Replies: 44 Comments
on Thursday, November 30th, Susi Franco said
Hi Andrew~
Just reviewing the newer comments here. I saw what you said about no one saying the piece is beautiful, I went back and re-read what I wrote and you are correct, I didn't. I talked about the importance of your work, but I didn't say it is beautiful. I thought that was understood. My bad.
The fingertips delicately clasping the leaf speaks to me as mans' attempt to stay connected to nature while living in the midst of systematically destroying it; the sine slithering of the mosaiced serpent, the heavenward obelisks, each carved with icons...are deeply moving and extraordinarily beautiful. I don't have to suck up to you, have no motive other than to tell you the truth. The work is seminal, I feel. There you have it. I won't go on and on about it; as I said, there is no need to pander about or sniff at being a sycophant. It is beautiful and significant. I don't honestly know that I can afford it, but I would like to offer to buy that hand holding the leaf. This assumes it would somehow make it out of the smashing intact, of course. I suspect alot of folks would be thrilled to own a piece of this work, so when you go to smashing, you may want to keep that in mind. Wouldn't it be an amazing irony if you got your price through selling fragments of the whole ???? A very Gestaltian art moment that would be....
Wishing you well..
Warmly: Susi
on Wednesday, November 29th, shailendra said
Dear Andrew,
In indian philosophey the arts have significant role in ritualistic mode. Art objects are considerd as enclosed concioousness absorbed intutively by the artist or the ritual performer in the art object. The shiva lingam is such an object created with lot of emotions and then worshiped and then after worship distroyed (VISERJEN).The conciousness encapsulated in lingam made free . The distruction is underlaying principle of all cration ....
You are reminding me of this first principle
THANKS
SHAILENDRA
ARTIST
BHOPAL
on Sunday, November 26th, olivier said
Andrew,
First I like these five stone, can I? Look at my work; I know I don't have the common taste, but as far as I am concern I beleive I have a taste. You know Vincent cut his ear after a fight with Gaughin, Toulouse spend nights with prostitute, Andre Derain went to an official visit in the nazi reich. I love these artists. Do I love these men? Unlike a certain baron here who complain about a piece sold, put on the market by the collector in an original way, you still own these pieces and you untitled to smash them if you like so. You know people may like it... I don't!
Be funny/creative instead it is more powerfull in my view
on Sunday, November 26th, Andrew said
Olivier, you are the first person commenting that has said this piece is beautiful. No one else did, they at most said, oh Andrew, your (other) work is beautiful...And I am the one who has to make the final judgement. It is not one of my finest pieces, and, historically, other artists like Michelangelo and Leonardo da Vinci destroyed works which they did not feel were absolutely superb. They aren't a bad example to emulate, and from what I see displayed around, we'd be better off if more people did this. Clear the crap that's blocking the sun and let the flowers get some light. Would setting an example be an act of creativity that could be positive if other artists did the same with their lesser creations? I think so.
on Friday, November 24th, olivier bijon said
WHHaoouu. What a story! So? Once it's destroy?? Are you going to have a martini with Paul? And? Yes it can have some media attention, is it the goal? I understand the money pressure in all of us, but.. should we share it? What is the purpose of creativity?
Anyway I am voice left. What can I do? If I was in your situation I will give the piece away; just find a loved museum to accept it and move on. Easy? Go on my web tell me witch piece you want..it's yours! That is my share to keep your beautifull piece alive. Come on Andrew you worth better than that!
on Tuesday, November 21st, Andrew said
Lise, thanks a lot. Sari, I have come to the decision that the best thing for this piece and for me, is that the sculpture does not become a headstone, rather that the next time I see it will be it's funeral. Laura Z., thanks for the support, and I promise to find that Phoenix. Paul, this much crazy stuff has never been concentrated into any one art experience I've ever had...I only lose a tiny piece every ten years to theft, and never have had a big one dropped! The pix are coming soon, maybe in motion on a CD. For the blog I'll post a link to a site with that capability.
