember the basic bell curve and that for each designation, the mean will be agreed upon by the majority and there will be fringes on either side who see things differently. (Is that the diffenece between a Business major and an Art major???)
Juried shows screen for the bell curve of the jury. A different jury will select a different body of work. But a dozen juries, will not be that different, because, in general, WE, the general public are not that different. Although occasionally we delude ourselves that we are. As in most aspects of life. a great majority of us will agree on a great majority of criteria... But being on the fringe does not make us wrong, it only makes us different. And for anyone looking to make a living from art/craft, the fringe may not be the place we are aiming. (Unless we know a certain wealthy fringe
.)
My point is not a point, but a series of considerations. Yes. Her work is certainly overpriced. That is told by the multiple offerings without bid. Is her work bad?? That is a different argument. I think it is probably uncritiqued. I know that being a participant on the Board exposed me to a level of work I would not have seen otherwise, exposes me to a community of artists, has gotten me off to classes I could not have taken here in my own area.
Is Cynthia's work good? I like it. What is it worth? I don't know, That depends on seeing it in person. The minimum price can be acheived by following one of those cost plus fomulas, but Cynthia has certain awards and acknowledgements from the community - that, to me, makes her glass worth more. How much more, I don't have the knowledge to say. A dealer or crictic could say. I'll just hoard my magless for the future
. But her work is worth more because it has won awards and been acknowledged... Just saying it's so only works for an unsophisticated audience.
If someone can sell for a price the 'sophicicated buyer/seller' feels is overpriced, then more power to them. Maybe someday the buyer will feel 'taken', maybe not. That's marketing. I feel that the market is getting more sophisticated as periodicals and museums, etc. pick up kiln worked glass, and that soon, educated buyers will know what they like and what is considered 'good'. Wealthy people who don't care about 'art' will continue to buy what they like, just as they always have. People who overprice their work will find out that is doesn't fly, or it will 'fly' because of marketing, and the rest of their cohorts will bitch and snipe (think Chihuly and the artistic community response as opposed to the media or art collector response...)
Sure, there's bad glass. Some of it is over-marketed and overpriced. Yes, there's good glass, some of it is practically given away and grossly underpriced. In this case, I don't know anything about the original artist's situation - whether she was an owner, affliate or supplier to Buyartisans or whether she had any input into the pricing or how much she stood to get if the piece sold.
Personally. I think that this kind of discussion is what we all need to better improve our work. Cynthia, I think your work is great. I like work that 'escapes' boundaries, and is thick and clean and has color balance. I have a college education, but only the minimum I could manage at the time in artistic appreciation. I don't know the 'right' or 'educated' answers. I know what I like. Poor work will get weeded by the market. My opinion is a middle market opinion. There is lots of 'artistic' stuff that I 'don't get'. There is lots of cutsey stuff that I 'don't get'.
I like things that are 'colored out of boundaries' I recently sent an e-mail to Sandpiper saying how much I liked her wave
(http://www.mwweb.com/sandpiper/) BECAUSE it broke the round/square boundary limits. I hope that things like this Board will keep discussion going about technique and what the artist's are thinking is good and bad and what other people think about our work. Without criticism and feedback, we won't grow.
Thanks for the evening thought pieces. Just think, I could be sleeping instead of thinking about what makes 'art'. It would make my mornings easier, but my pysche poorer
Linda
"Do not let your fire go out, spark by irreplaceable spark, in the hopeless swamps of the approximate, the not-quite, the not-yet, the not-at-all. ...The world you desired can be won. It exists, it is real, it is possible, it is yours." ~ Ayn Rand
