Covid Killed The Art
This pandemic is really creating a lot of bad energy. Loss on many levels, hunger, increasing aggression, violence and crime, manic energy all around. I get really confused over the stock markets which seem to be doing pretty good despite all the job losses and businesses struggling to remain in business. Do the markets not grasp the idea that when people lose their jobs they lose their ability to buy more things? This episode debuts a new microphone so I hope the sound quality is better. It took almost 2 months to get here, it was on the slow boat from China.
I posted the script of this episode on my Patreon page a few days ago so if you follow me on Patreon you get to read about my Podcast episodes in advance. I post the script on Medium also but on the day after the episode airs. Please support my Podcast either on Anchor or on Patreon.
In addition to the struggling overall economy, the art markets are having a really bad time too, around 85% of Museums are weighing the decision to sell some of their collections in order to pay their rents and mortgage payments which is something they have never considered in the past unless those sales complimented their overall collection. The Museum of Art in my city will not be reopening their gift shop but directing patrons to their online store. They may reopen next year but the staff that worked in the shop will lose their jobs. Art Galleries are also struggling because art openings aren’t happening right now due to social distancing and many are relying only on online sales.
The only part of the art world which seems to be booming is the online art world. Those websites and the artists who sell their work online are doing pretty good. This news kind of reminds me of what the music industry went through in the 1990s when music became digital. Now most people stream. The good part of that scenario is that the digital music world has made it easier for up and coming and independent artists to get their work in front of audiences. The visual arts are finding it difficult but online is the only way for visual artists to market their work.
A couple of months ago I made the decision to move online with my art and begin selling my artwork there. I think the visual arts are going to become mostly digital in the future much like the music world. Naturally there will still be Art Openings and Exhibitions just like there are still Concerts and Operas but the digital trend is upon the visual arts. Everything changes. So please check out yourartdude.com to see my work for sale and for links to my social media pages.
The public will enjoy using digital art for wallpapers on their screens and I think the walls of Galleries and Museums of the future will be lined with monitors which display digital images created by the future artists. This will still be fun to go see and enjoy and drink some wine with friends. And later when we all go home we can pull up the Gallery or Museum website and see the exhibition again at home and there will be links to purchase some new art!
This new way to see art will probably be as revolutionary for the visual arts as MP3s were to digital music. This shift is a shock to the traditional way of doing business but the Gallery scene was an outdated a way of buying art just as the record store was for the musician. It really is time to move along.
The company I use to show and market my art uses archival quality printers so the prints I am selling is on acid-free paper and they use archival inks and glass in their framing if one of my Patrons wants their art purchase to arrive already framed. I am excited to see the future of the visual arts and I am happy to have joined in at last.
Stay healthy and safe. Peace and Love!
