About the experiment
The idea in itself is not new. Thousands of people all over the world have done, what I am about to do. They became collectors of contemporary art. Like me, most of them can’t just go out and buy art like groceries.
What might be new however, is that I’m doing this under public surveillance and that I have the aid of an online platform that is dedicated to help collectors do what I’m about to do: Build a network of contacts among other collectors worldwide.
It’s June 4th, 2008. I’m starting with nothing but a sincere interest and enthusiasm (and a little disrespect, sarcasm and a twisted mind on the side).
I’m looking forward to hearing from other collectors. I could kind of use your help …
Greetings, Tommi.
(Photo by Russell Duncan.)
PS:My e-mail address, just in case … brem at independent-collectors dot com
Got skype? Add me: My skype name is the_uc
January 31st, 2009 at 3:37 pm
Hi Tommi:
I’m supposed to be proof reading a catalogue all day and have spent a couple of hours reading your posts and surfing the site. i have not signed on yet because — uh-oh — I fall into that category of not “just” a collector. I’m a writer (for Frieze…maybe one of the mags that sent you to sleep!… I personally find Artforum the one that sends me to laLa land) , I’m a curator and, worst of all (according to some) an art fair director. So, you grapple with the questions of “would it make others uncomfortable, how would it be read?” It seems unfortunate that someone who starts out as an art historian, loves art and collects, because they move into the business end becomes sort of a social pariah.
I hate that people are put into boxes…. my colleague in NY got fired from his job as an art critic at the Village Voice because he helped me co-curate the NY fair. Conflict of interest, apparently, dirtying his hands with the commercial end.
I still collect like a maniac, usually in debt because of it, buy on pretty much every trip i make and constantly hocking other shit to be able to afford it (our vinyl is also diminishing). But married to a dealer and running a fair…. what does that make us? Do we have an “agenda”? Not really. I buy what I love, I often write about what I love too… though I do not necessarily buy what i write about. I select galleries for the fair who’s work I would not necessarily have at home because the fair can’t and shouldn’t reflect one person’s taste. I get a lot of shit for that but I think that we should run the balance of having a clear profile yet a breadth…
It’s great to go to a site like this and see the enthusiasm, which the higher up the ladder you go seems to get leeched out. I’ve been organizing dinners for the last couple of years in Basel and I have to say that having the same old names who buy big at Art Basel is sort of dull. I’d like to tap into this great energy of the forum you’ve created, but then is that then seen as sleazy?
I do think it’s a shame that on a site such as this it’s still the “headliners” that are listed as the main events (with a great crit text written from a fresh point of view) and the side fairs are, as their names suggest, sidelined.
It would be great to see all the other fairs given a ‘review’, even if it means we get a bad one! At least it’s really honest.
The reason we started Volta was for a couple of reasons,–for the founding galleries (one wohnmaschine, who’s listed in your galleries) there was one set of ideas–for me as a critic it was because going to frieze and art basel was just not that interesting. at galleries like sorcha dallas and art:concept (i love olivier, he is such a great and smart guy) you’d really discover something new, for sure, but at the majority of stands it was like visiting a museum and ticking off names. don’t get me wrong, it’s great to see museum quality art and to be exposed to all that. I can’t buy any more fernando bryce or jonothan monk for our own collection because it’s gone WAY out of our price range, but i still like to be able to see what they’re up to…
it seems that NADA and Liste and Pulse are the kinds of fairs that would be catering to your group of collectors. and then even the group of red dot, scope, art now…etc. etc. You know, those fairs are so valuable because you can really get to know an artist or gallery right at the beginning… it’s thrilling. In Miami (loved your post) Aqua in the hotel is probably one of the best energy fairs and creates a real environment for exchange of ideas, information.
It’s also kind of depressing to see in the sites galleries listings the same old names… there are a few exceptions , like Klemm’s–a really superb gallery, fresh exciting original, but a lot of the names are the like the phone directory of whose hip. Can you encourage your group to look a little harder?!! Damn! It’s like those crazy Berlin art maps where you have to be part of one clique to be on the ‘good’ and then there are all these other maps for all the other groups. Totally crazy. Man, just have all the galleries on one map and let the collectors decide where they want to go!
If you go to Prada you know you’ll get what’s acknowledged by everybody else as “cutting edge” but maybe scour some funky district or a flea market and you might just hit on something more original. Occasionally even in C&A you find a total gem. Sure, there is a certain quality that comes with a brand … and a reliability…but there is still a lot out there on the fringes that is really inspiring and exciting.
One of the best things for us this year… because any fair gets stale after a few years as you get stuck in your ‘clique’ of your own making as much as you try to fight it … is the whole economic crisis. It’s making life really hard for all of us, galleries are closing… it’s sad, but at the same time it’s creating a total shift which is going to create something new. It’s an incredibly difficult moment but one full of potential.
In NY I have 65% galleries I’ve never worked with before… on he one hand it sucks: my reliable team of great galleries are too scared or they’ve moved on up to Armory, but I’m also really pleased. Sure, maybe 5% are not up my alley, but for the other 60% it gives them a new opportunity and for me it creates a whole new energy almost like our first year.
Anyway, I guess I have to get back to writing a really dull press release about how exciting my fair is… yada yada… but I was really inspired by the site and your blog.
I would love to invite you and any of your group to either of the fairs–NY or Basel– but I don’t want it to come off as some kind of creepy promotional tool. Just write if you need anything, want to organize a visit or whatever.
I get you passes, I leave you alone.
all the best
Amanda