Artemisia: Living with Art

On Bettina Tizzy’s NPIRL blog yesterday is a thoughtful and important article by Larry Johnson (aka Larry Pixel) of NMC about supporting art and artists in SL. This is in the aftermath of the closing or reduction of several sims at MNC devoted to art, as well as the announcement by Rez Semple of the closing of the Angel Dorei Museum. These have arguably been among the most important venues for art in SL and it’s a good time to reflect on these issues.

Larry noted, “NMC has reduced its hosting of artists from dozens to a very small number — and none of those we currently host have control over a full sim. That is a big departure from past practice.” Larry goes on to state “The reasons are largely *not* economic,” but are rather the result of the disparate interests between land owners and artists. Gallery owners are largely interested in making money in order to pay for their land. Land is required for the prims of which all SL art is made. (Imagine a time when only land owners could provide a painter with canvas.) Artists are also interested in making money, but without prims, nobody’s going to make anything. So the prim is the basic unit of value in SL.

Art in SL is ephemeral. Sim-wide installations are horribly expensive to maintain. The demand for prims is relentless in order to make new work, adding pressure to the need to remove good work to make room for others. The prim-based economy is brutal and may be among the greatest motivators to escape the confines of SL and have a true open sim world.

Larry goes on to say, “I’d love to sit down for coffee with some of the other large landowners who support the arts in SL. I bet we’d all share similar experiences; primarily that historically there has been little benefit that accrues to a sponsor from hosting an artist.”

I’m not a large land owner. I am an artist, a sim owner, and a gallery owner. Under the astute direction of retiring curator RobertSteven Smythe, the Galerie de la Vie has presented a wonderful series of shows over the last year highlighting the biggest names in SL art. The ones you know by their first names: Alizarin, Misprint, Elros, Glyph, Sunn, Gwen, etc. But since our gallery is not dependent on traffic or sales, we are able to take more risks. As we have now established a reputation for quality, my hope for with the next curator of the Galerie is to present shows by lesser known artists who can more benefit from an important show.

The concept of Artemesia, and especially the Galerie de la Vie, is about living with art. It’s a fundamentally different business model than I have seen elsewhere and I think developments across the SL art world have vindicated it. The idea is simple. The residents of Artemisia support the space with their rent as a part of having an interesting place to live and work. The curator gets to work with creative people and to present wonderful art. The artists get a beautiful venue to show their work. Everyone wins. No money changes hands. We ask no commissions and our exhibitors are welcome to sell their work if they want. We do not get involved in that.

Similarly, the Treehouse club at Artemisia presents select live music performances three nights a week. We provide the space, send notices to groups and post events to calendars, and provide an intimate venue like no other in SL. We do not pay our performers. They keep their tips and they generally do very well with them. More importantly for the artists, they play in a unique venue managed by people who care about them. The venue also gets good tips, which are generally used to improve facilities on the island, but are not required to keep it running.

If the Galerie and Treehouse closed, Artemisia would still be here. We provide these facilities for the love of art, not to generate revenues. But in so doing, we also create a community of art loving residents willing to support these activities.

In short, we have a collaborative relationship among our residents, curator, and exhibitors, all aimed at making something wonderful. The costs are not an issue as long as we can maintain a small community of happy residents who understand what a special place it is. In short, we DO get involved with our exhibiting artists and I am certain that most are very aware of the costs and value of having a place to present their work. All of our artists have been most appreciative of the opportunity. They DO mention the hosts of their exhibitions because we engage them to understand that their presence is made possible by our residents. If Larry and NMC think their exhibitors are unappreciative, perhaps that they have not sufficiently educated the artists about their mission.

“There is a huge need in SL for artists to acknowledge the symbiotic nature of their relationships with landowners, and they need to take the time to learn and appreciate the work patrons are doing. And they need to help those people succeed. I can’t point to a single example in SL that meets that standard.” Point to Artemisia and the Galerie de la Vie.

“I think learning how to nurture support for the virtual arts is a self-education project that SL artists need to undertake for their own good.” I agree. What are you doing to help them? Do you actively engage your artists? Give them a tour of NMC? Take time to explain what you’re about? Do you ask them to put the place in their picks? Have you engaged the artists in your community, or just handed them the keys to the sim? Are you coordinating class tours with some of those universities? I hear a lot of whining and finger pointing in this article. SL is about possibilities. It only happens if you make it happen. Perhaps the finger should be pointed inward.