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Is Time Money?

Oct 24, 2024

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I was having a conversation with a friend yesterday and she said she'd been talking with a potential buyer of her artwork lately, and that they'd asked how long a piece of her work had taken to make; she said that she didn't really know but felt that she had to answer the question because the person was a potential buyer.



It's at points like this in conversations with other artists that my internal voice is saying ‘Wooooahhhh therrrrreeeee! Hold your horses partner!' Simultaneously, I picture a Looney Tunes character throwing a comically large ship's anchor out of an old fashioned automobile and it scoring a deep gash into the tarmac. But I don't always say that part out loud.

 

Why do I think that, in moments like this? Because, as an artist myself who has spent a lot of time uncovering the unconscious assumptions I hold around being an artist - I find myself noticing them when the same unconscious assumptions appear to be being expressed by fellow artists. 

 

The question of ‘How long did this take you to make?’, can be asked innocently of an artwork, but very often it's part of a buyer's secret calculations around how much they feel they should pay for the work. In this case, as artists we should understand that we're dealing with an uncultured mind and proceed accordingly.

 

So, what are these unconscious assumptions at play in this scenario? Well, on the part of both actors in the scene, they are assuming an equation between labour and money, in relation to art. 

 

I would suggest that the artist in this scenario is more doubtful about the truth of this equation - most artists are which is why they feel rather thrown by this question in the first place - but the fact that they feel they have to go along with it anyway and fudge an answer, speaks to the second unconscious assumption also held by both actors.

 

The second assumption is that, the person wielding money as a potential buyer is in a position whereby they have the right to interrogate the artist's presumption of the value of their work. 

 

Let's take a look at both of these assumptions.

 

Firstly, to declare the amount of time that an artist literally spent making the marks which ended up representing the formal aspect of the painting (for example), as ‘how long it took to make’, is an almost infantile perspective. I'm going to assume that all of you can understand why I'm saying that and I don't need to go on about it for ages. 

 

But, at this point someone might say, ‘Well maybe people who aren’t artists just don't realise what goes into making art! Give them a break!'  This leads me on to the second assumption … The former statement may well be true, but how many people would so readily ask probing questions of their plumber, or their mechanic, or their pilot when it comes to what they're charging? Not many would - and what do they know about plumbing? 

 

No, the questioning of artists around what they are asking for their work speaks to a deep rooted conditioning around the value of art and of artists, in society. 

 

As someone who makes a living from selling my artwork, I've thought a lot about this subject. This is where I've got to with it all ...

 

Firstly, attempting to equate with time with money in any scientific way, is a non-starter. Having said that, as a tattoo artist I do work on an hourly rate .. it's not worked out scientifically though, it's all about feeling. 

 

My process when it comes to pricing is as follows. I look at the piece of work that I am attempting to price, then I visualise myself handing it over/posting it to the buyer for varying sums. 

 

For example, I'll close my eyes and envision handing over the artwork for £200 … how does that feel? Bad. 

 

Ok, what about £300? Better, but there's still a slight feeling of tightness and resentment in the chest. 

 

£600 then … Ok, now this I can get into … I feel good about that … no tightness, no resentment. 

 

The price is £750. Why higher? To accommodate the fact that I know I am still not free of the conditioning I have spoken about in this email! I am aware that the amount of money that I feel good about selling my work for now, is definitely going to change, it always does. 

 

I often look back on the amounts I sold artworks for in the past and realise I charged an amount that I felt that I was allowed to. I know I'm still doing that.

 

Artists are very indoctrinated into all this. Last night I was on an Instagram Live and a fellow artist started up in the comments, saying they were a fan of my work, but that I shouldn't be charging £200 for certain of my drawings. We ended up having a laugh, but it always amazes me when artists do that sort of thing to each other, it's a real crabs in a barrel mentality.

 

Do these same artists with jobs challenge their bosses on how much they're paying themselves versus what they get? Generally, they don't, because they'd get sacked. I know, because I did it more than once and got sacked, forcing me to become an artist.

 

Personally, it would never cross my mind to question an artist's pricing on a piece of their artwork … not to say I might not wonder about their process in coming to that number … but as for their decision on what that number is, it has absolutely nothing to do with me or anyone else.

 

As for my answer to the question of how long an artwork took me to make, it's simply whatever age I was when I made it. This is the most accurate answer I can give. So, the artworks at the bottom of this message all took me 40 years.

 

I'm going to get along now, time is money and all that! 

 

Speak soon, 

 

Samuel 







Oct 24, 2024

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