This snail records the eight stages of my problem development.
From anonymous magazines for unknown artists, to helping art students choose the right professional information platform, to reducing the anxiety of art students facing employment problems, to helping art students to create personal IP, to creating a Concept to expand the demand for art purchase, and then to explore the relationship between the artist and the buyer.
Now my question seems to go back to the first initial question, which is all about artists/art students and selling their work. But now my question goes much deeper than the question I asked in the first step.
Thornton, S., 2009. Seven days in the art world. New York: W.W. Norton & Company.
Last week I read a book named 7days in the art world. When I read this book, I mainly focus on the characters in the art world and their relationship. This book introduced five main roles of the art market: the artists, the dealers, the collectors, the curators, and the critics. The relationship between them like this:
【The connection】 Then I am thinking about the relationship between artists and collectors.A purchase will happen when the buyer has some connection with the artwork. For example, some collectors said they would buy artwork when they feel something, or the artwork helps them understand the way they live. However, this kind of connection is very personal. Everyone’s ability to appreciate art is different. Appreciation of art is influenced by a person’s past experience, background and other factors. I think that’s the another reason why its hard to sell artworks.
【Takashi Murakami】
In addition, the most impressive chapter is chapter six, which is about visiting Takashi’s studio. This chapter mentioned anti-elitism and the cooperation between Takashi and Louis Vuitton. The artist’s works flatten the distinctions between art and luxury goods, high and popular culture, East and West.
But I can’t agree with that. I searched Takashi’s work online; even printed works are pretty expensive, not ordinary people can afford it. No matter for his artworks or a Louis Vuitton bag. The distinction between high and popular culture is still here.
【Art is far away from our daily lives】
When I searched the review of this book, one reader said: ‘ I am sure that most readers of this book also chose it because we will never be able to attend a Christie’s Post-war art auction, the Venice Biennial, or the Basel Art Fair except through Sarah Thornton.’
I reckon that it’s hard to sell artworks because some people think Art is far away from their lives. For instance, we have to go to specific places, museum or gallery, to learn about Art. And in China, art subject is not as important as Math, Science and English. Only a small percentage of people will be educated in the arts.
Most people lack art education and appreciation ability, so they feel Art is far away from their lives. Therefore, when they see artworks, it is difficult for them to connect with them, so they will not buy them.
【Who is the audience of art student’s work】
Firstly, not those five characters in the book. They are the people who pursuit masters work at a high price.
I sale my watercolour paintings twice when I was undergraduates; the price is 60 pounds for a sheet and 1200 pounds for a set. Unfortunately, I even have no idea who brought my works. I guess the customer is someone who is willing to learn Art and purchase Art, but they can’t afford masterpieces with outrageous prices.
Now, I think my question can evaluate again to:
How can I improve the level of arts education? How can I make art more universal? How to bridge the gap between art and the public?
I think the potential market for Art is enormous. As the book said: ‘Only a century ago, no one had a car. Now, people have two or three. That’s the way it’s going with art’.
Few people knew about Art before because it was a spiritual pursuit. In the age of food scarcity, most people only focused on physical needs, while the upper aristocracy pursued spiritual needs. With economic development, people’s physiological needs have been met, the pursuit of spiritual needs is a trend.
I have no idea who is the audience of art student’s work, and I didn’t find some academic articles related to this question. Maybe my work is to turn ordinary people into an audience for art students’ works. And the plan is through improving the level of arts education to 1)reduce the gap between Art and the public 2) Let more people have the ability to appreciate Art and connect with artworks.
After I read this article, I was thinking can I expand the demand for artworks by creating a concept? I guess the home decoration market is good to start.
A lot of people will not consider buying art as decoration when they are decorating their homes. Or, some may choose to buy a printed or mass-produced work of art rather than an original work.
Can I expand the demand for original art by 1）creating a concept： using original artwork to decorate your home is essential. 2) providing a reference for those who don’t know how to choose artworks. (such as hanging children illustrations in the kids’ room, modern abstract paintings in the living room, landscape paintings in the old person room).
I chose to start with ‘tips’ because I found some students want to build their personal branding by creating an art-business account, but they don’t know how to start it. I also found that some tips provided online are quite general and are not only for art students. So I thought maybe interview the successful person and provide tips could help them. After I talk it with my tutor, I noticed that successful people wouldn’t share their secrets. (I guess that’s why I sent lots of emails but nobody reply, and I didn’t realize it before.) In addition, the tips I’m offering are not what I or my audience can be successful if we follow it, so this way is useless. And this is not an intervention because it didn’t make the change.
