Tad Too Late?

Malaysians are usually a tad too late warming up to world trends, but when we do, we are often hasty, when beamed with pockets of success stories of others, never considering the longer term effects it may have over the whole ecology. As we commute our excitement, we subconsciously fell in line and became the follower of trends, never for once the setter. At the other end of the scale, we would often be left with the final few grains on our palms where others have grazed, after they have moved on to greener pastures. Such is us.

Our national gallery is not at its infancy. But oftentimes, I wonder if there is indeed a national narrative to begin with or that we have spiralled down strutting in a ring filled with the shallow opinions of horse traders, zealots, lobbyists, backdoor experts and money driven leeches; if you could consider them as loyal fans to begin with. Are these the personalities the colourful bedrock upon which we shape our vision? How do our agencies define the limits of their involvement and how far have they gone in pushing the boundaries of our identity?

Our neighbouring compatriots have gone milestones ahead of us, curating not only interesting visual exhibitions but visitor experiences, and have undertaken membership recruitment drives, patron-ship galas, admission packages for groups and families, even enticing members to be gallery sitters. So how can ours still be thriving on a makeshift cafeteria and a minuscule museum shop none thought it important to rife up its setting and contents? Aren’t our agencies aware that the sale of mementos, publications and monograms assist in the sustenance of the gallery not forgetting the promoting and disseminating of our art history and exhibitions to the world? Hell even Penang State Art Gallery has a better museum shop and painting adoption plans! So what can we take pride in, when we are allotted acquisition funds for artworks that stays hidden yet in the few years leading to the pandemic, we were letting out precious spaces for non art-related corporate use? How much truism is there on our visitor head counts then?

Technically, the training of younger artists to become entrepreneurs should be left to business schools when really, the job focus of artists is to make good art because saleability depends on the quality of art each produces. The business aspects of promoting, writing, cataloging, records and recognition, and client sustainability drains time and traditionally been overcome by galleries and auction houses who also by the way, functions as quality controllers. Thus, I am pondering if our national gallery fully understands the intricacies of art management when the importance of proving exhibition history, proving existence, proving fair market pricing, proving purchase and proving its provenance required for art pieces sold in the secondary platform is left out, and that no one artist can qualify or attest himself in such matters.

It may sound like a tall order to some but what seems to be extraordinary to us is common practice for all other reputed national galleries and public museums worldwide. Most of their policy makers have articulated cross border broadening of knowledge and art appreciation throughout their respective countries, which cuts across every culture, aspect and time, eventually expounding a common camaraderie to the masses ready to unite differing values through art. That is how a national narrative is formed. And these could only happen through field studies, mapping, and open engagements with stakeholders beit inside forums, symposiums, or art talks. It would be interesting to invite high profile curators and celebrated luminaries to engage in critical discourses and at the same time, to get them to speak about their current projects and ways of slashing and weaving through mazes and red tapes. That way, we can tap into their ideas, compromise our standard operating process, sell our unique locations and at the same time, make them our catalyst, driver and mouthpiece. Even Marina Abrahmovic stood for Bangkok Art Biennale once! Again, how do we define let alone redefine and push the limits beyond the boundaries of our identity to make it happen?

Have our national gallery ever expanded it’s role by mobilising our collections abroad, since we have been receptively permitting in-bound print shows ala Caravaggio? And when then can we afford to give our visitors a full fledge permanent timeline experience and awareness of our art history that could only happen with a permanent gallery space, so that visitors could devote their time and energy helping us to grow, at the same time becoming our catalyst, driver and mouthpiece? What more, are we prepared to forgo unkempt security guards whose youngs runs around the gallery grounds and partakes in food receptions meant for guests? When would the whole podium not forgetting the prominent spiral staircase become potential display areas and when are we getting rid of the bathroom feel of the entrance lobby?

Plain and simple, our national gallery needed urgent institutional reforms. To begin with, we need first class infrastructure revamp and a reconfiguration of its space and flow. Then hopefully, the rest will fall into place. If our desire is the world stage of course. We needed well exposed and well connected people from different fraternities who live and breathe art day and night to helm it. We can’t have a gold medallist diving expert to be in charge of a football team unless they are willing to learn. Art is serious business and a major catalyst towards growing tourism trends in metropolitan cities. So make us proud!

