The Shape of Time is an important work by Kubler that digs in to the question of centre and periphery as well as entry points for individual artists within specific historical moments.
This is a book with a lot to offer in a small number of pages. Look it up and enjoy a further discussion.
Hi Marie, another enjoyable read – thanks for the research and writing getting us thinking! A couple of things occurred to me:
1. I remember in one of our meet ups, you mentioned (I think it was you) that one of the reasons Contemporary Art is everywhere now, is that it’s the only art available to buy. All the other art is already ‘collected’ or ‘owned’. You didn’t mention that in here.
2. I would love to see more about the core-periphery issue in the art world (that is a foundational concept from Geography by the way 😊 I think that is worthy of some more research, in particular your comment that “the movement, then, between centre and periphery is significant in that it slowly instigates artistic change across social fields’ I was interested in reading more about that idea. Some examples perhaps.
Thanks, Michele, for insightful comments and questions!
Re: 1. I think you are referring to a conversation we had about why contemporary art is popular with collectors. Contemporary art - in this case meaning art made today by any living artist - is the most affordable art because the artists are still alive and making new work (thus more supply). Old dead "masters" have stopped producing therefore limited supply. The singular value of the dead "masters" has also been proven by time - they have their place in the museums. Younger artists, on the other hand, are still proving their worth and collectors may buy their work for less but are also taking a gamble (like the stock market) that the artist's product will increase in value over time.
Re: 2 - Some examples would be good. How the centre and periphery of the Art World relate has always fascinated me - maybe because I live in Canada and far from the artistic centres of the world! It is a topic that I often address in my work, especially my research and writing on Chinese contemporary art (see Dissidence: The Rise of Chinese Contemporary Art in the West (MIT: 2018), for example). My next post (if I get it finished!) will look at an interesting relationship between centre and periphery.
PS - I would love some recommendations on geography texts that address centre-periphery.
The Shape of Time is an important work by Kubler that digs in to the question of centre and periphery as well as entry points for individual artists within specific historical moments.
This is a book with a lot to offer in a small number of pages. Look it up and enjoy a further discussion.
Thanks, Garry. This is one of the first books I bought when I attended art school in the 1980s. It got me thinking about how art becomes art.
Hi Marie, another enjoyable read – thanks for the research and writing getting us thinking! A couple of things occurred to me:
1. I remember in one of our meet ups, you mentioned (I think it was you) that one of the reasons Contemporary Art is everywhere now, is that it’s the only art available to buy. All the other art is already ‘collected’ or ‘owned’. You didn’t mention that in here.
2. I would love to see more about the core-periphery issue in the art world (that is a foundational concept from Geography by the way 😊 I think that is worthy of some more research, in particular your comment that “the movement, then, between centre and periphery is significant in that it slowly instigates artistic change across social fields’ I was interested in reading more about that idea. Some examples perhaps.
Thanks again!
Thanks, Michele, for insightful comments and questions!
Re: 1. I think you are referring to a conversation we had about why contemporary art is popular with collectors. Contemporary art - in this case meaning art made today by any living artist - is the most affordable art because the artists are still alive and making new work (thus more supply). Old dead "masters" have stopped producing therefore limited supply. The singular value of the dead "masters" has also been proven by time - they have their place in the museums. Younger artists, on the other hand, are still proving their worth and collectors may buy their work for less but are also taking a gamble (like the stock market) that the artist's product will increase in value over time.
Re: 2 - Some examples would be good. How the centre and periphery of the Art World relate has always fascinated me - maybe because I live in Canada and far from the artistic centres of the world! It is a topic that I often address in my work, especially my research and writing on Chinese contemporary art (see Dissidence: The Rise of Chinese Contemporary Art in the West (MIT: 2018), for example). My next post (if I get it finished!) will look at an interesting relationship between centre and periphery.
PS - I would love some recommendations on geography texts that address centre-periphery.