on Tuesday, November 21st, Paul Dorrell said
Andrew, I don't know whether to applaud your guts or share your misery. Of all the art shows experiences I've heard, this has to be the craziest. You have it in incredibly whole perspective. Somehow I admire the smashing idea. Does this mean I would ever burn my first novel, which took me 2 years, 8 drafts, and consequently 700,000 words to write? Probably not, even though I know it sucks, but I guess I just don't have your guts. Anxious to see the pictures.
on Monday, November 20th, Laura Z said
As a resident of western NC, not known for its appreciation of unusual art (especially the sensual kind) I know what it is to be raved about (if only compliments were dollars...)only to be run out of town by a few prudes with money and influence. I also know what it is like to destroy a piece of work, or have it destroyed for me. Nothing is ever lost - enjoy swinging the sledgehammer, then see if you don't find something valuable in the pieces that are left. Sometimes the only way to beat the albatross is to destroy it: just be sure to look for the Phoenix in the ashes.
Laura Z the "earthpainter"
on Monday, November 20th, Lise said
Andrew,
Sorry about the analogy (for drama). I didn't know about the contract for removal or the cost of keeping it around, etc.
I wish you well. Your work is remarkable (I don't blog on sites much at all, don't even do my own website, and am mostly too busy for computer stuff, but this caught my eye!).
Be well and keep creating,
Lise
on Monday, November 20th, Sari said
ok...just back to the art for a sec., the five pyramid-like cones at the top beside the article, right?
your albatross reference (from the rime of the ancient mariner) & the story about the gallery owner's death, plus the actual look of the pieces themselves- well, this all makes me think that the aesthetics of the pieces are something of a suggestion for a new style of modern headstone...which would make the demographic of the clients quite different, no?
Death sells very well, but it has to be marketed correctly...I'm guessing a contemporary wealthy funeral service would jump at the chance to provide a gorgeous sculpture by a famous artist as a marker for a celebrity death...not sure if it is archival enough for that kind of long term use, but it is a good idea...maybe a cheaper knock-off, like a print could be made & sold internationally as a new style headstone...no offence intended...but the pieces seem to be appropriate for that kind of purpose...(there is a sculptor already on the web doing custom cremation urns & selling very well)...morbid but very timely...all the best,
on Monday, November 20th, Andrew said
Dear Lise, if only it were that simple. I am obliged by contract to remove the piece, otherwise I can expect to get a huge bill from a carting company. So I have to go down there anyway. I have been too many times already for this piece, this albatross, and I have to bring things to a conclusion that will cut my losses in the future. It's like a car that costs more and more each time you bring it to the mechanic. I am doing some new work that I will be bringing it to Marco Island, and am quite excited about it.
As for the publicity, while some readers have suggested milking it for all it's worth, really I don't need the papers or the tv to have the story told, it's enough that a few Islanders know it happened. From there it passes into local history, less important with each week that goes by. Think of this as writing a novel. What happens in stories is often warming, sometimes sad, sometimes it makes you think, sometimes it's a statement about our condition, and sometimes stories have a happy ending. I'm the author of this one, I'd rather have a bit of romance, a bit of drama, instead of a boring fade away that no one sees. This is an adventure story! Your analogy about people getting blown up is sort of out of place here. Nobody's getting hurt. And, above all, I don't think that all art is good art. Not even my own.
on Monday, November 20th, Lise said
Andrew,
As I said before, I don’t know all of the facts, but here’s my attempt to answer your questions (the ones you put to Margaret, Susi, Gabriella and me), however obliquely:
An artwork like this can last thousands of years. And what will be the benefits of the publicity? Maybe a day in a local paper, mention on local TV news, a blurb in an arts magazine? Or is it something that will rival people blowing up themselves?
Anyway, it is a shame that someone as talented as yourself feels impelled to destroy several months (or a year?) of their life, hard work, thought, expertise, talent, beautiful carvings, etc. It will take $$ to fly over and back to do the dirty deed. Didn’t someone suggest abandonment?