Elsewhere in our country , our provincial galleries may be modest in infrastructure, but certainly not provincial in ideas. They make do with the littlest of resource and budget yet they managed to deliver their very best. And the key to their success? A selfless, committed, forward thinking, liberal-minded committee who doesn’t promote self-censorship out of fear of losing their jobs. There are benefits in organising gargantuan exhibitions and endorsing artistic freedom. It begets us free publicity worldwide and regional recognition as a formidable player. This all translates to tourist dollars.

Looking inward, we should be receptive enough to acknowledge that every town and city in our country has its own cultural identity and preference of artists which makes each of them different, unique and interesting and with that, sprouts its own conversations and engagement. So why not then, a new language and narrative, if other towns and cities can manage and deliver never mind from where the art scene started first? It is not entirely wrong if there co-exist divergent parallel narratives, since our country is unique. Even Mercedes Benz automobiles has different classes and models.

Since the Nanyang days, Penang has been the preferred platform from whence our national art scene sprang. I singled out Penang because It’s topography had been conducive enough to attract international artists to nest and work. So how then, one wonders, does budding artists become stifled and sidetracked when artists like Ernest Zacharevic and Latiff Mohidin (both not Penangites ) has persevered and made it this far? Perhaps yet another ill informed opinion maybe? Nuf said for now.

All About Provenance

“Provenance establishes the history of ownership. Not authenticity. But a good provenance certainly supports authentication, removes all doubt towards the legitimacy of ownership, whilst eliminating disputes and claim towards the work once sold.

On the contrary, if an artwork is authentic, nothing can take away the genuineness even when no documents ever existed. Not even provenance. Genuine works of this nature just happens to hover on a different plane because of unexpected turn of events or otherwise beit relocation, war, death, spring cleaning, debt settlement, divorce, gifts, donations, even hunger, as they fall into the hands of cafe owners, descendants, friends, undeserving people, neighbours, strangers, cleaners, movers, antique shops, flea market, pawn shops or the worse case scenario, refuse bins! With no receipts, papers, or even a signature intact, should authentic works of this nature be appraised at a lower price?

Provenance is a Western invention. It is the trailing bloodline of every personal property since the day the object leaves the hand of its creator beit the artist, craftsmen or artisan till the present owner. With more claims of stolen items being sold at auctions at frivolous prices, provenance became a necessity deterrent from costly lawsuits, and a convenient tool to reject dubious consignments. Nowadays, it behaves as a stop valve to deter ‘blockage’. A term appraisers use when too many items of similar nature flock the market causing the value of a personal property once thought rare, but now ubiquitous, to fall. In instances like this, should provenance be abused to control the flow thus preventing blockage from happening?

But if provenance is vital, how could one Chinese ceramic found in a shoebox, and another, which was used as a door stopper, escape this stringent necessity? By pure reasoning, it is certainly doubtful that accidental possessions and unexpected finds like these do have papers to back them up. This includes the controversial possession of two zodiac animal busts that once grace the walls of the Forbidden City in China. Why, one wonders, that the Hague Conventions of 1899 and 1907 does not apply to consignments such as these, when war spoils should be repatriated accordingly?

Many reasons could be factored in but one seemingly good reason why reputed auction houses are prepared to take chances by breaking conventions is the quality exuded by an irresistible find. Hence, it goes without saying that no matter what, provenance no matter how muzzy it is, cannot take away the authenticity or genuineness of a property, more so when no report of theft was ever recorded, which begs the question: “How should one keeps track of cultural relics and papers and address the grey areas of provenance, when for example the Cultural Revolution of China 1966 displaces everything? Even real estate title deeds. Wouldn’t this imply that all Chinese relics are in-consignable? And if that being the case, wouldn’t the Western collector indirectly has more to benefit in the auction circuit than their Eastern counterparts?

Since early 2000 as auction records would have shown, the demand for Chinese cultural relics soared a million times over. The downside being so did their bad debts reach an unprecedented scale. The reason is because some Chinese sellers view provenance as double standard Western capitalism designed to subdue Chinese consignors. Hence their retaliation by not paying. This triggers a series of revamps implemented for would-be bidders never seen in auction rules before to curb the frequent fraudulent bid calls. But not long after, the Chinese Central Committee decided to set up their own auction houses, after some unsuccessful attempts to buyout some reputed auction platforms. Not one but a few.

