Raul Crimson’s experiences in Second Life®
Posts tagged art business in SL
Patron by Eliza Wierwight
Dec 20th
Patron (SLurl) in the personal project of Eliza Wierwight, a beautiful place to visit, a mix of an art gallery, a furniture store and something else.
Not only the place is beautiful, moreover it has personality, surely the personality of Eliza. Personally i really like Eliza, she is a really interesting woman, creative, and with a wicked sense of humour (yes, and beautiful).
Some time ago Eliza asked me to participate in a show in Patron, with no special theme, just the pictures i like the best of my own. Since i don’t use to sell my images, except for good reasons, we decided to give 100% of the sales to Amnesty International-E to help them in their projects.
She must be quite proud, since right now Patron is in the SL Showcase (as The Patron in the Arts section). And Patron deserves that for sure.
I wanted to ask Eliza about what’s Patron for her, she said:
Patron is my creative heart and home Inworld after finally settling into my own design style. It’s the environment I HAD to create , it’s the build I HAD to endure as my insatiable desire to express myself in my own time , on my own terms, evolved. Patron found it’s own momentum unraveled beautifully before me almost instinctively. To keep that momentum over 5 months was exhausting , I don’t regret a single minute though.
One thing I’ve learned about creation Inworld in the last year thanks to the experience of creating Patron and her surrounding enviroment and contents, is to stay true to yourself, your passions. Patron is Eliza, Eliza is Patron. So many stories, people , friends, lovers , revelations and histories of mine all united.
If I’ve learned anything of the experience and the joy I’ve had in sharing her and including the Art and creations of the smexy talented people whose creations & Art that I’m honored also to represent at Patron, is to never deviate from your own dreams. Patron continues to evolve, I never want to see her stuck in a time warp of ambivalence. I want her to reflect my personal best as I continue to learn and grow as a Creator. When I find time to sit back, when I see Patron and especially the contributing works of those I respect and adore gracing her, I just kind of resonate with charmingly smug happiness and guess what, it’s contagious ~winks~
The end !
One thing I’ve learned about creation Inworld in the last year thanks to the experience of creating Patron and her surrounding enviroment and contents, is to stay true to yourself, your passions. Patron is Eliza, Eliza is Patron. So many stories, people , friends, lovers , experiences and history of mine all united.
If I’ve learned anything of the experience and the joy I’ve had in sharing her and including the Art and creations of the smexy talented people whose creations & Art that I’m honored also to represent at Patron, is to never deviate from your own dreams. Patron continues to evolve, I never want to see her stuck in a time warp of ambivalence. I want her to reflect my personal best as I continue to learn and grow as a Creator. When I find time to sit back, when I see Patron and especially the contributing works of those I respect and adore gracing her, I just kind of resonate with charmingly smug happiness and guess what, it’s contagious ~winks~
The end !
Images by Eliza Wierwight published under a Creative Commons license.
My “art” debate: selling or not selling
Oct 8th
Some days ago, in a conversation with some friends, someone said: “Art Galleries are the new Sex Clubs, Casinos or Banks of Second Life”. Of course who said that was not meaning Art Galleries were a scam or something, just that someway, there are a lot of Galleries, like one new every week. Not small galleries of people showing their own stuff or small shows, i mean “big” ones, or ones selling “exclusive” works for high prices (around 5000 L$ for a frame with an image).
All this made me think about some stuff, is right to sell my images for 5000 L$ losing part (or even all) my rights over them? or more that if it’s right, is what i want? should be “art” for sale? does a creation stop being “art” once you start selling copies and copies? This are tough questions. First, i’m not sure what i’m doing is “art” (that will need a complete definition of Art and that is not easy) at least every image i create… maybe just a few are but not all for sure, and second, i’m quite reluctant to lose rights over my creation (like the right of showing it publicly).
I presume is just i don’t understand “art” as a business, i don’t create images for selling them, just for me, to express myself, to enjoy creating them, to share with friends… Some of that “5000L$” galleries are asking for a 50% commission. Under my point of view that is crazy, a 50% for nothing? I may understand a 50% commission in RL due the difficulties of art distribution and the work that involves, but in Second Life, where anyone can build his own place to show his work possibly in a better place than a gallery (because the artworks will be in a context) 50% is way too much under my point of view. 50% of commission would mean the work of the artist is the same of the work of the Gallery owner, and that’s crazy under my point of view.
I had exhibitions on contracts or conditions i don’t want to have anymore sometimes, so i decided what will be my way to show my “art” inworld from now:
- Just will show my works in galleries were i can rez myself my frames, or using a frame provided by the gallery where i can add my texture. This way i won’t give full permissions textures to art galleries.
- I won’t sell my work anymore in exclusivity, because i want to keep my exclusive rights as creator.
In this moment i’m “resident artist” in Vain Inc. Gallery. I consider Nyla and Toko (gallery owners) good friends, i like and believe in their project for the gallery, something non commercial, where works are not for sale, where every artist have freedom but at the same time works as a collaborative space. I consider it the best gallery in Second Life for all that reasons. Vain Inc. is not the only gallery in SL with a “non-commercial” philosophy, there are some more around, mainly owned by people that has a business in SL and uses part of the earnings to maintain a gallery, just because they love creation or art. I prefer to keep working with this kind of galleries.
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