Lise
on Monday, November 20th, Andrew said
Sari, I think I know the answer to what you're suggesting about the owner's family. We remain on very good terms. I didn't even think about holding them responsible for the enormous monetary losses I suffered through my involvement with that gallery, considering that their loss of a human life was far greater. The piece they wanted, the moebius table, was broken. Giving them the five senses pyramids would have been unloading my problem onto them. That's bad karma for me. I have to solve my own problems, and take responsability for having created them. As do you and everyone else, because if we all do that, it will make the world a better place for everyone.
on Monday, November 20th, Sari said
"In general, I am disappointed with my Florida experiences. First, I shipped four sculptures weighing several tons by air to Palm Beach for a gallery whose owner died setting up the show."
this is copied from above...
ok, short thought...there's the curse...
(if someone dies setting up your show, I don't think you're going to have much luck...that's just me, but I think that's the answer...)
p.s. maybe some gesture to the gallery owner's family could reverse your karma...(ie:give them the work...)
on Sunday, November 19th, Brad said
Sure, Here in Texas, I annually have to kill at least one rattlesnake that endangers life in the 'yard' so to speak. I always take the rattler’s tail before other prey scavenges the remains. Seems, dead rattlesnake is quite the delicacy in this neighborhood. So, I could adorn the serpent’s head in a crystal bowl of rattler’s tails. Art and life transformed…
on Sunday, November 19th, Andrew said
Sorry Brad, I don't think that's going to come off in one piece...how about just the head?
on Sunday, November 19th, Brad said
So, if money is the bottom line, maybe I'll take the viper...
on Sunday, November 19th, margaret said
Andrew, get lots of media coverage. You're not destroying the piece, just changing its form and intent. Each piece of the piece you sell could be accompanied by a video of the process.
on Sunday, November 19th, Andrew said
Yeah, Vick but then I couldn't sell the bits here!
on Saturday, November 18th, Vick said
Why don't you sink it to the bottom of the ocean instead? It can be like that Jesus statue. Seriously, no one in sleepy little Marco Island is going to care about a destruction event, but perhaps if you send an advance notice to the press that you intend to sink it as is, maybe someone will step forward and buy it. And if not, it "sleeps with the fishes" in a different way and becomes not a destruction but a new incarnation. Maybe a hurricane will move it to someone's doorstep or impale it into a palm tree. Maybe a Chinese whaling ship will scoop it up in a net. Maybe Spongebob Squarepants is real and he'll showcase it on his cartoon. Think of all the possible future publicity when you abandon it to the sea. Make a water resistant plaque to sink with it telling the story and history of the piece.
on Saturday, November 18th, margaret said
Andrew, if you have lost your connection to the piece, and it sounds like you have, follow your gut feeling and turn it into a happening.
I rented one of those big trash bins they park in your yard, once, when I was moving, and smashed a lot of glass pieces in it. I was moving on to something else and didn't want to haul them around with me. I liked the sound of glass breaking. Actually, that was California and I could probably have sold tickets.
It sounds like you really want to follow through with this, so I say go for it, and document it. (I think its great that you talk about it.) My Mom's family etal were Zelenski's from Russia-- Polak is good!
on Saturday, November 18th, Andrew said
Margaret, Susi, Gabriella and Lise, I have just one question for you. Even if the piece does meet my aesthetic standards, why should I bother moving it again? I live in Italy, and this piece is in Florida. While I won't take the stance of looking down on the taste of Floridians, the distance is a large factor to consider. Here I get to see Andrea Bocelli when he gets back from singing at Tom Cruise's wedding, and I can hear him say, "Sembra che suona bene..." instead of forcing my way in to see the owners of the Esplanade. And hearing them say, "not at the present time, sir" which translated means, "we have no interest in this crap, you ignorant Polack." I just want to spend my time on Earth well. And not waste it convincing people who don't want or need what I make, that they should buy it. Marco has a gallery that wants a piece like Bocelli's. So I'm bringing one. Now, how do you think that piece will be received if I'm packing up another piece that wasn't received well? Or, if I'm an artist that the island is currently talking about because he did something unexpected? There are some benefits for me besides ridding myself of an albatross, and I have no shame in using notoriety to make other pieces ('pieces,' not 'a piece') attractive. What's really unusual, I think, is that I talk about these things instead of trying to hide them.
