- Hanae Utamura, Wiping the Sahara Desert, 2010
I have been tasked with trying to answer some of the questions that Lucy raised in her blog post ‘Can I buy that video?’. I’m going to admit now that I may fail, but I promise to give it a good go.Thanks Lucy.
It really is true that along with the fantastic responses we have had to Hanae Utamura’s video, we have been finding ourselves inundated with questions about what happens next. Why would someone buy a video piece and what do they get when they do? The first question can be answered with another question: Why does anybody buy any artform? Insert your own answer here.
What someone receives when they purchase a piece of video art is dependent on what the artist intends the work to be. In Utamura’s case, the work is the documentation of her performance in the Sahara Desert and you get to keep that documentation on a Blueray disk. Other artists may sell the work on a memory chip, and some may sell the video along with a television or projector, stipulating that it be viewed that way. The artist can and should be clear about what it is they are selling, no different from a painting or print; price with frame or without. Really we are talking about an agreement, a contractual relationship between artist and buyer.
It can be difficult for any artist to truly understand their rights when it comes to selling their work but for video artists, it can be an even murkier area of confusion. However there is help out there. Websites such as Artquest and Electronic Arts Intermix can offer artists information support on issues concerning contractual agreements with galleries/private collectors, copyright, censorship, resale law and a variety of other sale related issues.
I can’t pretend to be very knowledgeable about the sale and procurement of video art but what I have experienced in my short time as a curator, leads me to believe that despite video and films popularity, it is (in the grand scheme of things) a relatively new form of art. We are all still learning. Often there is not one set template of how things work and by using forums and the online community here on Axisweb we can all discuss past experiences and pass on our own collective knowledge.
The more questions we ask each other the more information we will find. Hopefully.
Totally uninformed post. Tate, for example, have been collecting video art for decades. There are common ways to sell video art, decent commercial galleries don’t have a problem selling it.
There is no “debate”.
Of course you are absolutely right that large institutions and collectors have been buying video art for years. But the process behind those sales is not made clear to the general public or emerging artists.
Many artists who make video are aware there is a market for their work to potentially be bought, but many are unaware of how to make it available to buyers, what to charge or what a suitable agreement of sale should look like.
In conversations I had at the London Art Fair it also became clear that some artists only expected to gain income from video art through commission or exhibiting fees – not selling.
Additionally many visitors to the fair, whilst comfortable with buying a painting, photograph or drawing were not sure how you would buy a video work. This was a conversation repeated many times.
It is exciting to think that video could be bought by individuals – how this sale should be brokered by an artist who is not represented by a gallery is very much a current and vital debate.
SEE THIS: http://www.variety.com/article/VR1118048861?refcatid=1009
“digital storage, be it on hard drives, DVDs or solid-state memory, simply isn’t on a par for anything close to the 100-plus-year lifespan of film. The life of digital media is measured in years, not decades, and file formats can go obsolete in months, not years.”
thanks for this post, very interesting.
Another question I would pose is if you have sold, say, all 3 of your limited edition of 3 videos then when it comes to exhibiting the work again, does the artist have the right to freely distribute the video to these shows? If you have sold a painting for instance, this could only ever again be exhibited through the courtesy of the owner as they have physical possession of it.
Hi Rebecca
I just saw your comment and thought I’d respond, even though it is very late.
It is my understanding that once you have sold all your ‘editions’ of a work, no matter what the medium is, that you would need to enter into a conversation with the owners of the work about lending it to the exhibition in question. This should be factored in when selling editions – do you want to keep one for exhibiting? Or do you offer all for sale, and allow the new owners to negotiate terms for the exhibition, directly with the gallery.
It is, in the long run, the same as selling a painting – once you have sold the work, it is owned by the buyer and you can no longer exhibit it without their co-operation. Many collectors are prepared to do this, for a fee. As an artist you can still retain copyright, however, and this should be part of the contract of sale. DACs will be able to offer more advice on that.
Sound complicated? This is why many artists seek a gallery to represent them, so they can take care of these kind of negotiations, both with buyers and then future exhibitors of the work.