<nettime> auction.thing.net

[Wolfgang Staehle <wolfgangsta@thing.net>]

"Non profit?  [Expletive here] non-profit!  There is no such thing as
non-profit.  Nobody gives you any [expletive here] money anymore!"

-- A Senior New York City Arts Administrator at a recent meeting.


The 20th century is on its way out and with it the traditional ways of
seeking support for non-commercial art projects.  In a way,
non-profits are an anachronism in today's culture.  Funding
organizations that traditionally gave money are now jittery about
posssibly being seen as supporting controversial content.  It's
gotten worse after the Helms attack on Mapplethorpe, Serrano and
Finley.  And now it's chill factor 10 after Giuliani's crusade
on "Sensation" at the Brooklyn Museum.

The question that needs to be asked is "How can anyone produce good art
anymore when it has to be rated PG13 and downgraded for full compliance
with American "family values."  Recently a California family father
came across an expletive in the website of the price-winning
European art group "etoy."  It was the same expression the NYC arts
admistrator in the above quote used and one which you can hear dozens
of times just walking NYC streets.  The confused man, not even realizing
what he was looking at, sent off a complaint to the online mega-retailer
eToys.  EToys decided to sue the artists for copyright infringement.

Who the hell wants to live in such a stupid commercialized culture?
A culture only geared towards making sales to consumer clones with
predictable habits and opinions.  A culture without fun, without a
sense of irony and wit, without real human characters, without art.

At The Thing we realized that we can't do business as usual anymore.
In the past, our funding request to foundations, federal and state
agencies were rejected with a monotonous predictability.  The
Jerome Foundation issued a statement saying their board decided that
it is not prepared to support "the artistry, present and future,
as evidenced by The Thing's website."   Well, we have news for the
little ol' ladies from Minnesota:  We just don't give a damn anymore!

We decided to take matters into our own hands.  We organized an
ad hoc online art auction and informed our friends and associates.
The result?  Over 50 artists spontaneously agreed to donate work to
keep TT on track.  Here they are:


Michel Auder

             Basicray

           Dike Blair

    Jordan Crandall

        Devon Dikeou

  Christoph Draeger

        Laura Emrick

                  etoy

           Peter Fend

       Rainer Ganahl

       Meghan Gerety

       Susan Goldman

      Wayne Gonzales

         Ron Gorchov

       Janine Gordon

        Peter Halley

 Noritoshi Hirakawa

        Danny Hobart

  Heidrun Holzfeind

      Simone Huelser

           Jacqueline
            Humphries

           James Hyde

       Manuel Ismora

   Craig Kalpakjian

    Rebecca Landmer

   Fabian Marcaccio

      Miltos Manetas

   Matthew McCaslin

            Josephine
            Meckseper

        Thom Merrick

      Paul D. Miller
   a.k.a. Dj Spooky
    that Subliminal
                   Kid

        Rudi Molacek

            Vik Muniz

        Prema Murthy

   Joseph Nechvatal

      Steven Parrino

       Daniel Pflumm

   RothStauffenberg

 Thomas Sandbichler

         Julia Scher

        Max Schumann

  John F. Simon Jr.

           Kiki Smith
 
 Gabriele Stellbaum

      Rudolf Stingel

        Beat Streuli

   Momoyo Torimitsu

       Anton Vidokle

           VinylVideo

           Tom Warren

    Lawrence Weiner

           David West



"This is not a benefit, this is a biennial"
-- a recent visitor

The proceeds from this auction will be used to fuel THE THING's various
cultural activities, like thing.review, the streaming video and audio
programs and several new innovative net projects.  Now it is all up to
you!
Vote for TT with your credit card and get an artwork from one of these 
outstanding artists.

PS: A few more artists will be added on Friday, so come back
frequently to check what's new and see if you still hold the high bid.
Is there any better way to get in a more favorable tax bracket?

A big round of applause for all the participating artists!

http://auction.thing.net

The auction ends December 23, 1999.




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