on Saturday, November 18th, Margaret said
Andrew, I am neither in your head nor in your heart and can't tell you what to do with your work. I can only share something from my personal experience regarding an artwork. And I find I agree with Susi regarding Florida. I recently relocated after a 3-year stint there. My story: I created an artwork. I hauled it with me from place to place during a period when I moved a lot. It had to be disassembled and reassembled each time. It was rejected from juried shows. A gallery asked me to please remove it because it took up too much space. A few years went by. Someone one else commented on it in my studio saying I should put it in the back room because it had too much sad energy. Now, I have changed the form of artwork before, but not that piece. I continued to move it around with me. I could suppose you might call it an albatross, but six years passed and it was purchased for a nice five figure sum and had a place of honor where people viewing it might relate to its content. (I was told) So, I am glad I did not destroy it because it found the place it needed to be.
on Friday, November 17th, Susi Franco said
Dearest Andrew~
I use this term of endearment because in my mind, you are a compatriot, a fellow artist and creator, and one whose career is a genuine inspiration to emerging artists such as myself. Having my work hang in the same gallery with yours was a thrilling step up in my career. :)
Let me begin by saying I regard the entire state of Florida as the Fifth Ring of Hell. Before my art career, I was an RN and was recruited there ( Fla) to work. The job was awesome, but living there felt like a form of punishment. There are some accomplished artists in Fla, to be sure, but you find their work in galleries in heavy traffic tourist areas, where the majority of folks are out of towners, not Floridians.
Having your sculpture in Florida, even a place as lovely as Marco Island, is akin to casting pearls before swine, in the words of the great Bard. Even so, you absolutely cannot destroy it. It has a life of its' own now and deserves to continue to exist. To destroy it because it hasn't sold is the direct equivalent of allowing the marketplace to dictate to you what you should create or not create. That entire construct threatens the integrity of the journey any artist makes during the conception and execution of a piece. I refuse to allow the public the privilege and responsibility of validating my work. It is my journey, my progress and I learn critically important lessons from it as I go along, as we all do in this profession.
Who has not felt the sting of rejection when a work doesn't sell ???!!! But to assume no one was affected by it is just plain wrong, wrong, wrong !
There is a local show I do each year here in New England and hundreds attend it, often the same people each year. There is a young couple who adore one particular painting of mine, but they are both college students with a small child and just don't have the income to pay the price of that painting. I am grateful for their respect and admiration, but I cannot afford to give the work away either. The punch line is, this particular painting is a favorite work of mine but has not been well-received publicly. I was fortunate to be able to know the couple love the work; my point is, I feel certain people have been affected, moved by your work on Marco Island. To assume no one has been moved by your work is the same as saying only people with fat wallets have taste, or that only people with money are legitimate art lovers.
Your frustration and disappointment is truly understandable, and I feel badly that you have suffered this experience. But in a way, it is reassuring. That you, with as extraordinary a career as you have, could feel this way is an opportunity for all us to be reminded what it is that's truly important about what we do. That you, with all you have accomplished, could feel the same way an emerging artist few have heard of also feels, is nothing short of extraordinary and a great bond. It harkens me back through art history, to consider how Van Gogh felt, selling only one painting in his entire career, or how Monet was called a madman when he first debuted Impressionism. Visonaries are rarely appreciated in their own time, Andrew, and you are certainly a visionary. You have utilized some of the processes of the Great Masters, modified them and added your own techniques, resulting in a glorious amalgam of the revered ancient and stunning contemporary.
If you destroy that scuplture, consider all those yet to come, those who would be touched, moved, affected, even inspired by your work. There are generations ahead whose hearts could be turned inside out by your work, but if you destroy it, you deny them that moment in time and you deny an important piece of your overall body of work the chance to continue on long after you leave this plane.
I suspect if you were closer geographically to the work, you'd have the opportunity to observe how people respond to it, which would undoubtedly be educational for you. I think that would allow you to reformulate how you're feeling about this entire situation.
I urge you to take the advice of the TV folks who've posted here; I urge you to contact art establishment venues and media, such as Art News Magazine, for example...find another way to make the statement destroying your piece would make. You owe that, Andrew, to your work, to yourself, to the leagues of sculptors you honor each time you pick up a sculpture tool.
