*I first wrote about this is January of 2011, and I think the question remains relevant. What do you think?
From time-to-time I've heard conversations among artists as to how they see their work. Whether it's unique to the art industry or not, an artist sees his own work through emotional eyes. They see each work as precious. Something that you have created - whether through the medium of paint, or sculpted in clay or carved from stone, glued together bits of paper or welded in steel - seems to be an extension of who you are. Entering a work into your first exhibition is akin to sending your firstborn child off to his or her first day of kindergarten. Nervewracking.
There is much discussion about referring to one's work as "product." If you are an artist whose intention is to sell what you create then I posit that what you produce for sale is the product line of your business. Artists like to see what they create as being in a different realm than say an automobile on the sales floor or a boombox at the discount store. Art galleries often have an ambience of snobbery dependent upon the price tags on the works within...somehow "art" simply can't be seen as a "product."
It's like the discussion of print vs giclee. A giclee IS a print. With the advent of high quality resolution camera work, quality inkjet printers and archival inks and dyes, any artist can produce a fine quality print/giclee right from their own studio. Any artist with these tools can produce an open-ended print run of an image or a limited edition run. What can be done now to differeniate an ordinary print from a special one is to add some hand-applied embellishment. This makes a print a one-of-a-kind reproduction. The word 'giclee' is a subjective way to imbue a print with more panache.
If an artist sets up a booth at an outdoor art festival and puts price tags on his work, then obviously that work is for sale. In sheer business language those artworks are the products of the artist's art business. This is the real challenge for many an artist...translating what they do in the dry terminology of business.
I'm not adverse to saying: my original paintings are for sale and the product of my business; as are my print reproductions, digital art works or other items. These are the products I sell in my business. Calling my work products takes nothing from the art-ness of what I do.
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