One of the things I’ve always struggled with in my mind is the bridge between the commercial viability of art and staying true to a work’s core ideas. Often, a work needs to be watered down or simplified for the sake of appealing to the masses. If an artist stays true to his or her vision of a work, it’s usually at the cost of commercial success. But what happens if an idea is easily adaptable to be used in a commercial way? Should the artist forego the commercial idea in order to preserve integrity, or should the artist pursue it at the risk of diluting the original artwork upon which it was built?

I’ve been toying with an idea for a new video-based artwork for a while now. The work is a database-driven computerized video installation that is set up in multiple locations. In one location, people would enter a “confession booth” and record a story. In another location, a video screen randomly plays stories from the database of recorded confessions. Conceptually, the work is about bridging gaps between technology and human interaction, ideas of removing boundaries in distance, and about the anonymity of technology removing psychological barriers in open discussions.

The work has a strong conceptual base, yet I think it is very accessible. But by simply changing the setting of the work from a gallery space to a wedding reception, the context changes dramatically. In a gallery, we immediately look for meaning and concepts. There is an inherent base of theoretical underpinnings upon which people view the work, and it adds a considerable amount of depth to the piece. If it were installed at a wedding as a way for guests to record well-wishes for the bride and groom that would be immediately displayed on a screen in the dining hall as guest mingle and dinner is served, all those concepts vanish, and the work becomes nothing more than a novelty; A GOOD novelty with great potential, but a simple novelty none-the-less.

At what point does commercial success tarnish an artists reputation? Should a work’s credibility be dictated by the success of similar works with the same technology?

Let me know what you think.

A7

Tags: a7, andy morris, art, artist, commercial, gallery, success, video, wedding

This entry was posted on Tuesday, May 27th, 2008 at 8:32 pm and is filed under Art News. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.