Please don't do it; please don't smash your work.
Tell you what, if I can find a film crew and the funding, I'll go to Marco Island and interview people looking at your work, make a documentary of it and send it to you in Italy. I know that would change your determination to destroy such an important work.
Sometimes people don't undertsand, Andrew, but that does NOT mean we have failed as artists to do our job successfully, competently. You are a contemporary master and must accord that same priority to your creations, all of them equally.
Someone earlier in the posts mentioned the match-the-sofa mentality and I had to laugh because there are few locales where that is more prevalent than Florida. Surely you'll not allow that same meager, limited mentality to dictate to you what of your important body of work is allowed to remain for posterity and what is not ???!!???!!
The world needs your work, Andrew...other artists need to see your stalwart and resolve. As a citizen of both the human and art community ( not necesarily the same, LOL), I implore you to allow the piece to remain.
With Deepest Respect & Admiration,
Susi Franco
on Friday, November 17th, Gabriella said
Andrew - I have given your dilemma some these past few days.
Obviously sculptors who work in weighty materials and of a scale large enough to make delivery, retrieval, storage and/or sales problematic face problems much removed from artisans who work in lighter, easier to transport, store, exhibit materials.
As for destruction of unsold work, yes, sometimes this is a necessity due to constraints of space for storage, but more, often, in my case of dissatisfaction with the outcome of some mis-teps, or misguided decisions in the creation of pieces of work. Sometimes a pre-mature miscarriage prevents the presence of unwanted progeny, and deliberate destruction of our unwanted artistic progeny prevents the proliferation of awkward, ugly, poorly-conceived works from piling up heedlessly and unwanted in the world.
If you are satisfied that this sculpture meets your aesthetic standards, then why not let it live on? You can abandon it to whatever fate awaits it. I know painters who have abandoned bodies of work in warehouses because they could not afford to any longer store them.
Or, if you cannot see this as a solution, why not re-patriate it to your home, install it and wait and see what eventually happens. It might be that you can sell it eventually. This is not a 25 year-old unsold work. Why not take a long view of this situation? What can you lose?
on Friday, November 17th, Lise Winne said
Andrew,
I don't pretend to know your mind and all of the circumstances, but I would just ask you just once more to consider other options.
As you said in your blog, you are destroying the work from lack of public response and you also don’t expect the work to be any better received in various suggested places in Florida. And you get better publicity through destruction. Consider the culture: airwaves full of aberrant violent acts, unusual and deviant sexual acts, and parking lots, freeways, malls and tract housing mowing down everything that is beautiful whether natural or man-made. When I think of America, I think of a man who bought a beautiful old ornate house and put a huge space heater in front of a marble relief sculpture that came with the house, who replaced the lights with tube florescent lighting, who made the parquet floors into swiss cheese to accommodate lots of computers, who covers those floors with cheap carpeting, and on and on.
To reiterate, keep art that is meaningful and beautiful (no matter what the current response) for more enlightened generations or cultures. If you do not want to give it to charity, think about transforming them into beautiful pillars and taking their weapon-like tops off, taking the word "make" as your guide for further carving on those pieces. You will, in effect, still be able to keep your word about destroying the pieces as they exist in their present state, only it will not be a violent act.
Also remember that art does not often find a home right away (case in point: Impressionists were not appreciated in their own countries).
Lise
on Friday, November 17th, Andrew said
I tried to give this piece away many times, to schools, to children's parks, to day care centers. No one whom I approached wanted it. That's probably the strongest 'thumbs down' I got in any of my dialogues. And I can accept it, because when people like my work, they show me again and again. No tears. You'll be able to buy the scraps right here in January, if you want a solid souvenir from this blog, dirt cheap.
on Friday, November 17th, mark said
Brad has a good point. Maybe, Andrew, you should just give it away, a local, public school perhaps. It will be enjoyed by the kids and not destroyed and it will no longer be a burden for you. Good luck.
