Would You Be Fooled?

Probably :(

And this is what is art about. Seriously, some people are able to admire a stupid blue square with one white line in the middle: ))

Yup, I would fall for it too :/

http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/a/a0/ICS_Juliet.svg/600px-ICS_Juliet.svg.png

Martin, that looks like the international nautical code flag "J" which means "I am on fire and have a dangerous cargo- Keep clear".
Maybe one to take notice of.

There may be no difference in the quality of the art from IKA and the art in the gallery. Some artists did not become famous until after their death. How about Toulous Lautrec? During his lifetime wasn't he considered a graphic artist only with his posters? In every time period there are artists that are considered great only to become very minor artists later.

To become an internationally known artist is planned deliberately by the artist, first showing locally, gaining a reputation and then applying to internationally known art galleries and shows. If an artist is not diligent in taking this path, which can take years, they will not become "known."

The gullible part is paying for a ticket to see the art in the museum.

There is no difference, just a series of steps (luck, marketing, being in the right place, knowing the right people, filling out the right grant proposes) that landed piece A in the museum and piece B in Ikea.

Reminds me of a programme which aired in the UK many years ago where they gave some monkeys paintbrushes and let them get on with it. The results were placed before highly esteemed art critics who were told it was new work from an upcoming artist. All of them came out with a load of artsy gumph praising the artist and his amazing talent. They were all extremely offended when the truth was revealed. Probably because it made a mockery of what they do for a living.

BTW - I have a nice framed Picasso drawing from IKEA on the wall in my entry way.

Dear lord - that is so funny - and so true - It seemed to fit right in with the other works of art in the museum.

anything you put into an art gallery becomes art. just like that. its the reason we have a lot of junk on this site too. the "art experts" go to galleries to pretend they know things to look smart. so anything placed in front of them, they try to understand. i personally think a lot of art is junk, but place it in a museum and your work seems like it's better. only problem with that art is that it arrives apart and you need that hex wrench and 80 extra parts that you don't need, and instructions more complicated than building a space shuttle.

i wonder how the people really felt after giving their opinions. that they were punked by ikea, did they look at the rest of that stuff differently?


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

i remember a while ago a test involving wine. where they got two bottles, one with a fancy label, and one with a not so nice label. they placed the cheapest possible wine in both. and they were testing perception. some people had the right tongue and could tell you it was junk. but quite a few "experts" swished it around and gave it high praises - the one with the fancy looking label. and he went on and on about fruity noses and full this and that. it was kind of funny and sad, and it really came down to presentation. put the work in a gallery - it's gold. put the same art out on the street and you'll get a different reaction. in any case, i wouldn't hang that work on my wall.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

The truth is that So many want to believe that something is "Special"

And are willing to say so....and pay for it.

Thus:..Starbucks..Whole Foods...etc.

Mike Savad
"i remember a while ago a test involving wine. where they got two bottles, one with a fancy label, and one with a not so nice label. they placed the cheapest possible wine in both. and they were testing perception"


The key word in the above being PERCEPTION. How do we all perceive things.... not only Art but everything in our environment.
IMO the following quote expains a lot about our perception.

"All human beings act and feel and perform in accordance wth what they imagine (believe) to be the truth about themselves and their environment."

Bill Tomsa

http://billtomsa.blogspot.com/

That's pretty funny. Although I would have been truthful and said "Never heard of him" because I do know (like most of us here) a lot about art, so I'm not embarrassed to say I don't know a particular artist.

On the other hand, just because it came from IKEA doesn't necessarily mean it's lousy art (ducking).....

Perhaps I should add "IKE Andrews inspired art" to my keywords...

It's all about presentation. Some years back violinist Joshua Bell played in the subway near Washington DC. He was pretty much ignored until people were told who he was.

Good grief, who cares that it's "from Ikea" -- that's just the store that sold it. It is still a piece of art. People either like it or they don't. Waste of time.

I didn't realized patrons to art museums were "art experts".

The "Ike Andrews" piece was better than the display method used in that "art museum". lol (paintings hanging on metal)

Agree, Suzanne/Patricia...so don't duck, Mary...it's the truth. ;)

I noticed that too, Lawrence. That hanging method was ugly.

To quote one of my favorite westerns: "Philistines! Yer all a bunch of Philistines!"

To dismiss hundreds of years of art history with a smirk and a curt flip makes me wonder why many of us bother calling ourselves "artist" in the first place?

First of all the video never gave the opportunity to really look at the art. We also were not informed of media or other vital information. Bad, good no way of knowing from the information given. The setting in a museum is interesting however. Reminds me of Duchamp displaying a bottle drying rack. Many people who saw that thought "What is this guy thinking?" Bottle drying racks being common household things at that time. Duchamp could care less if you thought the rack was art or not. His intention was to create an aesthetic debate. What makes it art? or why is it not art? This video serves a similar purpose.

