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Association of Lifecasters International
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FORUMS
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Ed McCormick
Joined:
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21-Mar-2004
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Started On : 05-Feb-2007 at 09:43:47 AM, #Views : 6970
Topic Subject : ART vs COMMERCE |
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I have been thinking about that phrase a lot lately – art vs. commerce. Maybe that is because we were recently commissioned to create a full body casting of David Blaine the illusionist. The piece is for a promotion in London. It required Blaine to hold a cell phone (the item to be promoted).
I really love life casting and I certainly love being paid for it, too. But as I stood back to admire the finished piece, I thought, “Ugh, there is no art there it is just a three dimensional poster.” Part of it was that we had to conform to our client’s budget – big company, but smaller budget. That forced us to take short cuts. The second issue was we had only10 days to create a full body piece and that is not a lot of time. That again forced more short cuts. Thus, dumbing down the art factor and maximizing the technique factor. Anyway that was my rationalization.
Then I remembered being commissioned to create a full torso of Iman, David Bowie’s wife for a DeBeers promotion. They wanted five copies to go to jewelry designers all over the world. I had both the time and the budget and still I wouldn’t call that bust a piece of art in the sense that we artists would describe it. It was just a bust – oh, a great looking bust, but it didn’t say anything to the senses as art typically does.
I haven’t done any art for art’s sake for many many months. I miss that. The business, workshops and commercial commissions have me working 7-days a week lately. I know I must force myself to take a deep breath and take a break. Because when I am working on something purely for art’s sake there is no better feeling – it is euphoric.
So I apologize to the entire membership for being tardy on the announcements of the competition. I have contacted the winners a while ago so they know who they are. I was waiting to get a section on the ALI website done for the formal announcement. But day by day goes by and that has not come to pass so I’ll have the announcements to the members posted on the forum onWednesday.
In the meantime, I did manage to get a page posted on the Blaine project so you could see my lamentation for yourself. It is here: http://www.artmolds.com/david_blaine.htm
Warmest regards,
Ed
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