on Thursday, November 16th, Brad said
When I attended The University of North Texas, School of Fine Art's Sculpture Program, I worked a semester on a glass pyramid made of hundreds of hand-cut strips of glass - each individually sized, shaped, and sandblasted. When I put the work together, and reached to within the final ten pieces of glass to be attached - the whole work imploded on my work table. I considered the physics, and the shear weight of the matter, and decided to try again. Then again, near the completion of the second pyramid’s cap, I was struck by tragedy. This time, I felt I had shifted weight while working the piece, and may have allowed my hand to slip and bang the work causing it to implode again. Now I was pissed. I attempted the endeavor a third time - only on this last attempt, I recreated the piece in sub-sections, so I could transport it more easily, and, it would not be totally weighted until exhibition. When I had put the piece together, and was cleaning up my packing mess, the child of a student came over to my work, when I was turned away, and the next thing I heard - was my art imploding into a thousand pieces once again (12 weeks of work finally reaching it's final conclusion). The unsupervised child fled and was not hurt. I decided to leave the broken work in it's smashed state, and presented it as a representation of art never completely perfected, that streak of bad luck, which is part of working one's art on the edge of possibilities - one definition I think of art as being. Anyway, my professor failed me on the project, since I had not designed the work to fail. What I took from that was - had I designed my artwork to succeed - by imploding it before the class and instructor, it would have been successful. But since my original goal was for the work to live past its conception – which it didn’t – the both of us were deemed a failure. Oh well, so much water under the bridge. I don’t like the idea of destroying art already in the world… Once I’ve let go of it (even partially) – I am no longer its only owner, and to steal it back, just to destroy it as a spectacle, would seem a selfish act. I’d rather advertise it as a gift of art for anyone who could convince me, through essay – they deserved to own it. That would be a better end to my considerations, and the world would finally be the better for saving art instead of cheering at its demise. Artists get such a bad rap as it is – to destroy one's one work so publicly, when such an event was not an original idea in the art's creation, gets a bad grade from me - I agree with my professor…
on Thursday, November 16th, June Parrish Cookson said
Andrew, I found your act of destroying your piece intriguing. Makes me feel somewhat better when I think back on the many paintings I have destroyed. Of course, during or after the act, there is the feeling of regret. Did you feel this? Whenever the urge hits me, though rare anymore, I do my destruction in private. I could never do this in front of anyone. But in the final analysis, there always comes a feeling of rejuvenation. I can now go on to the next painting. It's quite liberating. Good luck on your artistic endeavors!
on Thursday, November 16th, Vick said
Actually, in Florida it is styrofoam, a lot of it. It's some wierd conglomeration of styrofoam sprayed with cement juice. I stumbled upon it at an ugly townhouse complex with a lot of gratuitious ornate crapulent meaningless appendages trying to make it look classy. It's the Disney effect. There was a big chip in one of the decorative balls on an exterior staircase landing. The ball looked like cast cement, but it was styrofoam. All the fixtures were styrofoam. You could knock on them and they were hollow.
Are you sure you aren't just pissed it didn't sell? I mean, how do you know it didn't communicate with someone? Just because they didn't take it one step further and tell the artist they had a moment with a piece doesn't mean they didn't. You don't really know how pieces will impact on others or the depth of that impact.
on Thursday, November 16th, mark said
Maybe I am wrong, maybe I am simple, but it seems much is being read into Andrew's wanting to destroy the work. Andrew, is destroying your work ment to be a statement or just a way of disposong of it at little cost or because you don't care for the work? I have destroyed paintings, not to make a staement but only to re-use the canvas. Am I wrong or is much being made out of little? Only you Andrew can answer that. Good luck whatever you do. Do what what feels right in your gut.
on Thursday, November 16th, Andrew said
Excuse me Lise, your post just came up as I was writing mine. I respect your viewpoint. This is a very polarized issue, to do this or not to do this. The world is the world, and I am me. I think the negative effect this will have on the world and its artistic heritage will be less significant than the positive effect this will have on me and my work. It's great to see people expressing their leanings. The questions are, what's positive and what's negative for me, and what's positive and negative about this for others?
