Amanda McGregor asks; If Our Relationship To Art is Determined By A Need To Escape To A Controlled World Of Fantasy And Magic, How Do We Become Financially Stable?
Our dependency on our relationship to art normally starts at a young age. This is prompted through a need to escape to a world of magic and fantasy and be immersed in our creative flow. The ‘flow’ is the energy frequency of ‘creation’ and expression. Through creating moments with ourselves, we allow a freedom of spirit, peace, our truth to be spoken and our true dynamics of experience to be fully expressed, emotionally, in vision and intellectually. With a conceptual focus in the intellectual pursuit of art, we play with the thoughts and perspectives we create, allowing a connection with a larger picture in creation, to play with the logic, sight, experience and the vision of ourselves and others.
However this form of play, can be considered a way of muse, a way of entertaining ones inner muse, its a form of being a ‘player’. When we grow up, we may find our inner child is still dominating in this playful muse, at the expense of the responsibilities of adult life. We can be a slave to our desires to be creatively free. To be able to live in the space of preferred existence we enter in to a journey in which we hope the ‘art world’ will meet us. The infrastructure of funding, buyers, curators, artist, critic and gallerists is an eco-system of community designed to help protect the sensitive art world of ‘play’.
As an adult some artists may be met with a challenge in finding they are beyond a system of understanding, or process, thereby not necessarily supported by ‘art world’ connections. Some gallerists may find their specialised interest in artists is hard to be met with enough buyers. In fact we can discover disconnections in relating to the eco-system in many different respects, often due to financial pressures which causes economic rifts and huge gaps in being able to take all persons in to the ‘art world’ life. We can also find that due to heavy marketing of some trends and type of art forms, other artists find themselves in a shadow, however, this all comes down to an economic fight for ground, higher value and visibility.
This can then make the connection with art seem like an economic strain or vacuum in which there is a level of self sacrifice, although in many ways its possible to see the way the world provides and keeps us safe, there maybe a feeling of continue ‘tread mill’ where a person constantly feels they are on the edge.
To assess how these different influences are effecting us we have to track our fundamental relationship with our art. So I have put together some questions to help you assess your position as a creative and as a business so as to look at the source of grounding with economic stability in relation to art practice, the first body of questions are designed for artists, the second for gallerists, curators, investors and supporters but both lines of questions should be useful in tracking your journey of consciousness at running an economic art practice due to the nature of the pathology of entering in to the art world. The journey of answering the questions should help you assess how solid your business model is and if it is aligned to your prefered values, it will then provide a space for thought so as to develop your thinking.
The journey into Creativity: Take Our Survey
1) Why did you originally start creating, how old were you?
2) As an adult how do you afford creative time?
3) How does the mass market of art relate to your work?
4)How does the dependency of economic stability effect your choices as an artist?
5) How do you think the choices of investors of artistic practice concern themselves with mass market goals?
6) How does this effect your decisions and financial standing?
7) Do you feel met/understood by the world as an artist?
8) If you didn’t have the economic pressures what work would you be creating?
9) Please list your creative values.
10) How does Artlyst.com support you?
Questions for investors/gallerists/curators in art?
How do you express yourself through artists?
How does this free you?
How to you reward artists for being your instrument?
How does the relationship grow over time?
How does your work, gallery or business become stable and sustainable?
How do economic pressures effect your decisions?
How do you communicate to the mass market? How do you communicate to specialist market? please define
How do your investments or collections reflect art history?
How do they demonstrate the political and social climate?
How do you relate to expressing the innovations and changes of life?
What added values would you like to demonstrate in your business or collection?
What is your vision of a platform to support this vision?
How do you communicate this to the market?
How does that work bring in a revenue to support the infrastructure of inspired interest?
Describe your business model?
How does Artlyst.com support you?
How would you like Artlyst.com to support you?
The search for economic stability
In the receiving of finance we have to remember abundance is given, we have very little control over who is inspired to give, whatever side of the fence we sit. However we can make it a lighter and more rewarding experience by bringing a sense of connection, amusement and education to enable clear thinking. To stay inspired we have to stay in light but we also have to enable others to stay in their light as giving and receiving come from the same ‘call’. To stay inspired always walk in the path of nourishment and choose to relate to artists and investors/gallerists/curators/ supporters that give a sense of purpose and stability, those that connect in truth on a journey of understanding, with a sense of destination in mind. That destination can be vision based but has to be agreed by all parties involved.
The information is research based to help www.artlyst.com members and Artlyst with community development and understanding, the information will be kept confidential by Artlyst.
Please send answers to a@amandamcgregor.com
Words/Image ‘Leaving’ : Amanda McGregor © Artlyst 2013