Besides these concerns, there are scenarios of consignors owning the right papers, but sold duplicated artworks to unsuspecting buyers sometimes with the original papers, at times without~ the original work of which they still keep. There too are cases of genuine artworks without the necessary papers being mistakenly rejected as dubious. Incidents like this happens frequently at auction houses, especially those which lacks expertise. At the other end of the spectrum are consignors with underworld links whose lawless reputation exceeds the genuineness of their provenance. And there are also the uninformed collectors who seem to invest more in dubious artworks, that when their collection is assessed as a whole, cautious auction houses will shun away as quickly. Last but not least are cases where dubious artworks by famous artists and forgeries appears in open auctions, as favours to appease their high-powered buyers. Cases like this are not one-of-a-kind but ubiquitous. What is more beguiling is can dubious artworks possesses genuine provenance then escape close scrutiny? Think about it.

In most cases, properties that fetches record prices has an important personality or impeccable history of ownership attached to it. These personalities simply overshadow the long trail of provenance required. So much so that it has become the norm for auction houses of repute to turn away those which do not have. But does that mean that collections coming from important personalities or collectors are always genuine? The answer is a resounding no. Because every collector, no matter how experienced they are, is vulnerable to deception. More so when they lack knowledge in their field of interest, more frequently occurring in the early stages of collecting.

Many a time, good properties has been rejected by reputed auction houses because provenance could not be established. This is indeed sad for genuine collectors who turns their hobby into a lucrative investment that each time they spotted a valuable piece going for a song at the flea market, they need to request for formal papers. Wouldn’t that raise eyebrows when sometimes, the asking price is merely USD10? Moreover, what kind of provenance and lineage does one expect from a country which has only gained independence for slightly more than a decade? Or another that survives a Holocaust or a cultural revolution? A string of DNA’s or atoms to backtrace your fossil collection?

Imagine a genuine Picasso or a Pollock not previously known which has no provenance. Will the auction house reject it and regard it as fraud just because no evidence of its existence was ever recorded in the catalogue raisonnè nor the stolen objects databases? Or will they report it so that the possessor is arrested? Or would they set forth an ingenious marketing strategy to have it sold because of the high estimate it could fetch? It is well known that the latter does happen to some blue collar consignors who uses their lifetime savings to build their collection. That will again depends if their engagement is convincing enough that these auction houses would stick out their neck to help them.

The story about provenance is long and wide. With many twists and turns. To those who aren’t aware, perhaps this is the time to pay heed to the propensity of tracking down provenance. If possible, to backtrack it till it hits the date of origin of produce or manufacture. If they want to have it consigned in the future that is. But in their own way, auction houses protect their own integrity by screening and investigating each and every property they intend to accept. Because they understand that costly mistakes can seriously damage their reputation. Especially the provenance tied to these properties. Good auction houses also constantly refine their method and mode of working to ensure staff integrity to ward off malicious deals schemed by greedy collectors wanting to dispose off their doubtful loots.

Recently there were two cases of properties fetching ludicrously high prices, many times higher than the low estimate being sold online. One is of a Chinese Republican type vase of very poor condition, the other, a Song dynasty censer of doubtful attribution. How does this happen one wonders? Although money laundering seems to be the obvious reason, scammers of today are now getting more creative than ever before, scouting for loopholes in the terms and conditions of selling platforms to thrive, and if all auction houses carries with them disclaimers, then, so much the better for scammers to roll out vague deals, then disappear by the click of a button. Because of voluminous listings, most auction platforms have no control over fraudulent claims, auction estimates, and provenance especially – the hammer price of which still relies very much on the bidders discretion and direct engagement with the seller at the other end. Provenance? They disappeared into the backseat. Online auction platforms in general are commission agents. Not authenticators doing you a service. They provide you with an avenue to dispose your possessions. Nothing more. Nothing less.

Now the final question. Are there categories of properties that doesn’t require provenance? Yes there are. Maybe if one is tired of trailing provenance, they should perhaps collect something else that doesn’t require them. Think about it.

– Kris Lee 2014/2021.
Appraiser/Auctioneer/Collector of art, antiques and collectibles with more than 3 decades of

Funds

“In Malaysia, professional views in art doesn’t matter. The untrained collector who invested heavily into works that doesn’t measure up to professional standards of artistic ability, aesthetic value and judgement based on narratives is going to bury you with their experience, and prove you wrong, no matter how you justify your pick, with their lukewarm enthusiasm. That’s because they have something you need but lack. Funds. Funds to tweak opinions, funds to ensure sustainability, funds to decide marketability. Funds matter. You don’t. Unless you parrot them.”

