Sunday, August 8, 2010
Art
One very interesting thing about works of art is that you never know while creating whether people will like it or not, but being your creation, you love it very deeply. I guess it's human to crave for acceptability but then you also crave for a chance and means to express yourself, in ways you find most convenient and feel most comfortable with. But artists are not often good marketers, although they realize the sad reality that they need to stand with their art in the market and sell themselves to be allowed more opportunities from life to create, which to them is the only thing that makes sense in their lives.
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very true!
ReplyDeleteVery true Sridhar. Wonderfully articulated. I have this to add. I believe that a significant part of marketing the work of art is during creation itself - in the way the work is presented, the choice of language, the tone, the style, the subject matter, the target audience and other modes of expression. So, even though an artist would want to express himself in the manner that he/she finds most convenient and comfortable with, you would agree that there would be a range of possibilities within the realm of expressions the artist is comfortable with. Within this realm, the wise artist can be expected to choose those modes of expression which would resonate well with his target audience. In this sense, I believe every good artist is to some extent a good marketer.
ReplyDelete(Nevertheless, we could ask whether the artist needs to have a target audience at all, whether (s)he could simply indulge in unbridled self-expression. But even in this case, constraints of worldly existence more often than not put limits on the target audience who can possibly appreciate the work of art, even if the artist never intended such a restriction. For instance, language is a constraint for any written piece. The gift of sight is a constraint for a painting. Thus can any work of art be absolutely inclusive and universal? Well, in that case, it might have to be crafted in the universal language of Love, as 'The Alchemist' says. :) )
Having said this, yes, the artist does need to be reasonably adept at the "downstream" side of marketing - selling and standing the test of the market. But again, I would like to offer a contrarian view here. According to Peter Drucker, "the aim of marketing is to know and understand the customer so well the product or service fits him and sells itself". Hence, according to this view, if the work of art is a masterpiece that speaks directly to the readers' hearts and addresses their needs, it would sell itself. An utopian view, perhaps; but we can possibly approach that ideal in this highly connected world, what with the enormous network effect of word-of-mouth as well as word-of-mouse marketing.
Anyway, all the best and especially with regarding to the marketing of your work of art. Thank you for reading.
:),
Dheep Joy.