I INTRODUCTION

{or Prop4D} ~A Proposal for the Disposition and Dispersal of the 4D VyNIL paintings: Toward a new economic model for the exchange of original art and the compensation of the artist; for the establishment of sustainable, equitable systems in arts and culture.

IA

Paul McLean is an artist, currently based in Astoria, Oregon. In 2017 and -18, McLean produced and documented the production of a series of paintings, consisting of distinct sub-series that combine to form a distinct body of work (4D VyNIL). The art is unified by applied materials, concept, methods of application, visible consistency, size distributions, color, composition, narrative and other relevant means. The 4D VyNIL series was presented to select individuals through open studios, virtual platforms and a comprehensive installation (“HOME SHOW”). The production of the art was documented throughout its period of creation.

IB

Throughout his career the artist has engaged in the exchange of art, beginning with his own work. He has also worked in art businesses, periodically establishing his own, launching hybrid commercial exposition projects of many varieties, studying art and cultural commerce and management, engaging in attaching discourses, and experimenting with innovative, creative approaches for showing, thinking about and distributing art.

IC

Proposition 4D will stipulate the form of immediately selling the remaining, available artwork of the 4D VyNIL series, which is its greater proportion for a pre-set fee ($45000); designate a resale percentage fee (10%) that will be remitted to the artist upon the buyer(s) selling of the art, in whole or parts; map additional conditions benefiting all stakeholders through the establishment of an Estate/Foundation operating on behalf of the art and artist, heirs, selling partners, etc.

NOTES:

This project will be framed as a standalone artwork itself, connecting to but distinct from the objects in the 4D VyNIL series. The author/originator of Proposition 4D (Paul McLean) is also its “artist.” The structure of the Prop4D exchange addresses significant design changes in the art economy, since 1980. In 2018, as in 2008 and the aftermath of that Crash, calls to reform the art market have generated little or no meaningful concessions from the most powerful players in the field. Sensible solutions are readily available, but almost certainly will cause major disruption of existing hierarchies in cultural economies. Change and growth must occur, and the question is whether the change manifests incrementally and rationally, or chaotically, as in violent fracture. I think the central point is the value of expression in society, and the best nature of expression for us. The material aspect of art creation and craft is incomprehensible to anyone who has not had the good fortune to practice. Compensation for lifetime commitment to art, culture, democratic society is an indicator of civic health. Those who dismiss the utility of the artist to a system dependent on free speech for its survival deserve the reality they get. Current events in America are a clear demonstration of this last statement. Inhumanity is artless in the extreme, and cruelty is anti-art. In art, even a forgery tells the truth, in the end.

II PROSPECTUS

The gallery and/or dealer, or a syndicate of galleries and/or dealers will collaborate with the artist to properly place the work with appropriately engaged collectors, mount exhibitions, establish institutional programming and publish related documentation and supporting materials and texts. The keyword is commitment.

IIA

The sequence for management and development of the work follows the recognizable trajectory. The purchased work is organized and catalogued. Whenever possible, individual artworks or series and groups of artworks or a collection is sold to a viable clientele, or syndicate of clients. Every sales contract will include the assurance that the owner will permit exhibition of the painting or sculpture purchased upon request. 4D VyNIL and the associated art will be presented in multiple locations and types of venues over time.

IIB

The model for the proposed relationship of artist to representative(s) is based on successful examples from the 20th Century. Dominant models today (Supergalleries, art fair, multi-tiered exchanges, both virtual and brick’n’mortar, or hybrid, etc.) aggressively disrupt the former’s modus operandi, all-directionally. The development of New Media in conjunction with traditional formats for art enables an expanded creative platform and means of distribution. The projected representative must be competent across the spectrum of available market options.

IIC

The integration of the art with additional programming is essential. Advancing 4D systematically is vital to the total artist’s project. The value of this feature of Art for Humans is profound, extending beyond current circumstance. The opportunity to collaborate with practitioners from other disciplines presents the artist and the participants with novel applications for envisioning a shared future. Establishing an archive will be a priority, in the organizational structure of artistic production.

III ARTIST STATEMENT

An art form is an agreement, if the art is social, cultural, commercial. Art itself is none of these. The object of art can be formal, and simultaneously reject formalism, among other things. The artist, likewise, can promote the exchange of his art for production purposes, and as an extension of civic freedom. The environment for art is rarely conducive to subtlety. The community for art is seldom supportive of artistic liberty. The issue is the sequence of transactions, in the interests of practicality and prioritization. Management of art is flatly an oxymoron. Yet here we are.

The disintegration of equitable public-private systems, including one for art, is accelerating and reaching critical mass. Although one can always find a barker or rube who defends the status quo at all costs, as long as the paychecks arrive more or less on time, the erosion of reasonable and enlightened exchange for all is everywhere evident. At such times, an artist is no less responsible than any other citizen in defense of democracy. What are artists doing? Critique, parody and irony are more useless than art, in opposition to tyranny. The pursuit of happiness seems a ludicrous response, but it is not. Insistence on the value of art is never wrong.

But the predicament is dimensional. The monopoly players in the 1% art market have co-opted the valuation of art from the democracy. Nothing new about this state of affairs ~ art is essential to human society, and anyone who wishes to control his fellows must command the terms by which art is recognized and exchanged on a macro-scale. Even if we have historical references for free, democratic art, it is up to us to demand it now.

[WIP]