Banksy or Wanky

“There must be an assigned proprietor for a trademark to be endorsed. Whether your pseudonym is Banksy or Wanky, indeed no one knows if you are a groupie, an institution or a delusional whacko. But since you can craft your fame holding onto a mysterious identity, then, you’d surely know how to wiggle your trademark across in other ways.

If the British can glamorise Spice Girls, James Bond and Jaime Oliver, surely you are of no sweat to them. “

Meeting Personalities

There wasn’t any objection from the rest of the committee members after the matter was raised up by someone who merely exercises his rights to his opinions. If there were, I am sure the presiding secretary who controls the meeting would have put it to a vote beit a secret ballot or by show of hands.

In every committee there are bound to be sitting ducks. Types of committee members most frequently encountered are:

1. Those compelled by higher authority to be their eyes and ears

2. Those who exploit or abuses their own authority riding on the position

3. Those with vested or self interest and talks only when their personal interest is ignored or infringed

4. Those who wants to milk the institution

5. Those who wants first hand information on the going-ons so they could plan their on-goings

6. Those who uses this channel as a backdoor for political mileages , recognition, awards and rewards. The so-called megalomaniacs

7. Those who are real sitting ducks not ready to take on any responsibility or be of service to the institution they sometimes even forget their own name when called

8. Those programmed to gain. By selling. Beit their own collection, artists, artworks, shows, information, backside or to curry favor.

To get those who are genuinely there to look after the objective, interest and correct running of the institution and contribute to their progress are rare.

Self sacrificing individuals such as these are few and far in between. The question that beckons now is which individual or party controls the vetting process and what are their set vetting standards? And why are the presiding secretary so submissive to individual complaints which should by right after the artworks are installed and exhibited, be sent in through a suggestion/feedback form stating the grounds for complaint rather than be raised as a matter in meeting agendas or in ‘Any Other Business?’ Was it raised in ‘Any Other Business?’ And are there suggestion/feedback forms?

No one knows. No one thought it important.

Sharing Groups

I am an appraiser. You can look me up in the international society of appraisers profile. My forte is Asian. My advise is this.

Sharing groups are an impetus of your own growth as a collector- learning, discovering and growing together with like minded individuals with a common interest. Enjoy it. And have a good laugh with opinions that doesn’t agree with yours. But sharing images in the public domain subject your postings to public scrutiny which may sometimes be unpleasant to your ears for the fact that opinions can vary and differ. Everyone has high expectations towards their own property thus, trained specialists has a hoard of well designed statements to cushion the impact it may have on your ears so as not to risks offending you.

In this case, my advise is to heed only opinions by specialists that are accurately concluded once your property is physically and meticulously inspected and tested and not purely by pictures alone.

Apart from material justification which most tests results can accurately reveal, handling is as important and so is an in depth knowledge about the crafting of the object with some grounded philosophy in this case Buddhism. But if an expectant bronze figure turns out to be a big conglomerate of assorted metals, don’t you think that authentication is already established rendering the visual assessment and physical handling useless? And for what good does it bring forth if visual ascertainment and handling results no matter how convincing does not pass the material test?

One glaring feature a lot of collectors neglect is the philosophy part. Ask yourself if the face of the Buddha exudes enough tranquility and is the workmanship too frisky for sacred objects made for reverence. This of course comes with experience and specialists looks for signs such as this. And of course the obvious signs of wear and tear and aging.

Trained specialists are especially careful in dispensing negative remarks like fake or forgery quite commonly used in the public by those not in the know because at the end of the day, it is about their reputation more than anything else.

Peace be with you.

Knowledgeable Collectors

“Knowledgeable collectors collect with their eyes, and not their ears. They collect quality works, not names. They seek narratives, not only aesthetics because contemporary art is about narratives. They give artists hope by supporting their artistic journey when they are alive, not only after they are dead. And they look beyond monetary rewards and cheap bargains, allowing the art scene to flourish, instead of attempting to influence or dictate its directions.

Knowledgeable collectors understand that every auction record beit higher or lower becomes a new price benchmark for the same series of any particular artist because auction results are the only publicly available source of reference. They understand that discounts and bargains can only happen backdoor where transactions are discreet so that the artists highest auction record remains but not fluctuate at its whim.

