My biggest discomfort with painting has always been it's EXPENSIVENESS, and what that means in a broader social sense. The material is expensive and it demands a serious time commitment. And time is money, no? Who pays for it? Who gets to enjoy the fruits of this labor of love?

My ideal audience is not the very rich, but who else can afford to finance a life in painting? I'm fortunate to have an academic job in what could still be a called a socialist country, so I've managed to escape these concerns to some degree. But that can't be the answer for everyone, and conversations I've had lately with students have reminded me of the importance of pursuing a more universal model for an independent artistic economy.

Every time I've shown in a commercial art gallery, I feel disgusted by the arbitrariness of how art is priced. I remember reading an interview with Lucian Freud when I was a teenager, where he's asked how he feels about his work commanding such high prices. He answers: "It says nothing about the quality of the work, but as far as I'm concerned, the more the better!" It's a rather a dubious remark: the market has the last word on "quality" and everyone knows that private collectors have increasing influence on what we see in museums and 'public institutions.'

Of course, paintings must be somewhat expensive due to the cost of the materials and the labor involved. But not irrationally expensive. I'd like to get a handle on the situation by meeting with some sort of financial consultant to develop a system of artistic employment for myself. A professional "rate" for my services. What's my job description? The purpose of the position? The terms of the job: how am I assessed? When can I give myself a raise?

All of this will be outlined, so that when I do a show in a COMMERCIAL GALLERY with work FOR SALE (March 2009), the art can be priced according to a documented system of production. From labor costs (including research!) to material costs, plus the cost of the gallery commission. Okay, so this is sort of jokey. But it's important to call attention to the issue! And of course, the painting job isn't limited to producing commodities. Speaking and writing about painting is also important!

As Seth Price asks, "Does one have an obligation to view the work first hand? What happens when a more intimate, thoughtful, and enduring understanding comes from mediated discussions about an exhibition, rather than from a direct experience of the work? Is it incumbent on the consumer to bear witness, or can ones art experience derive from magazines, books, the internet, and conversation?"

From a gmail chat with Carmelle Safdie:

Carmelle: did you find an economist?
me: the trick is that i'm making a "making of" movie
no, no economist.
the closest thing to that is that all the work is being done within one month of full time labor
so i could try to break it down into a months salary,
Carmelle: cool
7:46 PM me: but then again, as an artist you need money for the next thing
so it's complicated!
Carmelle: but maybe you should factor in that you may not sell it all when you brak it down.
me: it would be nice to find a willing economist!
yeah of course
7:47 PM Carmelle: maybe you should ask the gallery what percentage of the show they estimate to sell. and figure that you need money for this month and the month after the show
me: i was thinking it would be funny to do something like, each item is the cost of the entire show until TWO pieces are sold, which halves the cost
so that, the more sales, the cheaper each piece
Carmelle: that;s cool. you need a brave first buyer
me: yeah... i don't think it would work!
7:48 PM Carmelle: maybe people could get a group together. i like that idea
it would encourage a level of involvement from the buyer that's unusual
7:49 PM me: well, it's true that i could factor in my labor and materials, and come up with a price for the whole show, and publicize this system according to that...
it would be fun
like a reverse auction!
the cost of a new digital camera will have to be included because i was getting some distance on a big painting today, walking backwards, and i stepped on it and crushed the viewing screen!
7:50 PM Carmelle: yeah, i think if you jsut break down the cost of the show that's actually what a lot of artists are doing .trying to cover their costs and factor how much they'll sell, etc. but this new method is more engaging. the buyers get involved in the process
oh no!
me: i'll have to ask the gallerist if he's okay with that... it would still be kind of a complicated thing...
the group would have to trust each other
7:51 PM because if some people bail out, the other buyers have to shoulder a bigger cost
Carmelle: well, how much would the price be?
whatever it is it's probably not that much for one rich dealer to buy and it could quickly get affordable with a small group
me: the gallerist takes half, so, i think it should be at least 15,000 bucks
i want a very good wage here!
Carmelle: well maybe you can do that while the show is up but then tell them if it doesn't sell you'd be willing ot have them just split up the sosts and sell it after the fact. or id that a cop out?
7:53 PM me: i don't know, i think it would drive me totally nuts
anyway i'm having a lot of fun making the work...
Carmelle: i like the idea that you'd be putting social responsibility on the buyer.
me: yeah, it would definitely be an interesting experiment in consumer behavior anyway
7:55 PM Carmelle: so then if someone wanted to buy out the whole show could they? or is it just one piece per person
me: yeah sure, someone could buy the whole show,
Carmelle: lots of details to work out
7:56 PM me: i guess what's nice is that you would want to encourage other people to buy work, so it would cheaper for you as a buyer -- but this would make it cheaper for everybody. so buying would become more and more democratic, as it became more and more democratic.
if that makes sense
however some pieces are bigger than others! i don't know how that would be made "fair"
7:58 PM i have to pee
7:59 PM okay i peeed
Carmelle: that makes sense. maybe a few small pieces could come in a bundle together
or the big pieces could be like x shares in the total price
me: aha, yeah that's good.
8:00 PM i could install it that way; i was thinking of some clusters anyway
Carmelle: yeah, maybe thinking of it as shares in your show is good. but you cna only sell the whole show. that;s how it works.
me: i like this x shares idea!
it would be nice to have a list, with the x shares appearing there instead of a price
Carmelle: yeah, very economic
and relevant to the current situation too
me: YOU'RE my economist! who woulda guessed
8:01 PM Carmelle: must say i surprised myself wit hthat one