I like what Andy Warhol said, "Art is what you can get away with".

Yeah, but Kevin, we can all be in awe, of, appreciate and hold in high esteem the established, well know, historic and brilliant artists and still like the wall poster at K-Mart with a nice coffee pot image. That doesn't mean we are equating one with the other, but if you like it, what's wrong with saying you like it?

I'm a sucker for art deco style coffee posters. Is it "great" art? Probably not. But I like it and am not embarrassed about it in any way.

You have to really feel for today's museum going public. (I put myself in this category.)

They enjoy looking at art and earnestly want to understand it. They have a deep need to know that they are not wasting their time and money on nonsense. Then they get confronted by things like a coiled up rope on the ground, a painting of colorful dots, a stuffed dead horse, basketballs floating in a fish tank etc. Its just too much for the rational mind to handle.

They struggle to find meaning and something to like and enjoy about the work. Anything that allows them to feel better about spending the time and the $35 at the museum rather doing what they really wanted to do which was watch the latest superhero blockbuster. ;-)

My opinion: If you like it, its good art. If you don't then it's bad art. Simple as that - personal taste.

And even this changes over time as we age ;-)

It may have been from Ikea, but an artist still created it.

In the end though it's a cheap, unoriginal stunt to get on TV or half a million youtube views so that they can get clickthru revenue.


- Richard Reeve
ReevePhotos.com

@Edward, yeah, but any good museum has a lot of the classics, so if they don't want to walk through the contemporary art section, there's a lot of other quality art they can browse through.

Contemporary art is like anything else. Some of it I like and a lot of it I don't. Same as more classical art. Personally, I can't stand the Rococo painters, but that doesn't mean it's not good art.

If it's from Ikea then it's a print - which cost about €10. The price Ikea paid to the original artist for the right to use would be much more, and a more realistic price to use for the artwork.
The public's opinions (not necessarily mine) were valid as far as the art is concerned, they were only deceived by the format - they were shown a copy not the original.

This should be interesting ... http://www.museumofbadart.org/

- Richard Reeve
ReevePhotos.com

Unless a work of art advances western culture, or eastern culture for that matter, then you might as
well have Ed's Picasso print in your front hall.

I definitely would have believed the work was part of the exhibit, which is what the spoof was depending on, but
I would never have valued it over $100. That $100 mark is where my price cut off is for local artists. And if
it was $100 in that instance I would not have bothered offering the $100. I do not like the work. I probably
would not have offered $100 for anything else in the gallery anyway.

JMO

Dave

Kevin, I think what most of us are saying is fine artists considered of the first rank are still good for the most part (most live artists still have to be judged over time though) and there are others who are not well known who are good also. If you read my post on the art consultant Alan Bamberger he discusses how artists achieve museum showings, there is a tract one must follow, showing locally and then when successful graduating to larger city galleries. Those that don't aggressively show their work will never appear in a museum. I wonder if the competition in large shows affects those artists and their technique. There are those that don't and may never be "discovered."

Another way of gaining a tract record is submitting your work to art websites where your work is judged by a known art critic and they give ratings. I have been told digital art is not accepted (it will be in the future). What I have seen most of the art is abstract which seems somewhat biased to me. I noticed the Saachi search, the first thirty pages is abstract then towards the end of the particular search you find realism. If you do not do these things you will not ever be know to the museums and big galleries. I do question most art being abstract (although I do like abstract). Not all are great artists who show in museums.

Mike said, "Anything you put into an art gallery becomes art. just like that."

BINGO. If you can convince someone it's art, then it IS.

i'd like it to be tested one step more and place a trash can behind cording and see what people say.


i remember when we saw an art museum on a trip. and i mentioned that it looked like crazy people made those things. huge 6ft+ cocoons hanging from the ceiling. and my mother went on telling me that this and that is art, it's just another form, blah blah blah... until we read the plaque --- these artworks were made by patients from the local crazy house (not the exact phrase), and each one was made by a kleptomaniac, and at the center of each item was one stolen item.

i call it like i see it. and in that video - that gallery - was really ugly. with all that wire mesh holding up clusters of paintings without a single theme. makes me wonder what kind of gallery that really was... probably a set up fake gallery just for that commercial.


---Mike Savad
MikeSavad.com

I find this conversation a bit ironic..."we" are selling our art prints on a POD site...our open edition prints on a POD site and "We" also sell licences to companies like Ikea who want to put our art on all kinds of items....so, is my art less art because I'm going to cash the cheques...I think not.

Anything the artist calls art is art....the question is, do you want to earn a living being an artist or not? If you do, then cheer for Ikea and hope they see and buy a licence from one of your pieces of art.... Galleries watch consumer trends, just like all big box store do. That snickering man should go hungry for a while and see if he still feels the need to degrade artists for trying to make a living...

