I finally walked out of a gallery opening in Portland last Friday and it changed how I post my work online

So I was at this First Friday event down on Alberta Street, right? There was this one artist who had all their digital prints framed and lit perfectly, but the whole crowd was just glancing at their work and moving on. Meanwhile this other artist had a single monitor showing a timelapse of their painting process and people were literally stopping and staring for 5 minutes. It got me thinking... are we better off showing our messy process videos instead of polished final pieces? Or does that cheapen the art itself? I've been posting my finished stuff on Instagram for 2 years with okay results, but after seeing that crowd reaction I wonder if I should switch to more behind-the-scenes content. Has anyone else noticed people responding way more to the "how" than the "what" in digital art showcases?

3 comments

3 Comments

jennifer83328d ago

Wait so did the timelapse artist have actual finished work there too?

violar3528d ago

Oh man I showed up with a half-finished doodle once and called it "performance art"... it did not go over well.

taylor.reese28d ago

My friend once showed up to a gallery opening with a piece he literally just scratched into a napkin. He tried to pass it off as a "spontaneous visual diary" and people were NOT buying it. The worst part is someone from the local newspaper was there and he got quoted saying the dumbest stuff about "creative fluidity.