Artsy is Missing Out

Just ran across an article in Forbes Magazine that has me thinking, steaming and wanting to reach out to Carter Cleveland at Artsy to say, "Hey dude, you're missing out!"

Beautiful Monster, Mixed Media. (c) SZing 2011

Artsy does not accept portfolios or have any interest (at least at this point) in the "individual artist."  While I admit that Artsy has some pretty nice features and is making headway in it's depiction of artwork, I have to say that they are FAR AWAY from their self-proclamation of being "the Amazon" of the art world.  Since they have no current interest in cataloguing or posting the artwork of artists that are not currently represented by selling art galleries they are missing out on an ENORMOUS collection of artworks not only throughout the USA but across the globe.

If all they show is the work that is always shown, if all they know are the artists that are already known, then they are missing out.  The vast majority of active artists are not represented by selling art galleries.  That does not mean that they are not artists.  Many artists are selling in a wider variety of venues and many show their artwork in museum type galleries.  To confine the "art world" to the "art gallery artist" certainly does not impress me.  Nor does it make Artsy's "artistic genome" project remotely near a success since many of the grass root genes are missing in action.

Standing Against the Crowd, Mixed Media (c) SZing 2011

The site has a fairly limited number of artworks by different artists.  And no way to filter by the artists except by using the "search" mode.  The top way it offers a search is by categorizing the price of the artwork. Hmmm.  Me thinks they are soooo missing out on the real picture.  Uh, Mr. Cleveland, let me just say the cost of a piece of art does not mean it is art nor even good art.  And the cost of the art doesn't preclude a piece from being art.  I have seen thousands of examples of artworks that cost absolutely nothing and the artists do them just because they desire that form of self expression.  Many artists give away their artworks to others (check out the Abandoned Art Group on Face Book for example! or the number of artist trading card sites that exist).  The commercial value of a piece does not make an artwork an artwork.  Each piece of art has its own intrinsic value.

I May Be Old, But I'm Still Useful, Found Objects Sculpture
(c) SZing, 2011 (Please not the NFS on the sign.  This was not for sale!!! I
made it for myself and hung it at my own home because I loved it.)

If Artsy.net really wanted to make an art genome or become the Amazon of art, they would open their doors to catalogue and display any and all art offered.

I find it disturbing that this art site and their ilk believe that they have captured the "essence" of the art world while skipping over the true essence of the art world.  The gems that they are missing are the (gack--I'm sooo tired of him) Damien Hirst's, the Pablo Picasso's,  Frieda Kahlo's, and even the Banksy's of tomorrow. But because so many artists are not "represented by a gallery" they are overlooked.  The "underground" (aka, the unrepresented artists) art world is certainly exploding and I have to hope that there are art galleries and collectors who are seeking the emerging or unsung artists to round out their known artist collection.

There is so much work out there that is not represented, but the truth is that it is representative of what is truly shaping the art world.  I find it ironic that Banksy and other artists who are currently considered tops in the world began as outsider artists and certainly were pooh-poohed by the "art world."  By the "art world" what I mean is the snooty, small minded art snobs who disregard the creative works of hundreds of thousands is not millions of artists world wide...all because their work isn't selling in the $$$ range. Did they forget that isn't what art is about? Perhaps they need to expand their vision and their definition of art and what is a successful artist?

Pieces Parts, Mixed Media Sculpture (c) SZing 2011

An art genome missing 3/4th of its genome is hardly worth the bother.  And an Art Amazon only for the very wealthy doesn't really capture the art for the masses.

The Blue Print

Not to get too metaphysical, but wouldn’t it just be a delight to be able to see not just your tiny corner of the “cosmic blue print” but to see the entire plan—structural integrity, engineering specifications, how everything interlocks and plays upon everything else and how each event or action is interdependent?  Well, okay, I’m taking a leap of faith here and assuming that…it actually is all interrelated and interactive.  I fully accept that I may be wrong.

© Cyrus Hall, used for educational purposes

How Do you Know What Direction to Take Next?

The difficulty of only seeing the tiny corner of the enormous blue print is that there are times when the activities of the day seem too confusing.  In short, you’re stuck.  The words won’t come.  There’s no artistic desire or inspiration.  Maybe there are just too many things to do and not enough hours in the day.  Maybe it’s that you can’t finish any single item or you get pulled in too many directions by “forces outside” yourself and your own desires. 


Aren’t there days when you just don’t know which way to turn?  Those are the days when I just want to hunker down and take a nap.  But naps don’t get you out of the muck.  Movement, even if in tiny increments so as to avoid falling further into the miasma of the swamp of overwhelm, (dramatic enough??) is necessary.

© Dragon Artz Designs, free clipart, used by permission

Do What the English Knew to Do

How to keep equilibrium?  It seems more and more the answer to life may just be related to those magical words Keep Calm and Carry On that the English coined in 1939 to help them get through grueling days of World War II. They are wise words.  And, for an artist, writer or creative person who gets overwhelmed by too many options or project deadlines, they are essential.  It sort of goes back to yesterday’s blog “Don’t Get by Stuck Cleaning the Sock Drawers.”   Pick something and stick with it.

The poster is iconic in crafting circles these days.

The single most helpful piece of advice when it comes to answering questions such as:  How do I get started?  How do I figure out what to do next?  How can I focus? is simply, Keep Calm and Carry On.  Pick one thing and stick with it until you aren’t so overwhelmed. 

It works with the Big Stuff in life too—when relationships are undergoing changes and growth, when you, yourself, are undergoing changes and growth, when your artwork is undergoing changes and growth.  Keep Calm and Carry On.

It does remind me a bit of the book by Iyanla Vanzant, In the Meantime, which was really more about finding yourself when you’re waiting for a relationship to show up, but really, there are times when what we are doing just isn’t working out.  We are lost to ourselves.  And perhaps it goes back to that metaphysical stance. 

© Iyanla Vanzant, In the Meantime 

We just can’t see the entire Blue Print.  We don’t know how things going whacko or projects falling apart fit together with our sense of who we are and what we are supposed to be doing.  It’s terribly uncomfortable—that sitting on the razor’s edge and waiting.  But, as with those other wise (and clichéd words) this too shall pass…and in the meantime….Keep Calm and Carry On.  It may not be the right time in the metaphysical chronology for your book to be published, your artwork to sell like gangbusters or to be approved for that enormously exciting and glamorous public art project. 

The important thing is to not lose faith in oneself, one’s vision or one’s art, and to continue to move forward.  Even if it is only a snails centimeter at a time.  All things under the sun have a purpose and a time.  That’s true whether you believe in Christianity, Judaism, Islam, Atheism, or Science or some other belief system. If all you can see of the blueprint is the arrow that says turn left now, then, by all means, turn left now. 

You can only get to what has been revealed to you or that you’ve allowed yourself to see.  Keep Calm and Carry On. The rest will be revealed...eventually.