Post by Pablicious Pessoa on Aug 25, 2007 9:24:09 GMT -5
I came to Second Life not really knowing that there was a thriving art community here. When I found out, I was very excited, got caught up in that excitement and built my own art gallery. It has been an amazing time and the feedback I've received from people has been very good.
However, now that I have been in SL for several months, some issues keep popping up which has me sorely disappointed. First off, I don't get how 90% of you out there can charge more than $100L for your art. The concept of limited editions and originals is just plain stupid and it is a cheesy way for you people to try and rob other people of money for a texture on a prim.
A limited edition in the real world is a way of offering a limited number of prints based on the medium by which it was printed on. In Second Life, there is no printed medium. So how can so many of you be charging $1000L + for a texture on a prim and call it limited edition?
The same goes for "originals." Come on people, this is the DIGITAL world. The concept of originals in SL is completely ridiculous. Even if you are a painter, you digitized your work, converted it to a graphic file and that graphic file can be reproduced ad infinitum. So why are you playing on people's ignorant and inane obsession with owning "unique" items? Sure, your RL painting is a one and only item, but that damn texture you're trying to sell for $2000L is not.
On the web, I have never ever come across an artist web site who was trying to pass off reproductions of their work as originals. So why do it here in SL? But then again, I guess if people buy it, why not? I just expected better integrity from artists who might want to try and do something different in Second Life and not repeat the same bullshit patterns of the real world.
I sell my art for $99L. It is copyable/transferable and I took the time to write a script to allow the owner to resize the piece. My art has utility and is cheap. Most art that is sold for stupid high prices don't even come with any functionality. Like I said, nothing more than a texture on a prim. In the very near future, I will be giving away my art for free. I am a true artist. I create for my own personal expression. Whether or not it sells (and it does) is no longer important to me. I just want people to be able to come and (hopefully) enjoy my work and take some if they want it.
SO HOW CAN YOU ALL JUSTIFY YOUR HIGH PRICES?!?!?!?
I am also sick of artists who A. take themselves too seriously and B. claim that they are the best or whatever nonsense they want to spew out about how great they are. Why can't people just post a notice explaining what their work is about? I do not care about you, the artist. I only care about your work. If your work appeals to me, then maybe I might give a shit about you. But, I certainly don't want to hear about whether or not you are a RL artist in SL (trust me, 90% of us are so it anit unique!) or what school you graduated from or what organization or magazine likes to kiss your ass in the real world.
This also goes for the stupid art contests. Do we really need a "best artist of SL 2007" or whatever lame awards that people think they need to give out? I thought art was a personal journey, one of self exploration and self expression. If that is so, why would anyone want their art to be compared to others? I would think that to those who take their art seriously (not themselves), a contest is like a slap in the face at everything they do and think. I do not think most people become artists in order to compete so why do people force us into competition??!?!? Is that how I am to find more recognition in this world? To beat everyone else over the head with my art?
Only in the visual art world do we have this kind of elitism. I hang out with DJs and musicians in SL and NONE of them talk about who is better than who or how great they are. They play their music and people enjoy it (or not). It is so much more laid back than this Art & Artists community where I am pummeled on a daily basis with mostly self-centered notices and contests. I go to gallery after gallery and you're all like lemmings charging outrageous fees for your art. It has gotten to the point where notices have become trivial and I just don't care anymore. Why do I want to go to another gallery where the owner has some crack-pot idea in the back of their head that they are going to get rich in SL through their art? Why do I want to support that greediness? Why would I even want to consort with those kinds of people?
WHERE ARE THE REAL UNDERGROUND ARTISTS?!?!?!?
There...I'm done. We are not allowed to discuss anything with each other in Second Life because of the analness of most people in this group concerning IMs. This web site hardly gets visited so not many people will read this. But I hope I do reach some of you out there who understand where I'm coming from. I was naive and thought SL would be some kind of artists Utopian dream but what I've found is the same old art elitism that pervades the real world so completely and it has been the most disheartening thing about Second Life to date.
