Maggie Frank On Collecting Art on the Cheap

by Art Fag City on May 1, 2007 · 4 comments Events

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Amy Ross

As someone who has an intense dislike for puns, perhaps I’m inclined to be critical of posts that land on blog titled ARTiculations, though frankly I can’t imagine a world in which Maggie Frank’s “Collecting Art on the Cheap” wouldn’t push a few buttons. The post as a whole dismisses sites like Jen Bekman’s still to be launched 20 x 200, a project that offers prints at 20 bucks a piece, using the argument that art collectors are people who are largely interested in acquiring social status.

I suppose this idea is common amongst those who have very little knowledge of the art world, (and indeed the site describes Frank as a journalist with a degree in art history specializing in the “average Joe’s” museum going experience) though problems with this line of thinking could have been identified rather quickly by taking the time to do a simple web search. The now famous Rubell Family Art Collection for example was initially built on very little money, and there are plenty more cases just like this. Also, what I find interesting about Bekman’s project is that in addition to appealing to those who simply would like some good art in their homes for a reasonable price, it targets an emerging school of intellectual elitism that matches itself with consumerism. These are the people who poo-poo the overly high brow, celebrate mass culture, and give props to those who are the best at culling the most valuable items within this spectrum. The ability to find designer like items for reasonable prices has never been so in vogue – even for those who are richer than sin.

Full disclosure: I have an ongoing professional relationship with Jen Bekman

{ 4 comments }

b. May 2, 2007 at 12:19 am

Very astute notes on the “emerging school.” Can we call this group something like the children of dotcom capital? I’m thinking here of itunes and ipods, youtube (in a big way), myspace, & a lot of other corporate tech enterprises that so many 20somethings seem to be congregating around. They are like what all those failed 90s startups aspired to, but failed to attain either due to over-speculation on the part of the market or simply because the technology was just not developed enough.

Um, but yea. Maggie Frank. As if the proprietors of cultural capital need this kind of pedestrian writing to assert their exclusivity…

b. May 1, 2007 at 8:19 pm

Very astute notes on the “emerging school.” Can we call this group something like the children of dotcom capital? I’m thinking here of itunes and ipods, youtube (in a big way), myspace, & a lot of other corporate tech enterprises that so many 20somethings seem to be congregating around. They are like what all those failed 90s startups aspired to, but failed to attain either due to over-speculation on the part of the market or simply because the technology was just not developed enough.

Um, but yea. Maggie Frank. As if the proprietors of cultural capital need this kind of pedestrian writing to assert their exclusivity…

Art Fag City May 2, 2007 at 1:17 am

Thanks! I was pleased with that one myself:) In regards to the children of dotcom capital (nice coinage), I actually think this kind of intellectual elitism encompasses a much larger group though I would agree that 20somethings are its core. I mean, the “I love to mix mindless entertainment with my deep intellectual pursuits while enjoying a high quality of life” has been around for a while, it’s much more visible on the net for some reason…

Art Fag City May 1, 2007 at 9:17 pm

Thanks! I was pleased with that one myself:) In regards to the children of dotcom capital (nice coinage), I actually think this kind of intellectual elitism encompasses a much larger group though I would agree that 20somethings are its core. I mean, the “I love to mix mindless entertainment with my deep intellectual pursuits while enjoying a high quality of life” has been around for a while, it’s much more visible on the net for some reason…

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