Appel à communication : « Artists on the Market » (Berlin, 13-14 novembre 2015)

The fourth Workshop of the Forum Kunst und Markt at the TU Berlin will focus on the strategies of artists operating on the art market. Historically, the decreasing dominance of the patronage of the courts and churches did not automatically lead to an increase in artists’ autonomy as it also augmented their dependence on a quickly growing and increasingly diversified art market. By following this development over several centuries, we aim to investigate the respective strategies and ranges of action available between artistic freedom and financial success.

What are the conditions of work that artists have established by setting up production bases such as the artist’s studio, the factory, or the “out-sourcing” of manufacture? How do they market themselves and their goods in order to achieve regional, national, or global recognition on the market? What are the roles played by “modern” commissioners (dealers, collectors, state institutions, etc.) and mediating institutions (galleries, art associations, museums, projects spaces, mass media, etc.) in creating and establishing new artistic practices, genres, or stylistic trends? And last but not least: what is the impact on the art market of alternative forms of operation when artistic strategies are in conflict with the framework of a pre-established, complex system?

The convenors are not only calling for contributions on recently completed research but are expressly looking for reports on research-in-progress that can shed light on the various aspects of interest, also from a comparative perspective or as relevant case studies.

Convenors: Dr. Dorothee Wimmer, Prof. Dr. Bénédicte Savoy, Dr. Johannes Nathan, assisted by Lukas Fuchsgruber M.A.

Conference date: November 14, 2015, all day, Senate Room, Technische Universität Berlin. The workshop will open on November 13, 2015, with an evening lecture by Dr. Christian Huemer from the Getty Research Institute, Los Angeles. Conference languages are English and German.

Please send proposals (maximum 2000 characters), and a brief curriculum by August 31, 2015 to: artistsonthemarket@gmail.com

Additional information on the conference cycle of the Forum Kunst und Markt and its annual workshops may be found at: www.fokum.org.

Technische Universität Berlin,
Hauptgebäude, Senatssitzungssaal H 1035,
November 13 – 14, 2015
Deadline-CFP: 31 août 2015