This Is Not a Brand
Posted on May 11, 2008
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I’m going through an irregular but not infrequent rethink of how the gallery operates not least because by instinct I like to work on a project basis but also because I get involved with artists specifically because it seems to me they think in non-commercial ways and that happens to be a good antidote to the power of brands to persuade us to adopt values that can sink us financially and socially. I have a serious objection to the term brand because it really means persuading the public to buy into their own emotions through a product. That’s not to argue that products don’t arouse emotions but it is to say often it is not the product but the marketing strategy that we end up identifying with.
I happen to think that is unsustainable in the same way that I think leaving social and economic regulation to markets is unsustainable. The development of conversational marketing from its roots in the Cluetrain Manifesto is really a call to reintroduce the human element into commerce. My motivation for the gallery was the despair I felt whenever someone forced me to watch a PowerPoint presentation. I always used to think - I’d rather be looking at Polish theatre posters or a Van Gogh. It was that ability of marketing to force me in those days to look at bullet point lists that nearly drove me to despair.
So I’m thinking of re-naming the gallery This is Not A Brand in tribute to the powe of art and creativity to stimulate our thinking away from what traditional marketing would like us to focus on, think and feel.
Here’s the new logo!
Orphan Works Bill
Posted on May 9, 2008
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I got this via EJ so decided to set up a petition over at thepetitionsite.com. I’ve never launched a petition before so it’s new territory. Still I am tired of big businesses trying to rook artist and writers work.
Please sign it and pass it on. Here is a blog dedicated to trying to illuminate what this Bill will do to the rights particularly of visual artists.
One World Wallet
Posted on May 8, 2008
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It’s a slow blog time and no time to get round to image of the week largely because I’ve been up to my gills launching oneworldwallet. It’s one of a series of art projects we have planned. Fragments is coming up soon. Oneworldwallet is a social media art project and it’s a little cross-reality. It all goes under the heading of This Is Not A brand, a new art label that is promoting non-branded goods.
View my page on One World Wallet
It begins with a series of wallets made by artist Jon Coffelt. The wallets are made from duct-tape and are absolutely beautiful and unbelievably durable. In these financially stressed times we though we’d do two things:
First we wanted to say to people put some art in your pocket. it’s not expensive and it’s better than buying brands.
And second we wanted to say be a part of the art if you wish. By joining the OWW social network your photo uploads, videos and text can become part of a larger art work Jon is engaged in creating.
That also means you get access to free art downloads which you can print at home, at the office or through a fine art printer. We starting off with a choice of five, crated from our wallet wall in Ten Cubed. It’s a great project. Hope you’ll get involved. A Euro per wallet goes to Amnesty International.
Design and The Elastic Mind
Posted on April 28, 2008
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I can’t get to New York to see the MoMA’s Design and the Elastic Mind though I can access the impressive website and I have interviewed the curator.
Reading through the site and my notes on the interview led me to the Scripted by Purpose, a design blog and there was a post by Aranda/Lasch. Aranda/Lasch are architects but the blog post I hit upon as soon as I got there was on the photography of snow flakes. Well, you can sense already the intrigue.
Here is a snowflake. Beautiful I’m sure you will agree.
And the minds behind Aranda/Lasch must be beautiful too. One of their exhibits is this - Rules of Six.
It seems to be an experiment in generative structures using an algorithm that…. I shouldn’t pretend to know.
Image of the week 4
Posted on April 23, 2008
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Wow, it’s been busy. I haven’t been able to post much as we gear up to launch the One World Wallet. Here though is my image of the week. It is called Window and it’s a Fragment. Fragment is a series we are launching soon. So many projects on the go!
Basically Fragments is a project where I’ve asked artists to go back to a work and select a fragment that in some way typifies the larger work or has special resonance. This fragment is called Window and it is from a street scan called Cathedral by Nathaniel. We have some interesting artists lined up for Fragments more of which later when I’ll also get round to posting Cathedral.
The Underbranded Thong
Posted on April 17, 2008
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Wanted to share this with you. First in a long line of products with ultra low brand values. Just need to go to This is not a brand’s shop at Cafe press.
This Is Not A Brand
Posted on April 17, 2008
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I started the gallery in the belief that it would give me a stable income without a huge amount of effort but I find I’m putting huge amounts of effort into novel projects. Fragments is coming up soon (more about that later) and a new project This Is Not a Brand is warming up over on Thisisnotabrand.wordpress.com. We’re due to launch soon with a duct-tape wallet from Jon Coffelt. In the meantime I spent yesterday designing a logo for it. Here is my favourite.
Yes it is banal but that is part of the point. This Is Not a Brand products will be art works that can be used in everyday life so the idea is This Is Not A Brand, This Is A Work Of Art which clearly this logo is not.
Image of the Week 3
Posted on April 15, 2008
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I can’t decide between these two images. The first is Jon Coffelts Wallet Wall. A wall of wallets made out of duct tape, a trend, that Jon started.
What do I like about it? I think the sheer centrality of wallets to our culture. Wallets, purses, handbags. It makes me wonder why we haven’t seen art focused on that before. That’s one reason. And then the use of duct tape. So much more appropriate than leather. The image trashes our spending culture while remaining colourful and inviting.
I can’t decide if the wallets is the best image I’ve seen this week or…. what about this one? A motorway which I believe is in or around Miami that Jon would like to cover with duct tape on plexiglass panels. I undertand this project is stalled but just looking at it here what an exhibition space and what colours. Every motorway should have them.
Are You Adaptable?
Posted on April 15, 2008
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I thought I knew what being adaptable meant, being open to change too but then I picked this up from an essay that accompanies the current MoMA show; Design and the Elastic Mind.
“Adaptability is an ancestral distinction of human intelligence, but today’s instant variations in rhythm call for something stronger: elasticity. The by-product of adaptability + acceleration, elasticity is the ability to negotiate change and innovation without letting them interfere excessively with one’s own rhythms and goals.”
That was written by Paola Antonelli. The full essay can be found here.
King Arthur, Bantry
Posted on April 11, 2008
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This is a portrait of the legendary King Arthur, he who had a Roundtable and a lot of Knights. It was taken over in Bantry by E.J. as part of a project to document Avalon in Ireland. Might not make a whole lot of sense put like that but EJ insists that Avalon my well have been Co Cork. With time on his hands he is recreating the look and feel of the Arthurian Court. We’re currently on the hunt for a suitable venue to exhibit the portraits of all of King Arthur’s associates and a few suggestive photographs of the mystical Avalon.