I may be attending this opening on Sustainability in a World of Consumption but in any case want to highlight the event.  I often get contacted by groups and artists telling me of their openings and I have been remiss in posting them often enough.  I had an excuse lately – traveling and being extremely busy with Social Media Analytics.  In fact, I was in Exeter, UK just last weekend, the very place this blog is hosted from – but missed connecting with the publisher of ArtNewYorkCity.com while I was there.

Sustainability in a World of Consumptionis  first exhibit claiming to explore the presence of excess exists in our day-to-day lives, but often hides behind masks of disposal systems, social acceptance, and misinformation.

You can also help  raise money for this organization by buying it’s art.

Art for Global Justice group seeks to use the power of art to create social change both locally and globally. Youth workshops, art exhibits, and an art exchange program will facilitate this movement towards seeing other perspectives and creating a more just world.

Information about  Excess and Environment: Sustainability in a World of Consumption

The presence of excess exists in our day-to-day lives, but often hides behind masks of disposal systems, social acceptance, and misinformation. This exhibit explores the idea of the impact of excess on our natural environment both visually and theoretically.

The art involved will relate to the effect of mass consumption and waste on the environment. All sales of art will benefit the non-profit organization, Art for Global Justice.

Opening:

Friday, April 16th 2010  7:00 pm to 11:00 pm  AE Studios LIC, 39-06 Crescent Street (off the corner of 39th Ave.) Long Island City, Queens, NY 11101 7, E, V, N, R, or W trains to Queensboro Plaza

Exhibit will be open by appointment from April 16th – April 23rd Free admission

Contact 212-537-5869 artforglobaljustice@gmail.com artforglobaljustice.org for more information

Artists showing work include Chris Jordan, Eve Mosher, Walter “Tinho” Nomura, Justin Gignac, Akirash, Mikal Hameed, Erwin Timmers, Paul Villinski, Joseph Heidecker, Tyrome Tripoli, Michael Yinger, Austin Shull, Olek, Chanika Svetvilas, Chris Sollars, Miles Wickham, Beau Stanton, Destroy and Rebuild, Christina Chobot, Laura Larocca, Trash Track, and more.

Sometimes people contact me with worthy causes – worthy sites – sites about Art in New York – and what could be more abotu Art in New York City than ….. www.NYC-ARTS.org and www.NYCkidsARTS.org ?

I took a look at NYC-Arts.org and it looks good!  Now, I do think they need to add a Social Networking aspect to the site, and I will speak to Joe Harrell, the Director of Marketing for the Alliance of the Arts, here in New York, about that.

But the sites, as they look now, are first class – they look good.  In fact, what I’d do, if I ran those sites, is add the content from Artcards.cc and also have artists, like me, go out and cover shows and post them to an accompying blog – that feeds into the NYC-Arts.org site – that would generate a lot more content.

Not sure what to say about the kids site – I have a son, but he’s almost 16 years old – and I think a kids site has a different demographic than me – (unless I’m trying to reach out to kids and their parents – in which case, maybe it’s relevent).  At any rate – these are Art Sites about our community – here in New York City – and they ougth to be supported.

Here’s the information about NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org from recent press release:

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

Alliance for the Arts Launches NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org in Beta Testing

NEW YORK – November 25, 2008 – The Alliance for the Arts has launched the beta versions of its new NYC-ARTS.org and NYCkidsARTS.org, the most complete, customizable and dynamic source of information on New York’s cultural institutions. Curated by people who know the scene, NYC ARTS provides an inside view of New York’s cultural life.

The NYC ARTS Web sites have launched during beta testing. The public is invited to participate in testing by submitting feedback through the “Send your feedback” button at the bottom of every page.

NYC-ARTS.org

Locals and tourists will find in-depth information on cultural organizations and their events, programs and activities.

NYCkidsARTS.org

Educators and parents will find the most comprehensive information on cultural activities for children, including arts education programs that support teaching in many subject areas.

Alliance for the Arts Research Center

The research tools in the Alliance for the Arts Research Center will provide easy access to accurate quantitative data on the nonprofit cultural sector in New York City.

