Art Market Outline

Performance Art- Is it possible to make a profit?

 I would like to talk about performance art for my final project. With the rise of youtube, and recording devices, performance art has started to take an interesting turn. One thing which is difficult to understand is how performance artists make money and sell their art. It is my opinion that in an era of high value auctions and questions of who actually created a piece, the performance art market may give the most credit to the artist and is less based on collectors and auction houses. 

Thesis- Just as with other mediums, the goal and ultimate validation of artists, dealers and collectors is the value of the work. However, due to the difficulty with tangible/ sellable objects, in order for performance artists to become financially successful they have to have certain features to their performance: brand equity, tangibility/ ability to record, and demand.

Brand Equity- Just as in any other medium, brand equity is important to create an image, recognition and value for the collector.

            Marina Abramovic

            Andrea Fraser

Tangibility- Buyers need something to buy in order for the artist to be paid, however this pushes the limits of how people experience art

            Marina Abramovic

            Yayoi Kusama

Demand-  The demand is the ultimate validation of artists work and the build up of the art market. However, with the recent involvement of youtube, performance art takes on a new market.

            Use of YouTube to convey messages- and being paid for advertisers

            Inability to fully take in the live performance- but access parts in different ways

            Funny versus serious art performance.

Conclusion

Ultimately it may be difficult to hang the true essence of a performance art piece on your wall. And getting the same emotion and experience out of the performance a second time on camera may not bring the same utility level- however with the introduction of youtube,  performance art can take on notoriety and per haps the performance art market is the only art market where people pay to experience the art, not to say they have the experience. 

http://www.artinfo.com/news/story/750983/how-do-performance-artists-make-any-money-a-market-inquiry

http://www.theartstory.org/movement-performance-art.htm

http://www.moma.org/visit/calendar/exhibitions/965

http://www.gagosian.com/artists/yayoi-kusama/

http://www.art.ucla.edu/faculty/fraser.html