The story of a visual arts media during the Covid 19 pandemic
By Fatemehsadat Abdollahzadehhoseini
One wintry afternoon on my way home, when I was driving in an empty street and passing in front of closed restaurants and shops, I was scared as if zombies have invaded to our city and everyone sheltered in safe places.
Earlier than I thought, the morning news became true.
“The city will be quarantined and artistic activities must be stopped.”
On a busy day, when all journalists and reporters in Galleryonline (Iranian visual art online news agency) were covering visual art news, were bewildered by this short and weird news.
While artists immersed in creating artwork, suddenly passion and innovation were replaced by anxiety and hesitation. After some while, our public relation was asked about the status of art events and we were trying to pursuing Iranian authority figure final decision.
At the beginning of the quarantine, my colleague and I had to work far from each other while all of us thought it wasn’t a long-term situation. Whereas our hearts long for, make reports and interviews with artists in artistic events, Due to limitations, we should follow an efficient and practical approach to communicate with our readership. Clearly, when artistic activity ceases, the function of media which content includes the activity of the artist, changes.
As the disease peaked, our website was filled with news lists of museums and galleries have been closed and unfortunately, we had to publish the news of the death of artists who suffered from the corona. Due to these stressful and unfortunate conditions, we identified one of our main tasks to create hope, motivation, and happiness for readers. So according to that new situation, artists new requirements become important.
Unfortunately, understanding new requirements haven’t been only obstacle for us to overcome. Because of especial economic situation in Iran we face with financial disaster much more than other countries and some employee have been laid off.
As the CEO of this media, I am committed to protecting the site like my child from the damages of the covid19 pandemic, so we keep on trying with a small number of colleagues. I remember about six years ago, without any financial support, how my husband and I were motivated to set up our website by desire to meet Iranian artists needs and fill some gaps that existed in visual art society.
As I am always enthusiastic to know about future media and kind of communication in future and what will be the visual artist’s needs in future? And how can media meet their need? In that time I have felt future is coming sooner than expected.
“As the production and consumption of news are relevant components of active citizenship and participation in the public sphere.” (Leopoldina Fortunati, John O'Sullivan, 2019) This intensified with the beginning of the quarantine era, and individuals and artists tried to inform others about their situation and feelings through the mass media and to follow the news and status of others through online media. “So the user has become a producer. Such user practices are the norm in an era of liquid news” (Karlsson, 2012;LeopoldinaFortunati, John O'Sullivan, 2019)
As a result, we had to set up new facilities according to new needs of our audience. Vividly our reader’s needs are diverse and we should take their age, art field, and professional level into account.
In order to figure out artists current needs and the people are involved with visual arts community such as dealers, curators, and …, we have been using diverse methods, such as conducting survey,doing research and consulting with heads of art associations via live discussion and they explained how their members face with problem based on their area of expertise.
For instance, head of sculpture association “Abbas Majdie “mentioned sculptors have to go outside to find their suitable material and sometimes need cooperate with somebody else to finish their work.
head of painting association ” Also Amir Rad” said this is a golden opportunity for artists to use cyberspace .He did not consider these conditions to be a major obstacle for painters, because their work individually.
Head of graphic design association “Fatemeh Karkeabadie” spoke about graphic designers financial problems that happen due to their client financial disaster.
Illustrators are not exception in this situation and because of publishers’ financial crises their work suffered from corona pandemic, said the head of Illustrators association “Mohsen Hassanpour”.
The head of the Iranian Photographers Association “Mohammad Mehdi Rahimian, “said: Photographers have been really important in capturing images in certain circumstances throughout history, and this situation is no exception, although their health is in danger. Like the brave reporter who captured images in wartime.
Some facilities already existed to meet artists' needs, such as live interviews, online exhibitions, and auctions, but they became extremely important when we must keep social distance during quarantine and virtual space turn to the only way of communication.
As I said, like our start-up goals, we set our targets to create hope and positive energy in the art community. So we announced an online graphic competition for graphic designers, aiming to raise awareness about the Coronavirus.