Knowledgeable collectors continually support a high record with another higher record each time an artists work of the same series appear at the auctions. They understand that comparable price records beyond three years are off limit to appraisers whom may risk losing their license for breaking the rules.

Art Fairs

“An art fair is a device to promote Western art to a wider audience at the expense of Eastern galleries who thought it glamorous to get into the bandwagon without understanding the basics of the market which the Western galleries literally dominate because every important artist is inside their pocket whose one painting easily offsets the cost of one booth, and they control and own every important magazine, app, museum, auction houses, curator and putrefy every art news to their advantage leaving the Eastern galleries with nothing short of disposing all their hard earn monies into one silly fair and still make a loss.

And if the prices of their Eastern artist escalates more or less at par with the Western artist’s which is a one in a million chance, most collectors if given a choice will hop over and collect Western art without a second thought because of the ready market and the fame of these artists created by the West the same way financially more well off people will dump their local cars for foreign makes.

This is the unfortunate circumstance right minded Eastern galleries has to bear with whilst the naive galleries continues to mimick the Western galleries thus many went high and dry and got bananas to go home with and a load of sponsorship obligations to repay instead of happily going home with fat sales to content with.

Prove me wrong for no right minded Western galleries will join an Eastern set up Art Fair for all its worth simply because they are first and foremost very discriminatory, second, it doesn’t support their umbrella Western dominion objective and third, if it is not a Westerner who controls or set up the fair, then, it is not a Western control art fair and they won’t join so that you will gradually cease to exist to prove to you it is a business model not worth pursuing which in short, is theirs to do and control.

A booth at prestigious art fairs cost about USD100k. Do you realize how many works a gallery has to sell if the artworks are only worth USD1K each within that 4 days spread but the only time you do some selling is only the first 3 hours of vernissage? Still that can only offset your booth cost but not your shipping, insurance, set up, manpower, and whatever else.

In short, an Eastern Art Fair has got to be contented and survive on its own depending on Eastern booths alone or perhaps third world booths from Africa, Middle East or South America. And the only reason one sees Western galleries appearing in China Art Fairs is because of one reason only. it is a big market. Guess what they are selling? Western Art of course.

And that’s the sad truth about art fairs.”

Making a Classic

“What you don’t like now, you will love later. What you love now, you won’t like later.”

(That is the classic ingredient crucial to the making of a classic where design is concern. Simply said, a handsome man displays no character as compared to a wrinkled old man on oil, paper or print. The initial insignificance you rejected and it’s ugliness would eventually grow on you, if you allow it time to sink in.)

Sacred

“A statue or figurine is only considered sacred after it has been consecrated by a religious or priest beit in a rite or proper religious ceremony thus to determine if a statue is sacred or not, will never be known because the action of consecration may only involve the laying of hands and the recitation of certain appropriate text whilst others may involve stippling the statue/figurine with ink, the adornment with a chasuble, stole or a garment of some kind including fresh flowers or in other cases, the insertion of certain pulverized ashes inside a carved hole which was then plugged in. Thus without such obvious evidence present on a statue or figurine, one can only guess if a statue or figurine is sacred. Herein provenance becomes an important criteria because if that particular statue was proven to have sat inside a temple before, one can almost be certain that the figurine mentioned is indeed sacred. Anyhow in a way, it does enhance the value but put you into trouble if the origin is an important sacred site, if that is what you are interested in.”

A New Language

“Contemporary art cannot be built on the foundations of the modern. It speaks a totally different language. Just like one can’t tear down an old house and build a newer, bigger, taller house sitting on the old foundation. The older foundations are restrictive towards the extra size and weight thus it stunts one’s creativity. If you want to build bigger, taller houses, one needs to forgo the older footings and build newer foundations for the new house one is building. Contemporary art is a new language. Narrative, not just skill is required. I’m sorry if you think otherwise.”

Passionate Collector

A passionate collector stays close to his collection.

If possible, he will take it with him wherever he goes .

Blue Period

The tactile quality of Picasso’s famous Blue Period

lies not in its stark eerie nor its monotone pale glaze

of darkness but of how quaintly the wrist of its subjects c

url like flowers trying to reach for the moon,

in the bleak of the night.

Preference

“Everyone has a preference and that preference makes you identifiable. I

t is that preference that separates you from other collectors that no patron,

architect, designer, curator, style, trend, interest, hobbyists or other collectors

can influence you on, when it comes to setting your own taste. Everyone has

a preference of form, subject, style, medium, shapes, colors, composition,

texture etc. All these shapes your taste.

