X: XANADU’S OPEN DAY
IF YOU WAIT LONG ENOUGH, EVERY PLACE, ONE DAY, IS ACCESSIBLE TO ALL. OR DID YOU THINK LOUIS XIV IMAGINED YOU WALKING IN HIS BEDROOM WITH A PHONE GUIDE GLUED TO YOUR EAR. SAME THING WITH ART!
The market has no taste. Innovative work is always mocked at first. There’re enough examples of that! Duchamp’s “Fontaine” (now a key work in art history) and Warhol’s Campbell’s Soup series (one sold for $11,776,000 in 2006) are just two illustrations of the phenomenon.
When people are unfamiliar with something, they tend to reject it by mocking it. The safest taste is the easiest taste is the worst taste. Most people will prefer terrible art above your work. You’ll find these terrible works of crap in most houses. It’s good to see Warhol posters appear some places. In time, his Campbell’s soup cans became accessible to all. Don’t be trapped trying to please to anyone. Great innovative art attracts 10% lovers and 90% haters! In marketing, the Rogers Adoption / Innovation Curve is a model showing the evolution of people to innovation. The curve describes the evolution of adopters of innovation to new commercial product, and is easily translatable to understanding how artists are regarded in terms of new manners of expression.
Of all artists then, 2.5% are “Innovators.” You should belong to that group! 13.5% are “Early Adopters,” a group of artists reacting quickly to the latest trends and innovators. If you’re an Early Adopter, you better work hard and produce a ton of work to distinguish yourself, but you’re okay. The next group is the ‘Early Majority’, counting for 34% along the evolutionary scale. They profit from the energy and attention the previous groups receive. The biggest group of artists though, follow the mainstream. The ‘Late Majority’, is just that, late, and number 34% of all artists. Stuck here, your career will pass unnoticed, with maybe a random sale here and there. You’ll probably need a second job to support your cock-eyed art. And finally, there’re the remaining, unimaginative 16% of Laggards who exercise their delusions on Sundays.
Notice, your audience follows the same curve. This explains why there’s so much mediocre art! The curve can be split into two major groups: 16% leaders and 84% followers. The market of the second group is thus much larger than the first group’s market. Bigger demand means more offal.
As an innovator, you prepare the market for the followers. You invent, create, and open a new market. However, not all innovators will become successful! Many followers will. How many wannabe Pollocks exist meanwhile?
