No Strings Attached
#136: Here & Now, Art, Kenneth Tan + Lola Crescenciana, Michael deMeng, Open Studios 2024, Solar Punk Stories, Mark Young, Olafur Arnalds, et al.; Washburn & Hunkin, et al.; and Bandit.
HERE & NOW
Since mentioning my “unsettled” feeling in issue #135, some things are becoming clearer; for example, I realize that I hate selling my art online. Period. I hate fiddling with online sales applications, sizing and uploading images and tweaking the settings for every single work of art I upload. Remember when I declared I would no longer sell on SaatchiArt? SaatchiArt taught me that I sell fewer items online, even when I put a lot of work into it, than I do when I sell in person. But that’s only part of the issue, and perhaps not the most important part. There is also the distancing effect that one gets with online sales and social media—that is, distancing you from your art and from a certain sense of community.
It’s no secret that selling online (including the imperative to promote your art on social media) takes up a lot of mental and creative energy that doesn’t go into making the art itself. It took several months, at least, for me to set up my website, arrange for payments through a “payment service provider”1 learn how the system works, and then “catalogue“ and price my art on a spreadsheet so I could keep track of it all for taxes.
In the end you often sell to someone you never meet, and a chunk of change goes to both the website platform and the payments service provider. Unless you are adept at bringing the two worlds (online/in-person) together, the end result for the artist is somewhat alienating. It changes my perception of the art I make, too. The inspiration, the art itself, and the precious time I put into it feels different; selling it online ends up making it about the money.
Selling in person, in art fairs or in open studios,2 takes time and creative energy, too. Yet, the process of physically taking it out into the community (yes, it can be tiring, but it also feels more real and embodied), meeting people and talking to them (whether they buy or not), meeting other artists and learning from them or sharing what I know—changes everything. I even feel less disappointed if the art doesn’t sell. I can learn from that.
On a different note, the last time I sold art in an Open Studios event, not a single buyer paid with a credit or debit card. They all paid with cash or check. That doesn’t always happen, but I was happy to not have to use that payment reader attached to my mobile phone; happy to not contribute to the credit/debt industry. The value in open studios and art fairs is more than the sale.
I want to briefly qualify part of this discussion: I’m 72, and somewhat disabled by a “bum knee,” mitigated by the fact that riding a bike is actually easier on my knees and feet than walking; I’m also carless in a nation that lives and breathes oil, asphalt, speed, and car culture. So, if I live long enough with my artistic faculties intact, online art sales may someday work better for me than trying to schlep all my stuff on a bus or taxi to an in-person venue or depending on abled others to drive and haul for me. And it can be a god-send for many people who are disabled.
I’m also exploring the idea of giving away some of my art—a popular idea with some folks. There is even an “art abandonment” movement and Facebook page initiated by Michael and Andrea Matus deMeng (see video in the Rabbit Hole and check out their book), which encourages you to “abandon tangible art for the joy of some UNSUSPECTING finder.” Inspired by deMeng, Nishant Jain “abandons” art in cafes, at bus stops, and in tiny free libraries, a process he describes as the “(sneaky) art of the giveaway.” At one point he even pledged to “give away as much art as possible.”
In 2020 Matthew Burrows brought other artists and buyers into his mutual aid “cycle of support.” He has enough followers and cachet to take advantage of social media (and more recently virtual reality) through his Artist Support Pledge:
“a movement on social media which asks participants (artists) to put work up for sale for no more than £220, though it can be less. Every time they reach £1,100 worth of sales, they pledge to buy another artist’s work for up to £220. This is a virtuous cycle of support amongst artists and their supporters and buyers. Although I was given lots of awards for this, I think the greatest reward I had was the thanks from my peers and colleagues.”
There are many approaches to the giveaway and many opinions about it, pro and con. If you do a browser search, you’ll see that many people love the idea of gifting their art. They say it gives them joy; brings them some relief from the money-making grind; it could lead to more opportunities; and makes them feel that, as artists, they are part of something larger. A few people have voiced their “cons,” e.g., you might “devalue” your art and the skills you have developed over the years; people who might otherwise pay you well will expect you (and other artists!) to give them art for free or for “exposure”; your “art business” will decline; no one will want to pay you market price (it will mess with the monetary valuation assigned by global capitalism, the art markets, and the one-percenters who manipulate it), etc.
I gave away a couple small pieces of art, placing them in a local tiny free library box. They were gone the next day. I liked the feeling of releasing my art into the world with no strings attached. I did not spend hours laboring over these pieces. They were done more-or-less spontaneously, and I released them with the same spirit of spontaneity and ease.