A good friend will accept your preference whereas a bad one will consider

your preference inferior to his or hers. A preference makes you true to your

liking instead of goose hunting other people’s opinion and taste. Do not be

unduly influenced. That only happens to freshies.”

Need of Focal Point?

“Art always emphasizes on the focal point of a picture. It is that spot where your eye fixes and the whole composition grows and revolves around it. That interpreted, if art then is nature, the focal point would be the crater atop the volcano as seen on plan where everything caves in. And everything that revolves around it are just bleak terrains. Of hardened lava perhaps? Where then is the garden where a child hops around splattering their feet in the stream? Where then are the decayed logs where the mushrooms sprout? And the spiders spin their webs? Where then does the rabbit burrows? Does such formality always apply on every subject matter in art? For someone who has been dabbling in art for four decades and growing, I would say no.

If someone painted humor, that humor would be constrained if the composition is symmetrical. That turns the painting into a whimper of giggles instead of listening to a big loud roar. Why is that so? Because where the focal points are, there, symmetry would be also. Symmetry draws stiffness unless that is what is intended in your composition.

The conclusion is, subject matters will decide your composition. A good composition is about balance, not symmetry. Good artist will know when to emphasize on focal points and when it needs to disintegrate into a landscape garden. Paintings with a focal point may draw attentions better initially, but given that if you are going to live with it and face it all day long for the next five years or more, it is those without a focal point that won’t bore you. Perhaps it may also be because men are all born hunters, their affinity to nature and garden is natural indeed. That said, paintings without focal points are not necessarily bad compositions. All in all, it still depends on the context. Especially in larger sized paintings, try to compose a garden. There are lots of stories to tell in a garden and people’s eyes wander around when in a garden. That’s what makes larger paintings come alive. The experienced aficionados of art has got to agree even when the conventional audience disagree.”

Challenging Viewers

Some simple robotics does not make an artwork be. For visual art is not rocket science neither is it magic, neither is it a stage set designed to fascinate. It is the encrusting of a submerged consciousness subtly emerging in layers. It is an inconclusive maze. It is a mixture of alchemism and personal philosophy tied to your identity and your thoughts and that is what gives it the classical flavor. It is in all sense an autobiography. Without all these, they are but picture making. Not one bit can be regarded as paintings.

From high hopes to a depressive preponderance, one does wonder if the majority pushes hard enough to challenge the viewers thoughts with a larger dosage of pragmatism and well-meaning crits and whatever that encapsulates inside the artist’s mind, can they be contextually articulated into meaningful content without the inference of showmanship, quaint theories or be set free from the wand of prying opinions. Also, will they foremost gets sucked in by the preferences and whims of the lobbyists?

Kinetic art as well as Sound art sounds fascinating but being hindered by a lack of understanding of mobility and utter reliance on the robotics knowledge of the fitter isn’t. Just as being placed side by side to an overage contestant who should be disqualified isn’t. And being stashed inside a mouse hole when directional signs are lacking isn’t. Or cramped to an awkward corner when others have miles of space isn’t. The second question then arises if some curators are sensitized to the space given, are they also trained to handle criticisms constructively?

Competition under a new government, very much like ‘old wine in new skin’ is a springboard for which many freshies tried to catwalk for the first time. Sadly, many are left with sprained ankles. Just like being cramped into shows where the obvious superstars wasn’t you. And you work is only there to enhance the superstars status. Unless you don’t mine being the casualty, that is the price one pays for being adamant to stupidity.

But did the majority push hard enough to challenge the viewers thoughts?

Question of Ethics

“There are things too personal to be disposed of, not unless one is in dire straits. If an auction house values its integrity, they should be more stringent in accepting consignments, otherwise they’ll suffer the risk of being labeled a dumping ground. Sketches, prints of all types, posters, studies, generally they cluster into a special category called ephemera or paraphernalia acceptably but separately categorized inside the same catalogue. There are cases where consignors needs to force sell, and cases where auction houses are coerced to sell, but there too are situations whereby collectors scale down or inherited properties disposed of because the heir is not keen about art. But even-though so, it is the duty of responsible auction houses to advise the courts in the case of force-sell or in other cases, the would-be consignor, the fair market value of the property consigned. Fair market value is determined by the art appraiser using approved formulas. Not by the whims and calls of the consignor nor the auction house. That said, malice becomes the glaring motive when an auction house especially an experienced one being aware of the fair market value, agrees to an undervalued consignment from an experienced consignor.