Cheers, Barbara

A print of one of my spontaneous figure paintings hangs next to a signed Picasso print in the home of one of my few, few buyers. I dare say that none of her guests at the various parties there can tell who is who and why one who should be more famous than another who.

... a trash can behind cording -- what a wonderfully progressive swag installation concept -- verrrrrry sophisticated and sooooo in tune with the times !

I think I probably would..

Why the disdain for "that snickering man", Barbary S.J. ?

I would have gladly allowed him to play with people's minds using one of MY cree - a - shee -ons.

@Robby...snickering man.

It's a thing with me...I don't like people who make fun of other people by making them feel stupid...I don't find it funny. Don't get me wrong I like to laugh just not at the expense of someone else...Art buyer and gallery goers are far and few between as is....not only did the snickering man degrade the artist's 10 euro art he turned the art shopper (viewer) off too....double bad...I probably sound like I'm whining....I'll go stand in the corner again...

Cheers,
Barbary....;-))

Link to information about the artist. I recognized the style and did some quick research and I was right. A fairly well known Indonesian artist by the name of Eko Nugroho. So people weren't duped about the art itself. The fact that it's been mass produced by IKEA doesn't take away from the recognition of the artist, any more than "Friendship" prints demean Picasso. http://www.arndtberlin.com/website/artist_8533

My apologies. One site has the artist listed as one artist but IKEA has it listed as Christian Rebecchi and Pablo Togni AKA NEVERCREW, two street artists whom have become fairly popular it looks like.....Either way, all are reputable artists regardless of the format the "print" was presented in.

http://www.nevercrew.com/ Sorry forgot to include in the last post....Very way cool stuff.

I suppose when you elevate some artists high, high, high above others, you could take offense at somebody's antics of this sort.

But since I do not elevate any artist to these heights (not even myself on my best day), I can snicker with the prankster. I think his stunt plays on people's snobbery more than on their innocence.

All of you have valid points. I definitely would fall for it. I think its so funny that the video caused such a stir.

This thread has at it's base a silly assumption that the work being shown is not very good and the comments by the snobs in the museum are just BS. First off some of the museum patrons might know a lot about art and many of their comments may have been dead on the money. The evaluation of price was of course off.

This thread has at it's base a silly assumption that the work being shown is not very good and the comments by the snobs in the museum are just BS. First off some of the museum patrons might know a lot about art and many of their comments may have been dead on the money. The evaluation of price was of course off.

Its true. The ironic thing is the people in the clip feel like fools after they discover the work is "value" priced. They have bought in to the idea that price and display makes some art more worthy of consideration than others.

We have some of that here on the forum. We have snickering snobs who constantly belittle others because of where or how they sell. If they dare sell commercially somehow moves the work down a few pegs. Yet masterworks are sold everyday in museum gift shops on notebooks and tote bags and at stores.

haha,
I must be honest...I've bought a couple of paintings from Ikea... :/

The question becomes, Are you buying a piece of art or are you buying a piece of the artist?

Or are you buying something someone told you was good?

Ron,

Dont brake into "Take it, take another piece of my soul....Take it......"

Dave

Yes, I agree with Ed. I think most of the time that is the case.

Folks,

We live in an age of the individual artist. We no longer produce art for the church only. So most
artists who go off on their own tangents are not really getting it "right" or doing what others would want.

Many well trained artists are creating extremely professional work that is not pretty nor necessarily good.

So the only litmus test that now matters is whether an artist and his work add to our cultural advancement in large
part or at least in some small way. Most simply do not.

Yet with the easy money out of the FED and other central banks, artists, their works may often be junk, but
get very high prices.

Things are changing. What will be mass produced will have more value than what sits with very few copies because
no one ever really wanted it.

Dave

I wonder if the buyer from IKEA is an "art expert," and how many images s/he rejected before sh/e chose this one to sell. Not a lot of images make it into IKEA stores. Compared to, for example, Fine Art America, IKEA only markets a very limited selection of wall art.

So... maybe the fact that the print is priced to sell to people of modest means is meaningless. Someone at IKEA thought the piece has enough artistic merit to justify launching it as an IKEA product, and deploying IKEA's formidable marketing machine behind selling it.

Dave, mass production of stuff has been going on for a number of years. Yet often a handmade product sells for much more than a mass produced one, why?

I was going to log off but this is very interesting, I think IKEA sales volume just went up.

Interestingly, He didn't show any of the people who didn't fall for his deception.
Nor did he show anyone with a negative opinion of the art.

Andy, that is true. We also are given no idea even of how many were approached.

Here's what I think (^__^):

I think that those people who walked away pissed ... walked right up to a computer to log onto the IKEA website to order the piece which they judged to be as good as anything that the museum led them to believe was good, at a far more reasonable price.

The first think that should have clued them in is the rickety easel he plopped the picture on.

Blah... i killed another thread...sorry Andy :/