At Noenga, December is a month for
reflection. A moment to look back and analyze the art landscape internationally
‘both online and offline’ and to draw conclusions. With those conclusions we
try to look forward and serve our community. This year we publish an article
like non before. This year we call for action and reach out to
inspire artists worldwide! Short flashback - 2009 Dec. 2009 we released the article ‘How to
sell your art online’ http://www.noenga.com/art-magazine/articles/noenga/new/56/how-to-sell-art-online--an-attempt-to-answer-the-question-of-the-year.php
which provoked a wave of discussion on many social networks and blogs. After
many years of active research, analysis and interviewing independent experts
internationally our conclusions were not the most optimistic: * Selling art online has low potential and
low ROI (return on investment). * Art through social media is BIG but the art
market through social media is still small. Note: This conclusion is based on research
from the period 2006 to 2009. The discussion after From the comments and reactions to the
article mentioned above, we analysed about 500 of them. From the reactions
coming from artists, roughly 85% agreed with our conclusions to a very high
extent, while in the reactions coming from art market professionals (online
marketers, consultants, agents, social media consultants, managers, online
gallery owners etc.) 80% strongly disagreed with the conclusions. This was not
a surprise to us since selling the illusion of successful/easy online selling
is their core business.Their claim was that ’’even though our article had some
strong points, they do know how to get the job done.’’ ‘’That indeed selling art online can be
difficult, and that's exactly why the intermediaries are so important and
necessary.’’ This was the opposite of the effect we were
hoping for by publishing our article. So to those who disagreed with the
conclusions we sent an invitation to prove us wrong, promising we would openly
publish a promotional article about their business and successful online art
sales results with the only requirement being the names of the artist would
also have to be mentioned. Wouldn’t that have been great marketing for
these businesses? Well, out of around 50 invitations we have
not had one reply! Again, that was not a surprise. That is
because not one had figures they would really like to show to everybody. Why so honest It surprises many people that as an online
art community we speak so openly about these negative online tendencies.
Several online art galleries asked us why and if it would not be better to be
more quiet about it. So why do we write about it? Well, basically
because we passionately try to prevent the online art world ending up the same
way as the traditional one. And that is, being an extension of the corrupt
global monetary economy system and industrial complex which has hijacked the
arts. This has caused a situation in which a hand full of people selling smoke
and mirrors makes huge profits out of less than 1% of the artists worldwide,
while leaving the big talented majority in the dark. This has to be prevented for the love of art
and for the sake of mankind. At the beginning of the 21st century, we NOW
have a unique opportunity in the history of time to actually change the world
of arts. Together as one we can square up to this elite interference, open up
the art-world and bring it back to its pure essence. I envision a new art
market model driven by Internet technology, in which the artist reaches out to
the public directly without interference or obstacles of any kind.
Discussing the ideal online art platform Through the years in our LinkedIn and
Facebook groups, pages and emails correspondence we’ve had many feedback and
discussion on how the ideal online platform would look like and how to turn an
art social network into a successful art market platform. We have summarized all the feedback for which
we are very grateful, and it leads to a model in which artists, art-lovers, but
most of all the traditional art industry (high end galleries, curators,
museums, auction houses, collectors, art publishers etc.) are being brought
together. Apparently, the majority of artists believes
that one can only make a living out of art if those organizations are involved.
I strongly disagree with that… I think online art sales results are so bad
because the traditional art industry is still too involved! The online art
market nowadays is nothing more than a digital copy of the physical art market
with this difference, that it does not focus on a small wealthy group of buyers
but on the masses. We are using old fashioned sales models that worked for different
target groups in the past, which are now in a digital form for a new generation
of art-lover. What does the traditional art industry even
know about this new generation? They claim so much knowledge but what do they
even now about how people look at the art world nowadays? Ask any regular
person on the street or 19 year old about how he or she thinks about art and
most probably they will include a vomiting gesture mentioning remembering the
last work they saw in a newspaper that became sold for many millions of
dollars. Also they will probably add that a 10 year old could have made that
work. People don’t care anymore. They became punch drunk over art, because out
of the last 50 news articles they saw about art, 43 where talked about extreme
money. When in a group of people an artists is being asked, ‘what do you do?’
and he or she answers ‘I am an artist’, probably the first next question is
‘Huh? Can you make a living out of that?’. If the artist has to respond no or
hesitating to that, the group will most probably not take it very seriously.