In the increasingly competitive entertainment environment, NYC ARTS and NYCkidsARTS ensure that New York City’s arts organizations stand out in the clutter of choices. The NYC ARTS brand is a powerful promotional identity both for large cultural institutions that command high visibility and smaller groups with less promotional muscle. Unlike commercial cultural listings that have a narrow focus, these sites give all arts groups equal opportunity to promote their programs and attract visitors. The power of the NYC ARTS sites extends beyond the walls of the Web sites with weekly e-mail updates, interest-specific RSS feeds and connections to social networking sites such as Facebook and Twitter.

Cultural consumers need a strong brand to help them navigate the rich and diverse resources of New York City’s five boroughs. Through recommendations, curated collections and other features such as “Events ending soon,” the sites will be proactive in directing individuals to cultural opportunities they might otherwise overlook.

The City of New York is the major underwriter of NYC ARTS. Because the system supports hundreds of cultural organizations and their events in all five of the city’s boroughs-in effect shoring up the cultural infrastructure-the City of New York has invested $1.5 million in capital dollars for the first release of the system. It has also pledged additional enhancement funds for future releases of NYC ARTS.

New York’s philanthropic community has joined the City as investors in this project. Local foundations and corporations supported the research and development of NYC ARTS.

About the Alliance for the Arts

The Alliance for the Arts serves the entire cultural community through research and advocacy and serves the public through cultural guides and calendars. Through its NYC ARTS guides and calendars, the Alliance promotes New York cultural institutions. Through its research studies highlighting the importance of the arts to the economy and to education, the Alliance helps government and civic leaders understand the importance of cultural organizations to New York City. More information on the Alliance’s work can be found at the new www.AllianceforArts.org.

Contact:

Joe Harrell, Director of Marketing & Product Management

Alliance for the Arts

jharrell@allianceforarts.org

(212) 947-6340

Again, what I think is needed is Social Networking that supports and encourages community – and I’ll help where I can, being of this community – we want to not just have engagement – but encourage it with Social Media for Engagement.

Perhaps I go should paint more and go to openings less; maybe it’s the wine and company that does it for me – maybe it’s the wealth of possibilities there – but sometimes I feel like I use the Art World as way of avoidance from facing my own work – of being with myself.  I wonder how many other people I see at openings are doing the same thing?

Anyway, tonight I went to a show titled ”A New Spirit of Progress” presented by Art for Progress at World Culture Open Center and found the atmosphere too controlled, too tame, though the work I saw there was good – as far as it goes – I was left with the thought in my mind of “why”?   Why about any of this work really stands out?  

It got me back to thinking about something I’ve been grappling with for a while – why do people buy Art at all?   My feeling is there needs to be a compelling reason to buy someone’s work – otherwise, there’s no real commercial value to it.

For a while now, I’ve been working on the theory of “community” and how an art community can affix value onto any work, which otherwise is valueless.  For example, if I want to think of one of my paintings as worth 500 dollars – that’s a declaration of value – but only when someone buys it for that is the value really declared (to the world) that the painting was worth 500 dollars.

But wait, that’s not enough – in order for paintings to be worth something to a large community – there needs to be several who also agree (citations) that my paintings are worth 500 dollars (or more) – meaning that it’s the community that really sets and confirms value to anyone’s work.

Getting back to the Art For Progress show – what I felt missing was not so much community (there was a community of Artists present, after all, the same artists and friends of the Artists, that want to display / sell the work) but of the wider community that can affix real value and liquidity to work.

That’s why I’ve often fell back on the idea that Artwork is done (by me) for self development – and not really to sell – or even to display.  Why?  It’s too hard to get real, widespread buy in for your work, or anyone’s work – so it’s not a viable path to making a living – but more of a pleasant surprise that works sells, when it does.

So…getting back to the Why?  Why this show, why paint, I feel it’s OK to show display work and being a member of the Art For Progress Collective is not a bad idea, the benefits seem worthwhile and they do good work for their members, that only a few of the members would largely benefit from it – those that can best leverage the community they’re allied with.

I think that’s true for many organizations – perhaps they help everyone a little, but some benefit much more because they can leverage contacts they make.

At least, that’s my thinking about Art Communities today – maybe I’ll feel differently at a future time – I’ll leave the door open to change of my opinion here – though what I saw tonight more confirmed my opinions than changed anything.