Much of my work’s subject matter is an idea, or concept, rather than a landscape or still life. A few years ago I endeavored to portray the government’s confiscation of hard-working people’s hard-earned money. I learned that this topic had been addressed decades ago by American economist, Milton Friedman:
I made letters of wax caught in the process of melting away. UK Prime Minister Margaret Thatcher summed it up, “The problem with socialism is that sooner or later you run out of other people’s money.”
In getting ready for the show I struggled to price the piece. Then, it hit me. Make the work free! That gesture ensured that I got my idea across. After all, isn’t other people’s money always free?
If I have multiple pieces in a show, I make a new version of “Other People’s Money” and it’s always free. And the first to “sell.” At one show people ran to the gallery director to be first to claim it. My advertising background assures me a real kick when a concept works. I don’t run laughing to the bank but I do laugh!
In getting ready for the show I struggled to price the piece. Then, it hit me. Make the work free! That gesture ensured that I got my idea across. After all, isn’t other people’s money always free?
If I have multiple pieces in a show, I make a new version of “Other People’s Money” and it’s always free. And the first to “sell.” At one show people ran to the gallery director to be first to claim it. My advertising background assures me a real kick when a concept works. I don’t run laughing to the bank but I do laugh!
Three final thoughts: 1) this is the only piece I have ever “sold” before a show opened. 2) All art is political.
3) A friend and businessman in town calls “other people’s money” OPM. Yep, a clever guy.
3) A friend and businessman in town calls “other people’s money” OPM. Yep, a clever guy.
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