With prices like we have seen over the past decades art became admired not for
its quality but for its price. The free art market players became the new
arbitrators of taste. The free market and speculation, unfortunately, has
redefined art and the price of a work has become part of its function. That is the result of a corrupt system. A
system that has to be taken down to the ground to free the universal creative
spirit in which we are all unified. You are not an artist because you sell or
not, you are an artist because you are a creative soul. Honestly I don’t believe in a model in which
the traditional art industry is included. I see them as the root of the failure
of the online art market. Sticking to their models in a new era we slow down
innovation and progress. Besides that we found a complete lack of
willingness among the traditional art industry (internationally) to actively
participate on such a unifying platform. We have had talks all over the world
with art organizations from top to bottom. What we found is that an
overwhelming majority of them a) did not have a clue where we were talking
about (social media? Huhhh, we already have a website) or b) when our concepts
did not directly answer their question 'how is that profitable for me?', they
directly lost all interest. We found a general disinterest towards
creating an open platform where young, unknown and emerging artists get a
chance to reach out. Secondly we saw a huge lack of strategic, and
long term vision about how Internet and digital technologies are
affecting the art world. They saw threads instead of opportunities because
these changes are not in their interest. The art market establishment does not
want things to improve or to change. The Internet has never been really
welcome. They want things to stay the same. To make profits like there is no
tomorrow. The traditional art world A good and dramatic example of the above is
the following. Not as Noenga, but on a personal basis, I had ongoing talks with
the director of a major Museum in Amsterdam which struggles with its amount of
annual visitors. When I gently mentioned how innovating their online presence
through social media technology (by participating and adding value to the
online conversation) could have a positive effect on reaching younger
generations, spreading awareness and the museum as a whole, they made firmly
clear that their interest is not a ‘flashy website’ but to ‘sell more tickets’. Regarding the fact that I was not talking
about a flashy website this was an extremely short sighted comment that one
would not expect on this level. I was
shocked. If we would have been talking about websites
however, I could have told him that Noenga.com has got more monthly visitors
then any physical museum in the world. With this difference that our visitors
figures are fast rising but I did not bother to mention that. I mean what’s the
point even if you are talking with people with such a vision about things. It was depressing. I predict museums will slowly fade away in
the coming 25 years. Why shouldn’t they? After all, the museum as an institute
has only existed for a little longer than 200 years. I don’t see how relying on
walls, entry tickets and old fashion marketing techniques they can remain in
the era of the digital revolution. Many of them are in need of funding and on
top of that find difficulties obtaining content because they have to compete
with hedge funds and oligarchs in the international art market. I mean, isn’t it already over with the Louvre
that opened a McDonalds ‘restaurant’ in its museum late 2009 and sold its name
to be used by Abu Dhabi. Many entrances of large American and European
museums, nowadays show impressive walls with the names of their funders but
actually lack the names of the true founders. Personally I think that Robert Hughes, with
his - The Mona Lisa Curse – (Winner of the 2009 Grierson Award for Best Documentary on the Arts)
did a great job in making a statement where the traditional art world now finds
itself. Watch on YouTube: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EbQ0GqX0Its These are sad developments but let’s not be
too depressed about it… I mean, what did the high-end traditional art world
ever do for the millions of talents and art-lovers out there? What did they
really do in terms of support, education, creating opportunities and
stimulating talent all over the world. Why is art still one of the most
unregulated markets in the world? In the regular gallery/museum-world a select
group of curators and the like determines what is art and what is not. They
decide what the people may see and buy. This is ok when it concerns historical
cultural heritage. When it concerns art however, these curators are
self-appointed authorities, limiting the opportunities for many artists.
Talking even more idealistically, one could argue that historical cultural
heritage should not be locked up behind walls and entry tickets at all but
should be part of the public domain. Why is it that hardly 1% of the artists can
make a living out of their work while massive profits are being made by the
auction houses, investors and collectors? Houses like Christies and Sotheby’s
have sold over tens of billions of dollars of poor quality art. Why is it that
for example in Spain, most big exhibitions are now being organized by big banks?