Going back to the first point, the consignment is more a case of ethics than anything else but it could be better handled by the auction house otherwise misunderstanding will occur.

As for the undervalued estimates of other properties under consignment, force selling, selling off an old investment and disposing inherited properties are all acceptable reasons, very frequent appearing as ‘No Reserve’ lots, but they need to be investigated on a case by case basis by the auction house concern. Galleries and living artists are frequent victims of such irresponsible estimates.

But if a collector insists that he can do whatever he wants since he owns the artwork, or the auction house insist that they can call whatever price they want despite the resources available for reference, then it is perfectly correct to imply that their motives are intended. For the fact that every action is a manifestation of one’s intention.”

Taste

Taste is the ability to judge what is beautiful, good and proper. It is aesthetically driven. Not by the most exquisite of brands. But by the ability to juggle form, color, texture, patterns and space well. Not everyone has taste. That’s why brands sell.

Matrix versus Print

“It is ironical for a self proclaimed printmaker to sell the matrixes separately from the prints in an arts show not unless the print edition is classified ‘unique’ and it came accompanied with the matrix. If the matrix is sold separately as a work of art beit or not at a reduced price, then the purchaser of the prints should be informed and those matrixes shall then by right be regarded as ‘wood carvings’ which in this case is not since the artist did not regard himself as a ‘wood carver’. This wood carving is by right a tool, medium or mode the printmaker uses to create his art and at most times is kept by the printmaker or dispose of since it no longer has meaning after the ‘unique’ copy is sold. The question then arises that if both prints and matrixes are up for sale, which then should a collector collect in this case and which has more value? The logical answer would be the print since that is the ‘end result’ of the printmakers craft and the matrix is but the ‘medium’. But preferably, the collector of the ‘unique’ print should own the matrix also if the printmaker wishes not to keep it. And it is not ethical for the printmaker to sell both the positive and negative separately, each as an artwork by itself. Moreover whoever owns the matrix could summon for multiple re-edition of prints made without the knowledge and consent of the printmaker or the owner of the unique print. And this, the ignorant collector should by right be informed as it lends concerns towards authentication issues.

If one looks back at the history of printmaking, the craftsmen doesn’t sell their matrixes. And in each artwork, there are as many matrixes as there are colors encountered.The key point to know about matrixes is that it is technically not ‘the’ work of art although many may admire its reverse intricacy and it will not appreciate in value or have a value equivalent to the print from which it is printed from provided in due course, the unique print is unintentionally or intentionally destroyed, went missing or disposed of for whatever reasons. In the last case the matrix can acquire antique value with collectors of matrixes which is rare or museums of printmaking provided the printmaker is highly regarded in the printing world.

The next question that beckons interest is can collectors add value to a series of prints that he deliberately purchased and then have them destroyed to reduce the edition number? The answer is yes. Scarcity adds value to the print concern provided the matrix held by the artist is also destroyed. But that act should preferably be staged as a public performance known to the art community. It must also be remembered that the act of destroying cannot be constituted as an element or trajectory of the print provided the artist is physically involved in the process. That act itself also does not lend new meaning to the original intention it was meant as a print neither does that act transforms it into conceptual art or makes the collector the artist of that print.

There is a tendency for collectors to want to add value to his collection by this act. But generally not unless he is the sole owner of that print, and provided it is a work from a notable printmaker.”

Fiveloaf 2014/2019

Ton-Tin

“When one loses at the gambling table, one can either swiftly stand up and leave quietly or stay to sharpen one’s skill by deepening one’s anguish. One has no right to accuse the croupier or worse, corrupt the entire deck that has already been distributed. That is the trait of a loser everyone abhors.

In this scenario, the loser in his endeavor to stay relevant turns crafty thus he devices a ton-tin scheme where unbeknownst to the stakehouse, he manipulates the game by convincing all the naive gamblers to be his cohort because when no one wants to lose, everyone is kept on their toes, thus, he himself is kept safe.’

Size as yardstick

If size is the yardstick used to gauge the prices of artworks, then I guess I’m worth no different than the other 1.76m tall baboon of similar weight standing next to me. That also means that everything else I am capable of to outwit that baboon is redundant. And that includes even when I am more handsome or intelligent. Does that answer your question?

Lucky Thing

It’s a lucky thing they don’t know much about art because if they do, like me, they would have sidelined you.