Kyle, an UAL career centre staff, gave me some advices. He shared with me a workshop slides which help student set up an account on LinkedIn. He also recommend me two links which is about how to manage IG portfolio.
From my own view, LinkedIn is different from other social media platforms. LinkedIn is more professional and is mainly for find a job. However, IG needs you to show your own characteristics and personality.
Through the slides Kyle shared with me, I found the linkInIn learning platform, which is free for students. I searched a bit and found a course on personal branding. This may be useful and relevant information for my project, and Chelsea Krost (the teacher of this course) might be my potential dragon.
I made a draft brochure as my early intervention. The content of this booklet comes from an interview with the first dragon. I also found some articles on the Internet that provide guidance on how to operate a business social account, those guidance is general and not aimed at art graduates. But some of the tips inside can also be used for reference. I plan to combine the valuable information online with the information obtained from my own interviews as the content of my brochure.
In addition, I will sent this brochure to some key audiences (Those art students who are currently operating or plan to earn income by operating business social accounts ) and seek some feedbacks.
Hayley is a freelance illustrator, she manage her business account on social media for years. Now she has more than 3,000 followers following her account. She also manage her online store to sell some relative artwork to support herself. We discussed about this topic and she said that it has taken a lot of trial and error to find a system that works for her and helps her to build her audience. Having more information and advice at her disposal earlier on in her career would have been extremely helpful!
Her answer made me more confident about the question I was studying, and I think the topic I studied is a valuable thing.
When I ask her : Could share some of your opinions about how to use social media (like Instagram) to operate an account and get benefits?
I summarize her answers as follow:
Post your work consistently
I think one of the main things to consider when using social media as an artist or designer is to post consistently. If we take a site such as Instagram, due to the algorithms it’s important to post content when your followers are going to expect you to, so keeping a schedule that you stick to will mean that your followers will see your posts. For example, you might post a new artwork 2 or 3 times per week on the same days and at the same time, which means that your post is more likely to be seen and interacted with by your followers, which in turn helps boost your engagement and makes your profile more visible.
Asking more engagement
The more engagement you receive (likes, comments, shares etc.) tells the algorithm that your content is interesting, so your post will be shown to more users. If you break that consistency and stop posting for a week or two, your engagement will drop and the next time you post, you’ll receive fewer interactions.
Communicate with your followers
It’s also important to make sure to communicate with your followers! Make sure that you reply to comments on your posts. You could also use this to further understand who your audience is, and from there you can tailor your content to suit whoever that may be. For example, if your specialist field is children’s book illustration, the audience that you are trying to appeal to could be parents/guardians of young children, as well as authors and publishers, so do your research and try to make sure that your feed speaks to these types of users.
Using appropriate hashtags
You could use appropriate hashtags to increase the chances of these types of Instagram users seeing your posts. It’s also useful to have a short yet informative bio that quickly tells people who you are and what you do, but is still punchy and memorable, that way any potential clients or customers can immediately see what type of artist you are and what your specialist field is.
Make your ‘grid’ appealing
You may want to add a link to a website, portfolio or email address so that you can be easily contacted. I would also recommend taking an overall look at your social media page; does your Instagram “grid” look appealing? Does it draw the viewers in and make them want to see more of your work? I’ve found that alternating between posting finalised drawings and photographs works well and makes my “grid” look attractive! It’s important overall to ensure that your social media pages are professional, but that they also feel approachable and look aesthetically pleasing.
I decided to make a booklet that contains the main tips on how to manage business accounts, which is my early intervention.
From my last journal, my question is that How can I help art students who want to be a freelancer build personal IP in the Internet age?
Then I tried to contact some experts like Emma Thatcher, but she didn’t reply me so far. It made me rethink my question. Is my question not clear? I think the problem might be ‘personal IP’. Then I searched this word online, and it’s more like IP address.
But what I mean about personal IP is that people’s ownership of specific achievements. In the Internet era, it can refer to a symbol, a kind of values, a group with common characteristics.
It also represents the personal brand. When a person’s name is said, you will know that he is an expert. His name means authority and expertise in a particular field.
To sum up, personal IP is all about creating a label in the minds of your viewers and fans
Based on this, I modify my question again to make it more straightforward: How to use social media to help art students to support themselves in the era of the fan economy.
In other words，this means:
How to build a business account on social media and get the benefit;
How to let more people know who you are;
How to find your target audience;
How to make your business account more attractive;
How to let your followers willing to pay for your artwork etc.