Many banks stepped into the game of company art collections taking things even
further out of balance. Why is it that art publishers only pay a couple of
percent of royalties to their signed artists while huge trade volumes are being
made? Art is the only market (along with drugs)
without any form of regulation. The documentary - The Great Contemporary Art
Bubble - by Ben Lewis shows brilliantly how this market works and to where it
is heading. A must see for anyone interested in the topic. The trailer can be
seen by following this link: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gth8_3msnIk Also worth seeing is the documentary
Zeitgeist: Addendum - 2008 by Peter Josep. Direct link:
http://www.vimeo.com/13770061 Moving forward – A new era Including the art industry, traditional art
world and market in new online concepts would create a new wall between the
creators and the public. Every attempt to include this old fashioned
establishment in the online art world, would be like inventing a digital
version of what already is. There is no leap forward in that! Wake up call Artists and art-lovers worldwide please wake
up, stand up, realize the present art market systems keep the global art
community poor and imprisoned. If we start a discussion about how online art
should evolve let’s talk about true
innovation instead of keeping those in place that were never capable of
bringing the global art community what it really deserves. The true revolution
in the art-market would be bringing down the walls of the past and the present.
Artists worldwide should be enabled reach out to the public directly. The
liberation of the arts! Such a successful model would make it to the
history books of art. What can an artist do about it? At this moment in time with the current
technologies, every artist should create its own fan base around its own
domain! Start your personal website if you can. This is crucial! Don’t build your online presence based only
on third party platforms like Facebook etc. Let your personal website be the
centre of it all. This makes you professional, independent and creates
confidence amongst your potential buyers (For more practical tips read our
article from 2009 – How to sell art online, we will publish a 2011 update
soon). Win your audience using a network of let’s say 10 art platforms like
Redbubble, Noenga, Deviantart and other heavy traffic channels. Use social
media platforms like Twitter, Facebook and LinkedIn but let ALL of those
profiles point to YOUR domain. ‘Use them’ instead of ‘work for them’. Good social
media are platform that bring a mutual benefit. A win win situation. Don’t rely and don’t hope for traditional
and/or online art market systems for your wish to be able to make a living out
of art. Instead, rely on yourself! Start tomorrow, use today’s internet
technologies to create your own domain. Be your own gallery, your own promoter
and create your personal fan base. New technologies are on their way creating
huge opportunities for the arts. (Mobile, big screen, 3D, virtual reality
technologies will create new dynamics and new ways to display and promote art.)
Be ready for that, in time your effort will lead to sales and then you
will have your independence! But be patient, don’t enter the Internet
expecting it will lead directly to sales. If some company would approach you
online too aggressively you would probably get annoyed. Patience is important,
don’t get frustrated. No company was built in one day, and most art galleries
often need 2 to 5 years before they start making profits. Think for yourself;
let no one tell you your art has got no art market potential. Let the public
decide as a whole. If enough artists do this, the next couple of
billion people and next generation of artists that will connect to the internet
will take this model as an example. This in time will lead to a new art market
model. A model in which the artist reaches out to the public directly and are
more independent than ever. Spread this article among artists and
art-lovers world-wide. Let’s start a movement! Author Misha Stoutenbeek Feel free to connect with me on: LinkedIn:
http://es.linkedin.com/in/mishastoutenbeek Twitter: http://twitter.com/Misha_Stout Facebook: Misha Stoutenbeek About Noenga MISSION STATEMENT Noenga is about using the power of internet
technology to innovate and open up the creative world and making artists
worldwide achieve their goals. It envisions and aims for new market models in
which creators are more independent than ever and reach out to the public
directly without interference or obstacles of any kind. Noenga wants to build
the infrastructure for these models and truly believes its goals will benefit
the universal creative spirit. Everything we offer is 100% free for artists. Support Noenga The Noenga network counts over 250.000 people
worldwide and takes in top positions on mobile application platforms like
Google Android and Apple Store. It is currently the number 1 and fastest
growing art platform in the mobile technology space. Want to support/invest in our work? Help us change the world of art! For opportunities please contact: Misha Stoutenbeek (Founder Noenga) 0034-695609144 noenga@noenga.com | 
