Asset Management and the Once Wayward Artist

Blending modernity and the historical

 

Truth be told, I’ve put little effort into managing my growing archive of artwork since finishing art school 16 some-odd years back.

If I have any excuse, it may be the result of working (talking actual job-like work) outside of the “fine” art world ever since. From that perspective, maturing my “asset management” process from wadded up, oversized portfolios, to stacking said portfolios in closets, to building a bigger house with more closets seemed to do just fine.

However, the time has finally arrived.

 

A New Time

 

Over the past wee bit, I’ve invested a few more brain cells and hell of a lot more “prior-to-getting-the-kids-ready-for-school” hours in revitalizing what has become more of a hobby than a profession. And now, I find myself in the awkward position of substantially increasing my archive – with a Mrs. who’s grown more protective of closet space.

It should also be noted that, over 16 some-odd years, I, myself, have matured and have a more pragmatic view of my work, my art, and the industry it feeds. An artist, while perhaps expressive, is still, ultimately, a factory. R&D, manufacturing, marketing, and distribution processes all bundled into one. By the way, those 16 some-odd years? They were spent building enterprise systems for such purposes.

It strikes me that there might be some transferrable skills somewhere in there.

 

A New Tool

 

Yesterday I dropped off a piece for an art show celebrating the life and work of Nikola Tesla – you know, the ball and sparky guy. (check it out: http://theteslaproject.wordpress.com)

It seems fitting in this celebration of the inventive spirit to formally roll out something I’ve recently been working on casually:

The QR code signature stamp

…a delightful blend of modernity and the historical (a less-than-subtle reinterpretation of a Chinese signature stamp: http://goo.gl/dv10m).

 

A New Experience

 

I’ve spent my career immersed technology and innovation. Art often follows technical advances influenced by the engineering and resulting social impact.

The technical advances of the current day are “interconnected systems”. Whether you’re talking about enterprise distribution systems, social graphs, or even local, personal devices, the biggest innovations today blend environments. Finding ways to reflect that in ways one experiences a work of art is likely to follow suit.

Bundling much more information than it’s older Chinese “just-my-name” cousin, my vision bridges a wider environment for interacting with art – what I’d call a multi-modal viewing experience where part is on the wall and part is mobile, portable, or interactive.

 

A New Process

 

In this case, a backend system surfaces information on the meaning and intent of the piece but additionally ties the piece to a larger collection of my work. In future enhancements, you may see a splitting of the core experience across modalities, exhibitions, or versions – all linked by a little, red, digital thread.

It’s taken me a while to come up with the right schema for the embedded data but along with identifying me, it includes the medium, distribution intent, piece ID, and room for variants, studies, and schema identifier for future extensibility.

I view this as providing both deeper, vertical understanding of an individual piece but also a horizontal perspective of it’s context across the greater body of my work. Im looking to provide a fuller experience than it might provide simply hanging on the wall.

 

An Old Objective

 

(…and, of course, there may be a wee bit of subtle marketing shenanigans going on here as well.)