(In response to this posting/ let’s face it dealers knows nothing about art except it sells- J. B.)

Difficult

“How gallerists describes collectors or artists as difficult,

how collectors describes artists or gallerists as difficult,

and how artists describes gallerists or collectors as difficult,

they are all totally different experiences, instances, and situations.”

Monopoly

“Market forces and demand varies the world over. Thus, to market a fair

that claims to cut across the continents is amusing, if not to continuously

keep the pecan pie to yourself by killing two birds with one stone,

1) by depleting the coffers of smaller galleries by inducing them to pay

exorbitant fair charges which stumps their cash flow and stunt their growth;

and

2) using those gains to boost and sustain the star status of bigger galleries

and their artists thus deflating the prospect of smaller galleries, all in the

name of western monopoly.”

Art In The Tropics

The Western perception of art from the tropics

is about Paul Gauguin and Frida Kahlo.

As for the rest, they are termed ethnology if they are old,

handicrafts if they are new.

Mix Match

How you wish to make a statement is entirely up to you, but a combination of antiques and art is entirely possible. Everyone has a preference for certain forms, textures and colors and unless your taste is not corrupted by opinions, everything will mix match perfectly.

Sun Dried

“Once wilt sets in, lift yourself off that branch and drift to the ground. Let your decaying self nourish the soil so that budding leaves may once again bloom on the same branch that once held you. Of course you may also hung on tightly and remain. Wrinkled and browning as compared to the rest. Being repeatedly sun-dried.”

I Rather They Suffer Than We Suffer

“If one keeps on neglecting creativity but works in a context of acceptability as according to that school of thought which nurtures them, then we unconsciously stunt our inner Easternmost expressions by paying homage to Western literal ideas, subconsciously elevating them to iconic towkay status to make them relevant and in turn, reduces our own chance of making our way to the top.
Schools of music till today still stresses on Brahm and Bach. Schools of writing still pays homage to Shakespeare and Wilde, not Tagore or Han Suyin. Schools of visual art history conveniently branded us as offshoots of abstract expressionism. We have been suppressed if not, being denied our own identity. And until we assert a language of our own, we can’t flourish as unique individuals. Our arts and literal history should thus be rewritten and pushed further back to the time where our ancestors began it all. Maybe back to the aborigines. They are unique individuals that did not arise feeding from Western classicals as we have always been, and that’s the reason we are conveniently placed into neat identifiable parcels ready for the slaughterhouse or be labeled as ‘aliens’.
Western ideas propound that without education one will fail. I beg to differ. My very own forefather, the uneducated rich, has proven them wrong. The Westerners also has an uncanny habit to device all sorts of courses and tailored them to suit their own ideals while we in turn, enrolled ourselves into their classes to earn a degree studying about our own culture, tradition and way of life. Seriously??? The profoundness of a language is also not important as our forefathers again has proven. Living with different ethnicities, we never have trouble understanding each other and getting our messages across despite the littlest we knew about someone else’s language.
If I may stress further, Eastern writings, performances, and visual expressionism should not be assessed by comparing them to Western standards and principles or being lumped into pattern moulds set for us, otherwise we’d forever be regarded as an off track or an off shoot of the Western system. Orientalism too, has no place in today’s contemporary society. To get rid of being stereotyped, we should all rise to the occasion and be ourselves. We should write as how we write according to how our natural senses evoke us, and be as distinct as how our ancestors are, swaying to their own wayang, and painting with the scurried soul of an Easterner. Our works should overwhelm them with just that tinge of ourselves and we should all live as how we are, being accorded a rightful place on the map of the world. What I just lamented may sound discomforting to the Westerners but I rather they suffer than we suffer, the earful .”

My Writing Style

“I don’t write to please anybody but myself. If and when I write, my choice of words are mine. That’s what makes it distinct from others. That’s called style. My writing style. Not yours. Not others. Every writer has their own style of writing. If you find that hard to chew, you are probably never a writer. Thus, if you don’t like my style of writing , I am not compelling you to read what I write. If I publish a book, don’t buy my book. Because you need to possess an expanded brain up to that level of consciousness to understand why a writer writes the way they write. My choice of words are sacred to me. It probably doesn’t mean anything to you. So be it. A good artist would have told you the same thing if you try to change his style.”

Robots Dominate

When men is finally at peace with other men, robots would have dominated the world by then.