on Thursday, November 16th, Andrew said
I have to address a few of the points that have been raised, the most judgemental ones first. Janel, there's a genuine concept behind everything anybody does. And it may be in your nature to have temper tantrums, but its not in mine. This is an interior solution to an albatross problem. Audrey, I have no plans as yet to record it, or scream as I make the pieces small enough to easily load into a hauling service truck. But I also don't wish this to be presented as my defining piece on public television, because there are better ones out there. Phil, it won't be hollow to destroy a piece that failed, because my definition of failing has nothing to do with selling. It's about communicating, which this piece just didn't do. I know my other pieces do, at least to some people. Minaz, as an artist I feel undeservedly rewarded, not frustrated. Who else makes their living just from art? I don't know anybody...if there are any of you out there, please let me know. Olga, yeah, maybe I could sell it, with more effort, but I'd rather visit friends and family during the holidays, and spend as little time rehashing this as possible. Jose and Mark, alternative usage will certainly creep into my conciousness as the weeks pass. I won't be able to stop that, it's my nature. Vick, I've been to Naples to death, and I was horrified at the mediocre monumental marble figures I saw there. And as for having better luck there...it's the same crowd as Marco Island. Most of Florida's developers, who would be my buyers, try to get the most theatrical look for their creations, but it's as if everything is made out of styrofoam, like a movie set. Not like the Sforza's palace in Milan. And Matt, thanks.
on Thursday, November 16th, Lise Winne said
I disagree with your move. Your work is very, very good and wars destroy plenty of good art and architecture. It's an act of war on your work, on yourself and on future generations who may be more enlightened than they are now.
Instead of destruction, give this work away to a city or a library or a wooded sanctuary or a park or a depressed place that needs the word "make" in it. The message on your work says "make", yes? Not destroy.
Talent and peace take a lifetime to develop. Destruction and violence to talent and peace takes a matter of seconds or minutes to implement. Violence will always be a lower order and demoralizing to all involved.
Please think about this before going through with it.
on Thursday, November 16th, janel said
It's only a "conceptual happening" if there's a genuine concept behind it. Break it to bits if you want, but don't fool yourself into thinking that it's motivated by anything more high-minded or revolutionary than a temper tantrum. You're frustrated. Most of us are. Such is life. Suck it up.
on Thursday, November 16th, Audrey Roberts said
Hi Andrew,
I am the Executive Producer of ARTV! We work with over one hundred artists globally in Many Mediums...Are u a Creator or Destroyer? I think u need to get a grip! Its really a wonderful public art display & Marco Island is just a weeny little dot on the map!
My suggestion: Sounds like you need some attention, and of course, you deserve it. My
mission is to "Spotlite Fine artists"! Now the days of trashing art are very 19th, 20th Century!
So, please go to the AWARDS website and see what we are doing in the 21st century!
The ARTV film team will be in Flordia Jan 4-11, 2007. Why don't we just film you & your work for TV. Yes, this PUBLIC ART display needs to be installed in the right Locale!
Please take all that pented up energy and create
more ART!
Stay Inspired!
AUDREY ROBERTS
A living MUSE!
on Thursday, November 16th, Phil said
Andrew I think smashing this particular piece will only be a hollow gesture unless you smash all of your existing unsold works.
on Thursday, November 16th, Minaz Jantz said
Therapy & art costs… if smashing, burning or any way destroying your own art helps to give yourself emotional closure and in creating a ‘happening’ to wake up the people to a frustrated artist who ARE culture… then why not?
Vancouver Canada can be a dead end for many artists who don’t conform to water-color boat landscapes or Emily Carr school of Arts. A fellow artist had similar emotional and financial dilemmas as you and decided to sacrifice a large canvas by lighting it on fire out front of our city’s Court House where he could sufficiently be arrested with out much trouble. Four of us photographed the flaming Priests Penis event. This painting was on target conceptually to describe authority and its actions. Viewers took the time to talk with us photographers about why, what and who. Turns out the most interested observers where people who lived in countries where you might be killed to perform such an event. They wanted to see how Canadian authority handled the situation. As it turns out I was the small bitty woman with the new digital Canon SLR who one cop decided that my camera was now going to be confiscated as part of the investigation. I reassured him over my arrested body that I was not going to hand over a new camera but was willing to go into the court house to down load copies of the fire burning event. He said no he wanted the whole camera. I asked why not the others, why me as Global Television camera guy started to bail and leave me dealing with the cop. THIS is what should have been filmed… the conceptual meaning of this artist’s event. The artist was arrested and fined for various small things and I ran away with my camera as quick as my little legs could carry me. The bully cop didn’t chase… to embarrassing for him at this point.
