buy, buy, buy!

Just in time to coordinate with the Artgos exhibition/event the invisible hand is now back open for business.

I experimented with a print-on-demand service earlier this year and, having just received a trial print of the new genzaichi/you are here T-shirt, I’m happy to say it passes the quality control test and the shop is now live and open for business!

The incentive for the invisible hand came about after increasing frustration that I’d already put all my own spare money into a few major projects – thus leaving me reliant on external funding for upcoming ideas I wanted to develop further. This is ok for some things, but I’d rather not be completely dependent on Arts Council and the like anyway, and sometimes you just need to be able to access some cash on a timescale of less than two months.

This has increasingly been the case as my practice simultaneously moves further into areas that are difficult to describe in a funder-friendly manner (what exactly are the outcomes going to be?) and that need me to be responsive to things happening around me.

The invisible hand was therefore developed as a way for my practice to become more self-supporting. Rather than selling actual artworks (I don’t usually produce objects), I’ve gathered together some of the core ideas that run through my work and I’m now selling products that relate to those. It will also come into play during 2008 in relation to a few publishing projects I’m working on. Watch this space…

So, if you fancy a t-shirt with an obscure Japanese railway reference (niche market?) or some badges bearing manifesto-esqe statements, the invisible hand is the retail outlet for you!

Payments are all handled via PayPal and absolutely all of the profit goes into a pot that will only be used in the production of art works. I’ve indicated by each item approximately how much from each sale goes into the project fund.

I’m in two minds about whether to develop any invisible hand branding or not, but I’m thinking it would be really nice to be able to add an invisible hand logo alongside any others that may have supported a project. I want to be able to say somehow that “this work wasn’t all funded by government hand-outs y’know!”.

What do you think?

Artgos

Starting today and running until the 15th of December, Artgos will be at the Merrion Market in Leeds.

This Christmas artsparkle presents Artgos, a new catalogue store in the heart of Leeds’ shopping district! A collaboration between Artsparkle and theartmarket, Artgos will be selling work by big name artists alongside fresh talent working with multiples, those fabulous, affordable artworks that make such great stocking fillers. Come along to the catalogue shop for a unique shopping experience, see performance artists in full flow, and kick-start your contemporary art collection for as little as £1!
Artgos website

Counsel for the Artist will be there in the form of some packs of postcards made especially for the event.

Each pack contains one postcard for each of the following statements:

• Make exchanges with spaces
• Strive to achieve modest connections
• Set your own agenda
• Add to a culture of learning and experimentation
• Get the message across
• Meet a new network
• Resist the ascribed role of witness
• Circumnavigate predictability

When I’ve shown them before I’ve been struck by how much these have resonated with other people – not just artists – so with any luck this will be a good opportunity to get the statements circulating into some interesting places.

There’s a veritable flotilla of links relating to the Artgos event, including the main Artgos website here.

If the Flickr stream is anything to go by, a lot of work has gone into preparing the space:

I’m digging the order forms! Hopefully some images of the opening party will also be added later.

If you can’t get along to The Art Market in person, I have limited numbers of map-wrapped Counsel for the Artist postcards available through the invisible hand shop.