This week from the Cat's Eye:
Wouldn’t it be nice if art in and of itself was enough of a marketing tool? We artists create the work…it’s up to everyone else to interpret. Yeah right. Who the hell am I…oh yeah just another artist with absolutely zero business sense. Fuck you …I just make the art. Now why the hell aren’t you buying it? The truth is that I’ve been self-marketing my work for almost two years. I’ve been doing ok…but could I do better…and should I really have to?

There are numerous ways to market art. In fact, the amount of art opening ads that highlight the free wine and sushi in bold while the art on display remains in a small 10pt font is ridiculous. It seems as though we have to appeal to the masses on some other level and what…hope they’ll see the art while they stuff their faces with free gourmet delectables. Or there’s always the live music or free drink tickets offered at group shows everywhere. By the time people pause to see the work they’re so hammered they can’t.

But if you just open your eyes while driving around town instead of texting on your Blackberry 7650XL2 then you’d notice that there is a plethora of arty art marketing tools. And no, I’m not talking about grafitti.

On the corner of Melrose and Formosa on the wire underground tunnel cover are a dozen cardboard boxes advertising an art show. It is a fine recent example of art marketing one’s art…artfully. Too bad people started using it as a dumping ground for their empty Starbucks cups.

Ever see those birds hanging from the power lines? Yeah…lovely. Get enough of them up and suddenly people ask who the hell is that guy? He;s known as Berd. Check out his myspace http://www.myspace.com/4eightyone.

These are just a few examples. But what the hell are we supposed to do? People want free stuff…they wanna be cool…They don’t care about perspective or enlightenment. Do they? I’d love to go to an opening in a hot, enclosed bare room with no windows, no wine, and no water, but lots of fantastic art. The ad might read something like this:

Latest Rauschenberg retrospective on display.
Come join us for an evening of art featuring the latest from the renowned artist.
There will be no wine provided.
There will be no cheese platter.
And we will not be providing free caviar.
If you need to eat during the opening we can refer you to several local restaurants.

Would people come? For Rauschenberg…maybe. But for me or you? I wonder. Of course the non-marketing would inevitably be construed as a marketing tool. The public ought to see art for art. And they ought to seek out. The value of art far out-weighs the value of a cheap cup of wine. But I guess the only thing to do is continue on the path of art-marketing art. It’s beats the usual calendar listing. It leaves a smile or a question on the passerby. And hell maybe someone will actually stop and look and then google it from their mobile device at the next stoplight.