on Thursday, November 16th, Olga said
Andrew,
I do understand..but! I've spent 6 month on one painting, I painted it over and over. Once I waned to destroy it, to trash it out. I could not look at it anymore and could not do anytrhing with it. But! I let it stay for a while. Then after 2 month I returned to this tortured canvas and tried again and, finally, got something, satisfactory...still did not like it much. Funny, I sold it on the 2nd day of my exhibition in my small city. Bottom line - you never know where is your client and what he/she would prefer.
on Thursday, November 16th, jose said
The work comes out of the studio but there's a lot to do once you let it out, many situations can be detrimental if not acted upon. Andrew, destroying your own work of art should not be taboo, and I definitely agree with Matt and Mark's suggestions - consider an alternative use of the wreckage and film the whole sequence of events. I already look forward to reading about what happens.
on Thursday, November 16th, Mark said
Andrew,
To use an over used saying maybe you can "Make lemonade out of the lemons". After destroying the work maybe the bits and pieces could be pilled in the middle of a room in a museum as a statement about the arts today or sell the pieces individually. It will require some promotion but who knows. Then again maybe thats not such a good idea. As far as destroying work, well I think there are many reasons for doing so, I have destroyed many of my paintings for various reasons, and I feel good about it. Not all things should last forever.
on Thursday, November 16th, Vick said
Andrew, as cathartic as smashing a piece to bits might be, before you do that check out Naples, Florida. Naples has a gallery row and it's not too far from Marco Island.
The problem in the Florida market isn't a lack of wealthy clients, it's ignorance, a match-the-sofa mentality, a place where people visit 4 months out of the year but really live somewhere else. I sold a lot to Florida clients from my gallery in San Francisco, but I have found the Florida gallery owners to be, uh, well, I won't really write that down but I will tell you a recent story with a gallery owner. I have a very wealthy client interested in several of my paintings. I hate dealing with clients so I asked this gallery owner to help me broker 1 deal with a separate client and then I would have asked her to broker the big deal worth probably about $18,000 for multiple pieces. I was lined up to have a show at the gallery so asking the owner to broker a sale in advance of my show seemed like good business.
Long story short, this gallery director hounded the client--absolutely hounded her. This was a client who I had, I brought to the gallery with name and phone number interested in my work. The director turned off this woman to her, my work, any future hope of a sale. The gallery director then hounded the woman about real estate! She was a real estate agent on the side and seeing a wealthy client apparently saw no conflict of interest trying to poach my client for her own stupid real estate side business. I pulled out of showing with this wanker, I can certainly alienate my own clients if that was the goal. It was horrifying and ridiculous and totally unprofessional.
Many of the dealers in Florida seem unprofessional and uninformed. You will really have to dig to find a decent one. Many of them also only open 4 months out of the year "in season", which is anything between Thanksgiving and the end of March. Many of them also have galleries somewhere else, like Cape Cod or Atlanta or NYC. They do not cultivate clients as long term collectors, they look at one sale and that is it. It is a short sighted approach, but with a transient tourist population maybe that is what they have to do to stay in business.
Anyway, check out Naples. You might have better luck there.
on Thursday, November 16th, matt said
Andrew,
I admire you for taking such a giant leap... it couldn't of been a very easy decision to reach. I think the conceptual idea has great potential, but document it in film.
There comes a time, in an artist’s life, when a piece of work turns into an albatross. I want to give you a little background on a situation which brought me to the decision to destroy one of my largest pieces, Does This Not Make Sense, still viewable on my page until January 5th, when I will fly to Marco Island in Florida, and do the deed. In its present location, the Esplanade, it is surrounded by some of the most popular restaurants and bars in the city, and through it I received some of the best press I have ever gotten anywhere. 
