Monday, October 1, 2012

Supporting Art Outside Capitalism

I've been thinking about alternative structures for compensating artists that would foreclose the possibility of comodification of their work. Start with an artist's collective. The Collective would assume all rights of use & exchange (ownership). An object would be 'rented' for perpetuity--the rent representing just compensation for the artist. the custodian (renter) would assume responsibility for reasonable care. The work could be exchanged (with notice given to the Collective and to the artist, with name of the successive renter and new location), but NOT sold. The custodian could receive as compensation only the amount of the original rent--there would be no profit; the object could not be treated as an investment over the initial rent. The artist & the Collective would retain right to display (shows, museums), and retain 'ownership' for perpetuity. Those interested in the art would be willing to offer fair compensation for the artist, for the enjoyment of the object. If their desire is to acquire an object for investment, they can look else where. What do you think?

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