Wednesday 07th September 2016
The art world is always in need of a shake-up. Whenever things get too settled down, by that point a changing of the guard is already long overdue. In what you would call 'industries', this phenomenon has come to be known as 'disruption', the latest buzzword that everyone needs to have a piece of in order to secure venture capital. While artists would never admit to it, the art world is an industry as much as any other - and so it is also subject to disruption.
That's where art fairs came into play. During the '00s and early '10s, the entire art world was shaken to its core by the sudden explosion of art fair popularity. Suddenly every single city with any kind of notable artistic community had to have its own art fair. Celebrities flocked to them, and so did artists and patrons. The gallery world was in disarray, and the auction world felt the rumblings of change.
So naturally, it was only a matter of time before the art fair world in turn was ready for disruption. Enter the Digital Madrid Art Fair!
Wait, what?
Yes, you read that right. While it's not immediately clear why it needs to have a specific location associated with it, the fifth iteration of a digital art fair has just launched. Founded by Kadeem Fletcher in 2014, version 5.0 just launched on June 16 of this year. Originally started featuring exclusively computer generated images, the project was such a success that it has grown dramatically to include photography, illustration, and fashion design - while still maintaining touch with its roots in the digital art world.
Speaking to the blog The Creators Project, Fletcher explains: "I have the foundation for delivering ideas and products, and I definitely use the skills that I've learned in school to better any creative situation I am in."
It's not really related to Madrid at all, which is arguably a bit of a weak spot in the marketing side of things, but then again Madrid represents a grounded physical location that those who are on the edge of taking the digital plunge can relate to without straying too far outside their comfort zone.
While it may be savvy marketing, is it savvy art? That really depends on what you think about the nature of art, and the nature of disruption. It could be argued that even the most basic disruption is actually an art form because it requires a deep and intrinsic understanding of something before a new reaction is created.
If that isn't true art, what is?
Posted on September 07th 2016 on 07:44pm