PS: I am specifically talking about the kind of visual art that can be hung on a wall like paintings, digital art, or photography. I am not attacking sculpture artists or other people who make other types of art.
However, now that I have been in SL for several months, some issues keep popping up which has me sorely disappointed. First off, I don't get how 90% of you out there can charge more than $100L for your art. The concept of limited editions and originals is just plain stupid and it is a cheesy way for you people to try and rob other people of money for a texture on a prim.
A limited edition in the real world is a way of offering a limited number of prints based on the medium by which it was printed on. In Second Life, there is no printed medium. So how can so many of you be charging $1000L + for a texture on a prim and call it limited edition?
The same goes for "originals." Come on people, this is the DIGITAL world. The concept of originals in SL is completely ridiculous. Even if you are a painter, you digitized your work, converted it to a graphic file and that graphic file can be reproduced ad infinitum. So why are you playing on people's ignorant and inane obsession with owning "unique" items? Sure, your RL painting is a one and only item, but that damn texture you're trying to sell for $2000L is not.
On the web, I have never ever come across an artist web site who was trying to pass off reproductions of their work as originals. So why do it here in SL? But then again, I guess if people buy it, why not? I just expected better integrity from artists who might want to try and do something different in Second Life and not repeat the same bullshit patterns of the real world.
I sell my art for $99L. It is copyable/transferable and I took the time to write a script to allow the owner to resize the piece. My art has utility and is cheap. Most art that is sold for stupid high prices don't even come with any functionality. Like I said, nothing more than a texture on a prim. In the very near future, I will be giving away my art for free. I am a true artist. I create for my own personal expression. Whether or not it sells (and it does) is no longer important to me. I just want people to be able to come and (hopefully) enjoy my work and take some if they want it.
SO HOW CAN YOU ALL JUSTIFY YOUR HIGH PRICES?!?!?!?
I am also sick of artists who A. take themselves too seriously and B. claim that they are the best or whatever nonsense they want to spew out about how great they are. Why can't people just post a notice explaining what their work is about? I do not care about you, the artist. I only care about your work. If your work appeals to me, then maybe I might give a shit about you. But, I certainly don't want to hear about whether or not you are a RL artist in SL (trust me, 90% of us are so it anit unique!) or what school you graduated from or what organization or magazine likes to kiss your ass in the real world.
This also goes for the stupid art contests. Do we really need a "best artist of SL 2007" or whatever lame awards that people think they need to give out? I thought art was a personal journey, one of self exploration and self expression. If that is so, why would anyone want their art to be compared to others? I would think that to those who take their art seriously (not themselves), a contest is like a slap in the face at everything they do and think. I do not think most people become artists in order to compete so why do people force us into competition??!?!? Is that how I am to find more recognition in this world? To beat everyone else over the head with my art?
Only in the visual art world do we have this kind of elitism. I hang out with DJs and musicians in SL and NONE of them talk about who is better than who or how great they are. They play their music and people enjoy it (or not). It is so much more laid back than this Art & Artists community where I am pummeled on a daily basis with mostly self-centered notices and contests. I go to gallery after gallery and you're all like lemmings charging outrageous fees for your art. It has gotten to the point where notices have become trivial and I just don't care anymore. Why do I want to go to another gallery where the owner has some crack-pot idea in the back of their head that they are going to get rich in SL through their art? Why do I want to support that greediness? Why would I even want to consort with those kinds of people?
WHERE ARE THE REAL UNDERGROUND ARTISTS?!?!?!?
There...I'm done. We are not allowed to discuss anything with each other in Second Life because of the analness of most people in this group concerning IMs. This web site hardly gets visited so not many people will read this. But I hope I do reach some of you out there who understand where I'm coming from. I was naive and thought SL would be some kind of artists Utopian dream but what I've found is the same old art elitism that pervades the real world so completely and it has been the most disheartening thing about Second Life to date.
PS: I am specifically talking about the kind of visual art that can be hung on a wall like paintings, digital art, or photography. I am not attacking sculpture artists or other people who make other types of art.
