When I was in my mid-20s I lived on an island and worked in a fancy art gallery situated next to a bunch of other galleries. For the better part of one summer, I visited the gallery next door week after week, day after day to stare at a piece of art.* I LOVED it for so many reasons, not the least of which is that I had dreamed of it years before. In my dream the work took up the entire center of the room, and the wings were real bird wings. Cranking the machine caused a wild fluttering. I thought at the time I was supposed to make it, so I visited the taxidermist to buy bird wings. (They currently sit among other treasures in my living rooms naturalist collection.) At the end of this Summer of Staring, the gallery owner - a passionate, opinionated artist and businesswoman - lead me by the arm into the gallery and brought me over to the piece. Youre buying this, she said. Im giving it to you at my cost. Thats 50% off and its a deal. You have to buy art and support artists. And you love this piece. So youre buying it. And so it was. That was more than 15 years ago and my first real art purchase has traveled to every single home with me since (and trust me, there have been many.) It remains my favorite piece in my collection. For a few hundred dollars, I bought a lifetime of joy and wonder. Sometimes it takes a knowing friend to kickstart the art buying, as we are not taught to honor and respect artists and what they make. So, consider me this friend. BUY ART. Do it because youll be supporting a visionary, because it costs the same as that iPhone or TV or some other disposable thing were taught to need. Do it because it feeds your soul. You wont regret it. (*I cannot remember the name of this piece, but the artist is Chris Moore. He lived on this island for one summer doing carpentry and construction. Typically he made large-scale works, but - as often happens on the island - he scaled down for the geography. The base of this work is wood from a historic home on the island, so very location specific. Ive tried to find Chris and his art ever since, but his common name is not Google friendly, alas!) (*If the video is blurry, open it in another window and click the HD on bottom right of image)
Posted on: Mon, 24 Nov 2014 20:12:08 +0000