Eyes on the Prize: Day 1
Nicole Caruth is a freelance writer and curator living in New York and frequent contributor to the Art21 blog. She’ll walk around ArtPrize, observe, listen and write about her experience here. Nicole’s thoughts and opinions are her own and in no way represent an endorsement or objection from ArtPrize toward an individual artist or venue.
In less than 12 hours in Grand Rapids, I saw more artwork than I usually do in a month’s time in New York City. It’s not that there’s more to see here, but that I’m making an effort to see everything—all 1,262 artists at 159 venues spread across 3-square miles.
As I wandered the streets of downtown and crept around Twitter on opening night, people were buzzing with excitement about ArtPrize. One comment struck me as being spot on: “Unless bad art wins, this will prove to be a monumental event for years to come.” At the risk of sounding like an art snob, I arrived expecting that the majority of ArtPrize entries would fall under the umbrella of “bad art.” And indeed some works are so poorly executed that even calling them art is a stretch. (It’s probably good that I’m not voting.) The blessing and the curse of this open call is that every artist, regardless of the quality or content of their work, is given a chance. Good, brilliant, fair, kitsch and downright atrocious share the same context and sometimes hang side-by-side. Without experts to weed out the good from the bad, it seems to me, that in many cases the better objects suffer. That said, my opinion will not go far in this competition.
At the time of this writing, over 10,000 people have registered for ArtPrize and cast more than 5,700 votes. Voter registration sites are still receiving excited constituents. Though reports have stated that artists in the community were displeased with the idea of a popular vote, the heap of promotional materials that filled my purse last night suggest that they have come to terms with the idea and figured out how to work it. Every artist is a salesman. Street campaigns range from a painter quietly distributing postcards from her garden wagon to the spectacle of moving balloon sculpture accompanied by cries of “Vote for me!” (Given all that there is to do and see, the latter actually seems like a smart move.) Still, there is one lingering concern about voting that I’ve heard on several occasions: the option to vote down. “Playing favorites [voting up] is fine, but voting down is kind of telling people they’re not good enough,” said a volunteer at the West Michigan Center for Arts & Technology (WMCAT). Artist Andrea Misch, whose silicone dolls are on display at Tanaz Hair Boutique Downtown, also worried about voters being “mean.” But as viewers circled us and gushed over her dolls, Misch expressed that she’s no longer concerned.
While I might sound something like the grumbling Simon Cowell of American Idol, there’s a lot of Paula and Randy in me too: even I had a moment of uneasiness about down votes. How is that fair? These votes, I’ve learned, are not included in the final tally, but used to show which artists are creating the most discussion or controversy. Coincidentally, many of these artists are also having their moment in the top 50. I might be jumping the gun, but judging from the list of top ranking works after day one, I’m inclined to believe that the collective public might be just as discerning an audience as a group of so-called experts. (This is in fact James Surowiecki’s theory in The Wisdom of Crowds, a book that inspired the Brooklyn Museum exhibition Click!: A Crowd Curated Exhibition.) With any luck, the Grand Rapids crowd will, as they say on American Idol, “get it right.”
this the coolest thing wish somthing like this would come to ludington
Nicole,
Please make a trip out to Tanglefoot. We’re not a walkable venue but worth the trip. Bus 18 gets you there.
thanks, maureen
Hi Nicole,
I love the fact that you can’t vote on work w/o visiting the installation – that’s a great idea. Hate the fact that there’s way too much cascading going on in the voting which will significantly impact the results online…they should read the Wisdom of Crowds before creating an interface design if they want it to be fair/impartial at all. The leaderboard alone is quite problematic.
Shelley,
Please explain cascading and leaderboard. I’m curious to know more about how these impact voting but am unfamiliar with those terms.
Thanks,
Denenge
Hey Shelley,
It’s funny–I arrived expecting that you might somehow be involved in this event. (For readers that don’t know Shelley, she is the Chief of Technology at the Brooklyn Museum, and organized an exhibition that was curated via public voting.)
During a Q&A with the web design team today, an audience member said that people expected to see tallies for each artist/object on the website. I think that would be more problematic than the “buckets” we are seeing now, and I think the ArtPrize team felt the same way. Someone else suggested that these numbers be available to the individual artists—not the public—so artists would know if people were responding to their work at all. I wonder how people would respond if all numbers were hidden until voting was over, because there seems to be a desire to see what’s happening as it’s happening. As I mentioned in my post, marketing is playing a big role in this event, and I gather that tallies or buckets are how artists determine if their approach is working.
I hope that people continue to give feedback about this process, especially what they find problematic, because the ArtPrize team appears to have their eyes and ears wide open. They are taking it all in (and will even take surveys when the event is over), so they can tweak the process for coming years.
An international art competition needs to have international voting. I’ve heard from a lot of voters that said they won’t view all the art, but they’ll go online and vote anyway. Seems only fair to let people in New York and London do the same, and it would certainly add credibility and exposure to Artprize. Also, it’s a shame that certain venues happen to be registration sites. It’s obviously influencing the vote. And voters definitely need more than one week to really think about the art they’re voting on. If all you get is hype in the first few days, how can the real art possibly make a comeback to get in the top ten? And most importantly, I’m appalled that Artprize would so horrendously confuse entertainment with art. This isn’t a conversation about art. It’s an excuse for people who don’t care about art to have a few drinks for 10% off. I’ve given Artprize the benefit of the doubt for five months because I know how much work is involved in organizing something this big, but I surely hope Artprize will make some changes for next year. Currently, it’s nothing more than an over-publicized city artwalk, but it has the potential of being something great. Please listen.
