June 2007 Archives

Rob Walker [who writes the New York Times Magazine column Consumed] posts a Q+A between him and JB on his blog Murketing.

Jen Bekman 20X200: The Q&A

"Q: I noticed in the comments to your announcement somebody said something like, “This is great, an alternative to Target/Ikea blahness. Is this project a more exclusive alternative to mass-ness, or a more inclusive alternative to the rarefied high art world?

A: It’s both really, which is why it’s so exciting to me. It’s radically different than typical artworld fare because the work is so inexpensive and the editions are big by normal standards, but how can an edition of 200 of anything be mass market? 20×200 is bigger in scale than most fine art editions, but I’m not selling posters at the Met."

Continue reading the interview here.

More info on 20X200

The marketing blog "murketing" has posted an interesting interview with Jen Bekman about her new 20X200 project. It elaborates on many of the thoughts I've had about this initiative, including the potential ghetto-ization of the participating artists. As a business person (wow, that sounds weird), I'm also interested about the underlying economics of art as a product. Bekman picks up on this as well:

I want to create an opportunity that’s not instead of the traditional gallery environment, but in addition to it. I want more artists to make their living making art and I want the people who want to buy art, but feel that it’s too rarefied for them, to actually buy it. It’s absurd to me that there are so many of both of those types of people and yet they’re not connected with any sort of efficiency. I want to sell more art and I want more people to buy it.

The project is slated to launch July 27th.

A Sneak Peak at 20x200

The interview further illustrates my theory that Jen is one of the nicest, most open people I’ve ever encountered; it examines the fundemental differences between 20x200 and websites based on the same aesthetic (TinyShowcase, pretty:darn:swell), her plans for the project and the state of the art-buying world in general. 20x200 launches July 27, and the lineup so far is pretty damn sweet — artists having already signed on include Youngna Park, Eliot Shepard, Zoe Strauss and Brian Ulrich — and we’ll be sure to update you with news as it emerges.