What happened in the era of visual artist? I Philosophy Aesthetics studied recently. It was a matter that I had loved in the State and who has stimulated me and passionate as ever in Bicocca. I have read, among others, the splendid Debray's essay "The Death and Life of the image" and I started to think about. In particular, a question haunts me:
What happened in the era of visual artist?
First Let's be clear about the terms. Régis Debray has suggested that the era of art is finished around 1960, when color TV was introduced. And the color TV had the power to make us into a new mediasphere, that of vision. Why? Debray says that with the introduction the TV, the picture becomes a home for all of us and the color makes it extraordinarily camouflage.
The work of art, as early as the advent of photography, back in 1839, began to feel threatened, encircled. He had lost his aura, Benjamin argued, and with it his sense of the sacred, the power to generate fear and trembling.
From these two simple examples you can make two observations.
Art has always given up for dead. Debray that collects in his "Life and Death of a" numerous quotations that announce, since the epochs remote, that art is over, that everything has already been done. Speaking only for the last two centuries, we have at least three key dates in which there was the funeral announcement. On August 18, 1839 will make public the invention of a new tool for the study of nature and photography. Delaroche, painter of battles, exit the session saying, "From today painting is dead." In 1935, Benjamin suggests the artist's death in his essay "The Work of Art in the Age of Mechanical Reproduction." Debray is not limited to speculate but draw a line: from the 60s era, the era, the mediasphere art is over. We are in the time of the visual now. I found reading the illuminating essay by Debray. But you can not deny that things have changed again after the revolution of Web 2.0 dated autumn 2001.
The second point arises from this assumption. We have already changed mediasphere? In my opinion we are more than ever in the era of view. What the television had only anticipated is happening now, before our eyes, thanks to our computer. The TV allows a volume of images unthinkable a few decades ago to get into our house. Everyone, thanks to television, may have its fifteen minutes of fame. But there is a huge but. The television programming is not the users decide. Buy advertising space has very high costs. To be invited as a guest in an episode, especially if good cultural level, it is not easy.
The computer in general, and the Revolution 2.0 in particular, has instead been the democratization of knowledge and complete picture. Broadband has allowed to upload and share any type of content: movies of ceremonies, holiday photos, diaries and stories and music. But, above all, drawings, paintings, photographs, video. How to distinguish what is art from what no longer is? Debray asks thinking and ready-made urinal: "What remains art in a world where everything is art? ". I make myself the same question by opening facebook, myspace, flickr, youtube. We are all artists. From the fifteen years, an entire generation has uploaded on the internet poem, photographs, drawings, etc. (see list above). We are all artists? The answer is obviously no. The visual was probably exacerbated our aesthetic possibilities. Almost certainly will become good users, discerning and informed.
What remains, therefore, the artist? It is destined to disappear? I think not. Talking to people working in the field have reached a different conclusion. The artist, if he wants to be such, to professionalize. Not enough to fill their works on the internet, they all do this. Not enough to have a space of two or three buyers, this happens to many people. Do not just do a show every now and then, if misdirected, poorly promoted can be a waste of money. The artist right now, to survive, has to date and be in training, learn the art market, get in touch with those who still works to promote art in the field. Not just the web. It's easy, fast, free, but not enough. Every artist hopes to be "discovered." At one time maybe it was enough to make a fair, an exhibition, attend workshops. But how can you be found now, when there are thousands and thousands of new content uploaded to the network every day?
(C)
cites an old adage: One way 
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