Aaron,
Do you think the local paper is doing a fair job in it’s reporting? I have a problem with them only writing about some of the artists. It has to be tough for them, but If you can’t write about all the artists, you shouldn’t write about any. The artists that they focus on will probably get more votes because of the extra attention.
How long is it supposed to take to receive the confirmation text after one votes? The registration was practically instantaneous. The voting, not so much.
Considering there are only a few more days left until the top 10 are announced, and considering that the top 100 indicate roughly 80 percent being sculpture or performance pieces mostly near the big sponsor and registration sites, the leaderboard is already pretty much demonstrating what top 10 to expect. I wonder if ArtPrize had thought of this ahead of time instead of creating separate art categories: that put in front of a large piece or a small piece, the average person will notice the first and vote, the second perhaps not even see. I personally am rooting for the few 2D artists that are actually in the top 100 at the moment, and I hope at least the larger paintings will get the notice they deserve.
Jason,
The media is doing an awful job. They’re spending all their time at the high-traffic areas. Before September 23rd, I actually had more national and international media coverage than Artprize itself. But I haven’t had any local interviews whatsoever since Artprize started. It’s insulting considering what I’ve done for Artprize. Is it because I’m from Oregon?
Aaron,
This is why I will not be voting in ArtPrize. I knew from the start that I would not be able to see all the works of art. I didn’t think it would be fair to vote for some even though there may be something better that I didn’t see.
I also had a feeling that the Grand Rapids Press would be playing a role in this. When they have more than one article on a certain person that entered, it isn’t fair.
It is so much easier for artists from Michigan to recruit people to visit and vote for them. It is a major disadvantage for people from outside the area, many of whom have would be voters that can’t afford to get here. The only way to fix it is to open up voting to anyone, anywhere. But ArtPrize won’t do this.
Aaron,
I’ve been following you since hearing about your project. As a GR urbanite, I want to let you know that we (GR) welcome all people. I don’t know why you haven’t had any local interviews, but I don’t think it has to do with you being from Oregon.
Looking forward to meeting you.
Right now there are 11 out of state people in the top 25. Taking into consideration the fact there are probably many more in state competitors, I’d say people are definitely NOT just voting for those in Michigan. To me, it appears that size and location are the main factors in how everyone is voting (and media coverage). The top 100 have basically been in place since day 2. There are a few changes here and there, but no huge upsets that I can see. I’m also wondering if people are voting on things in relation to how much they think they’re worth? It’s really sad to me how few 2-D artists are at the top (I don’t think there are ANY small or medium sized works). But, I also think you don’t realize just how insane it all is until you actually go and try to see it all. The most visible (i.e. biggest) is going to get the most attention. I’ve heard several people say they initially tried writing all the people they wanted to vote for down and then just stopped because it was too overwhelming. I’ve been telling people not to even bother voting for me, because there really isn’t any use. I don’t know thousands of people and I’m certainly not going to try and bust my ass promoting myself just to get a handful of people interested. At this point, I think if you haven’t even broken the top 100, there’s absolutely no way you’re going to win.
To the comments made by Rebecca and Liz: I touch on a few of the things you mention, such as placement, visibility and the spectacle in my next post. Soon to be released…
Nicole is this you next post? http://blog.artprize.org/2009/09/27/eyes-on-the-prize-knowing-your-place/
It seems to have disappeared. Very interesting though–you can catch it in the RSS feed.
Currently the top 25 are all located in just 6 locations. With 18 being at the BOB, UICA or OFB. Unfortunetly it seems like these places have a major advantage.
@Liz: You are in great venue, the BrassWorks Building, that has shown a great deal of thought in the selection and presentation of the work–a top 10 space. The B.O.B. by comparison is a Clown-Car Gallery, with little interest in promoting anyone beyond the owner’s wife and the menu.
Who can’t win against this unless of course Jigsaw makes a judgment call at the AP HQ:
http://blog.artprize.org/2009/09/21/tracking-top-artists/comment-page-1/#comment-1166
Matthew, I totally agree and am honored they chose me. I was really impressed with the entire setup and the space itself.
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The BOB – yikes. It was one of the least pleasurable times I’ve had so far. There really was no way you could stand and view the art without being in someone’s way or being in the way of the art. My sister also pointed out to me the fact they even blocked one artist’s voting information with couch cushions. She was going to move them, but there was nowhere else for them to go (except on top of someone else’s art). It all just seemed completely disrespectful of the art and the artists. Needless to say, I did not stay long.
I agree with many of you, location has a lot to do with the number of votes, but its not everything. At the end of the day, how many of you actually care about the votes anyway? Once I saw how many “artists” were just running an election campaign for votes, I lost interest fast. I love the idea of a public vote, but I hate the idea of prostitute artists roaming around the city with their voting i.d. attached to their work. Its pretty disgusting. When I came to Grand Rapids to install my work last week, it never even occurred to me that it would turn into this. And for all of those at the BOB, including one of my former students, you have been the victims of a real travesty.
I am truly thankful to all those who have voted for me. I am not from Michigan, I don’t know anyone there, I cannot even vote for myself, and as far as I know all the votes for me have been from complete strangers. That’s gratifying. I sincerely appreciate the wonderful exposure that ArtPrize and all of the hardworking people at UICA and the Old Federal Building have given my work. But at the end of the day, I hope some aspects of the competition are seriously reconsidered next year.