Let's face it. Getting your product in front of as many of the right
people as possible usually means that the product sees a boost
of interest, and potentially in sales. In that regard your art
is no different than Coca Cola or Fig Newtons. For example, what
might happen if an art work by your hand was seen in the new Indiana
Jones film? Surely it would create a buzz about you...if only for
a while. And if you were featured in something more humble, like
a Public Television program that made it to national viewing, it
is more than likely that the exposure would lead to more exposure.
At the very least, such recognition will be viewed favorably when
the resume is perused by the rich and influential.
Musicians have recognized that having their tune played in the
background of car commercials or other product advertising will
enliven interest in that tune...and in their other music. Old
music from decades ago can be rekindled in the public interest
when the music serves a new function and reaches a susceptible
crowd.
Visual artists know that having their work shown in a major museum,
a prominent gallery, or featured on some television program or print
publication, will usually result in their names being propagated
and further promoted. That buzz goes on. That reputation grows. People
help enlarge and spread your myth by repeating the stories about
you. In Milwaukee the news that Fred Stonehouse had some work purchased
by Madonna gave more public credibility to Fred, and that association
keeps on giving as it is repeated and repeated. (Hey! I just did
it again.) That is a sort of product placement that we all would
like to earn. One might question whether Madonna is a visual art
taste maker, but one cannot question the fact that news of this famous
ownership gets attention.
So, how do you gain the most advantageous product placement? Is there
such a thing in Wisconsin? Where does your product get the most “bang
for the buck”? The Milwaukee Art Museum? The Madison Museum
of Contemporary Art? The Haggerty? In an article in the Milwaukee
Journal Sentinel? What other publications, print or electronic? A
spot on public radio or TV? What commercial galleries can give one
a boost in recognition? What outlets have impact, and what will reverberate
for a long time and not be a mere momentary flash? There are few
artists that become household names, especially outside of our regional
sphere, and no one achieves that without good fortune, hard work,
the right product and promotion.
But...maybe fame and recognition is not your goal anyway. Isn't our
fall back position the realization that the time we spend making
art is our core most basic reason for participation, and maybe our
core most basic reason for feeling complete as individuals? Getting
our work into the most useful of viewing situations should be part
of our thought process, but maybe the most important product placement
will always be in our studios...and in our heads.
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