The Un-Understand Kind-of Art Manifesto

I did a bit of thinking about this here, and also with my friend, and Embarrassing LPs co-conspirator, Pete.

In the very near future, things will change for the arts. They will go back to a feudal-era, folk-art model. We are seeing the beginnings of this now. It is not difficult to imagine.

Digital data belongs to nobody. Once it is out there on the internet it is there for the taking. Send something to one person and you are relying on their compliance if you wish to keep something out of the public domain.

To this end, the busking and/or local band model will become the business model of choice, and digital audio will become flyers for an event. Bands will charge people to see a concert. If prices get too high, people will stay away.

Manners are not shared but rely on consensus. 'Theft' may not always be theft. Curiosity is beneficial to artists because it has the potential to increase their paying audience. Fans will buy music from their favoured artists because they will feel like giving the artists reward for their work. Like Radiohead's In Rainbows experiment. If artists wish that no derivative works be based upon their art, it is just that: a wish. They will relinquish control as soon as it is in the public domain. Corporations tend not to use Creative Commons licensed content that prohibits corporate use because they fear negative publicity. They can afford to pay and everyone usually has a price.

Only hard copy items will hold monetary value. They will be limited edition, sometimes one of a kind. Anything that can be replicated, at home using budget equipment, will be. This is why paintings and sculptures will always be cherished objects. It is why digital photography will never be cherished.

Due to the nature of data being a public domain free-for-all, people will only produce art for the love of it. It may be funded by sponsors - who will usually be friends - who wish for something interesting to occur. Compare this with the local band(s) clubbing together to rent a PA and charging a cover on the door to cover the cost of PA rental. This is not what the past looks like but also the future. If you like art, you will be co-operating and or assisting financially.

Travel writing will not be sponsored because the individual has the benefit of travel, a perceived luxury. Perhaps international journalism will continue, sponsored by news agencies and/or subsidised by foreign/multinational organisations. Blogs of quality (i.e. not this one, which is a personal blog which rarely, if ever covers anything remotely newsworthy) may supersede the foreign correspondents.