I took the air fairs a little less seriously this year. I think this is due to spending so much time on the "business" side of things in the second year that I've set myself a rule to put most of my attention on the making etc.
At first the Affordable art fair felt nice. I felt like although the crap art was around, the people around me seemed nicer. I didn 't seem as elitist and I think this elitist topic is playing on my mind a lot. However towards the end of being at the fair I started to hate it. I got so sick of looking at paintings of flowers and fields. And the crowd started to annoy me. It reminded me of the art "the middle class people" would have above their fire place. It reminded of a comment my best friend made at home of her thinking that art isn't a job, she sees it as a hobby. Two types of fine art?
The free art fair sounded like a nice concept. However the lay out annoyed me, I couldn't be bothered to go find it all. It's like I wanted it to be given to me on a plate. However I took the opportunity of the fair to meet up with people I made friends with in Zoo last year. I started to view this weekend of fairs as like a "happy new year" period for the art world. An excuse for everyone all over the country to come to one stop and catch up. I don't know whether this is the general use for artists with art fairs. Because art fairs certainly aren't for the artists.
We were told by Tania to go to Frieze. I didn't go. I thought about it long and hard and I bought a ticket then sold it to someone else and went to a rave instead. I felt like this was a calculated dicision though. When Tania was talking to us I tried to ask questions that would really help my own practice. She explained her own process and how she's made a decision to not work in the gallery/dealer way. She said that when she had left uni she didn't have a clue how to work as an artist which has given me confidence in thinking and I kind of know how the system works so maybe the possibility of being able to be an artist alone is possible. She explained how markets worked etc and I said I could see myself at Zoo but not a Frieze. Is that because I'm at such an early stage in my work that Frieze seems so far away and Zoo seems more approachable? Or is it becuase I generally feel like art should be treated with more respect than it is in Frieze?
Zoo was good. I found myself not even looking at the exhibitioned spaces. Its like my head was in "don't give a shit" mode. I saw a couple of pieces which affected me. But generally was just walking around because I felt like I had to. The atmosphere was so different compared to last year. I like this mobility and versatility, maybe even adaptability to an art organisation. This is why I will always go back to Zoo every year. The way they approach problem solving, the dynamic of the company and the people in it excites me. I guess I believe in this company. Alot. I think this ability to move,change, adapt is majorly important in a world which consumes and disposes so quickly. Companies and "things" need this characteristic to survive. Watching them change is an art in itself for me.
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