I was also thinking of the indigenous Subanen people from my father’s island of Mindanao. Their rituals of thanksgiving are expressed in part by gifting food, woven cloth, herbs or even music and dancing3 to the spirits, ancestors, and community. Like them, I have things to be grateful for, including the ability to make art and write. So why not gift some of my creations in the same spirit? Perhaps giving art can be in the Filipino spirit of kapwa (recognizing shared identity), or more actively, pagkikipagkapwa—to connect in shared self and identity. It’s not always all about me, and I don’t have to attach a dollar sign to everything I make.4
What do you think? I’m curious to know if you have given away art you have made to strangers, if you have reasons for preferring not to, or if you do it in a limited way.
ART
I’ve decided to draw using only a brush and ink or watercolor for awhile, in order to “loosen up.” So here are the first two drawings:
RABBIT HOLE
Crescenciana: a Memoir and Art Book by Crescenciana Tan + Kenneth Tan, will go into its second printing with help from your Kickstarter donations (deadline 11:59 pm, March 7th). Crescenciana: Interwoven is a new book forthcoming by Kenneth Tan, written with his mother Olivia and his sister Audrey, with new illustrations by Kenneth, building off the paintings of his lola (grandmother) Crescencia. Kenneth was a student of mine when I was teaching English and Asian and Filipino American Literature at UC Berkeley. I know how much his lola meant to him, and I’m proud of the work he’s done, since then, in the arts and in helping to promote cultural respect and understanding for Filipinos and Filipino Americans. Here’s a Story Corps video with Kenneth and his mom Olivia reminiscing about Lola Crescenciana:
Michael deMeng is an assemblage artist who initiated the Art Abandonment project. The video below is from 11 years ago. Since then, the Art Abandonment project has expanded with thousands of members on the Facebook page:
If you are an artist in Monterey County, consider registering for the Open Studios Art Tour 2024. There are some changes afoot! Arts4MC (Arts Council for Monterey County) will be continuing the Artist Studio Tour’s legacy, which was previously run by Arts Habitat.
Maybe you’ve heard the term solar punk and have some idea of what it is. But its meaning may not be entirely clear. Solar Punk Stories explores what it is, isn’t, and why it matters. It’s a topic well worth considering as we edge closer into climate catastrophe. And check out the Solar Punk Stories newsletter on Substack. It’s fascinating.
New Zealand poet Mark Young’s Un Saut de Chat is now available on Lulu.com. I co-edited two volumes of hay(na)ku poetry (a six-word tercet form invented by Eileen Tabios) with Mark, who writes “I’m a couple of years into my ninth decade, & have decided it’s time to tidy a few things up, in particular creating some trope- & form-based collections, rather than collections of recent work.” After many years of publishing Otoliths, he is still producing poems with his characteristic commitment and grace.
SOUNDINGS
Olafur Arnalds and friends performing “Undir” in the volcanic wilderness of Hafursey, Iceland for Cercle—which films live concerts on location—with some stunning views of the landscape. The performance itself is about an hour long, and the last quarter of the video is a discussion with Arnalds, still on location, about the performance and his experience there. The performance was first proposed in 2018, and finally took place in 2023. Must’ve been cold; the pianist is wearing fingerless gloves:
Maybe you’ve noticed that I really like mixing things up; playing trance followed by bluegrass, followed by kulintang, followed by House, followed by Dublin buskers, followed by experimental . . . whatever. Here is a group from “Down Under,” singing Earth Wind and Fire’s “That’s the Way of the World.”5 Lead Vocalists: Lusa Washburn & Jeff Hunkin. Backing Vocals: Tia Tofilau, Ebony Ngatoko-Ah Hoi, and Fui Washburn. From Livi’s Lounge Jams.
Speaking of “Down Under,“ Bandit performs a cover of Men at Work’s “Down Under”6 while hangin’ out with some kids at the beach:
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E.g., Square or Stripe.
I’ve never been represented by a gallery, so I don’t have the experience to relate to that.
I was about to write that, personally, I stop short of sacrificing a chicken, but then I realized I had a bowl of chicken soup the other day, so I’ll shut up now.
And if you’re thinking, well she can probably afford to do this, believe me, I’m usually about several months away from being homeless.
Written by: Maurice White, Charles Stepney, Verdine White. Album: That's The Way Of The World, Released: 1975
“Down Under” written by Colin Hay & Ron Strykert, Columbia Records.