Moreover, we held several online exhibitions and sold artworks in cooperation with some art galleries, to support both artists and raised money for Corona patients.
On World AIDS Day, paintings by HIV-positive children were displayed and sold online in collaboration with a charity to buy tablets for their online education.
In addition, to encourage people to stay at home and enjoy the quarantine period, we published news about training courses, exhibitions, and online art events at home and abroad on the site.
As time passes, artists started to work at their studios. Artists are influenced by their environment. So it’s inevitable in this special moment. A lot of artists around the world expose their feeling about the coronavirus pandemic and quarantine through their medium. Designed artworks have been shown via online media, and that is why every border and meaning of distance have been fading more than before quarantine.
“Under the Shadow of the Masks” is the title of, Iranian sculptor exhibition. “Abbas Majidie” shown his view about the mask, and said: “it was an idea formed following the outbreak of the Coronavirus pandemic and the situation imposed by it; A situation we are experiencing together; A situation that has affected all aspects of our social and personal life one by one. In shaping the layout of this exhibition, an attempt has been made to share the effects of this situation on the audience”.( Visual Arts Center of Iran Arts Center, 2020)
Artwork of Abbas Maidie
Or tony matelli has shown how have felt about stay in quarantine. “hyper-realistic sculptor tony matelli presents his latest work ‘josh’ together with long island’s ‘alone gallery’ — the first exhibition space designed to be experienced in isolation. While the gallery was developed in response to the challenges posed by COVID-19, no gallery staff will be present as the visitor with no more than three quarantine partners is left alone with the exhibition. Floating alone in the center of the space, the disturbingly life-like ‘josh’ transforms the gallery into a chamber of self-reflection.”( kat barandy, 2020)
Artwork of Tony matelli
“Artists who deal with political themes and street artists, like Banksy, have explicitly responded to the pandemic in their work “(Belcove 2020). “Prominent artists with large studios and numerous assistants report that they made changes that are more drastic not just in their themes, but also in their production process.” (Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)
The most exciting online shows belong to important museums and galleries, such as Prado in Madrid, British Museum, Metropolitan Museum, Hermitage Museum, and virtual tours of artistic festivals like Miami Beach, Frieze London, Iranian Ceramics Biennial, the 28th Annual Exhibition of Golestan Gallery of Iran, and ..., etc.
However, the Art Basel, the largest exhibition at the International Art Market, scheduled for September in Switzerland, has been postponed. Also in Iran, the dates of the Tehran auction, the biennial of sculpture, the biennial of ceramics, and some other art programs were postponed.
The Iranian Academy of Arts and some other art venues showed their exhibition space on the live stream.
Another example is virtual tours of some famous artist house or studio, for instance Frida Kahlo. It is really exciting that experience and it look as if you travel to another part of the world. You can forget corona pandemic for short period of time.
“online exhibitions and social media platforms offer opportunities to circulate their work and engage with their peers; however, artists find these interactions aesthetically lacking in that they do not get the same fulfillment from viewing artwork online. Socially, they also feel unfulfilled, as they do not experience the collective effervescence—the powerful excitement—of socializing with like-minded peers nor can they develop new connections remotely.” (Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)
Furthermore, some professional libraries make their book accessible for all artists, such as the University of Tehran. This strengthened people's widespread access to information.
Then online workshops, webinars, and classes were being held on through virtual space. And make the chance to everyone from each point of Earth to take part in the professional courses. And with these events, the time difference between different parts of the world loses its meaning.
For example, the Iranian Graphic Designers Association conducted a live interview with foreign artists, which was very well received by Iranian artists.
We showed to our audience the online studio and workshop structure via an online interview with Iranian professional painter Bobak Etminani, he explained the art teaching method on the online platform.
Live interview with Professor Bobak Atminani
Many courses are also offered for free, including some online courses at Harvard University.
On the other hand, the artists' economic situation has been influenced by covid_19. Galleries and International auctions turn to online sales, and artists try to display and sell their work on their personal social media pages. “While the contemporary art market has long resisted online sales” (Horowitz 2012; Khaire 2015; Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020), mediators had to leverage technology to keep business alive during the COVID-19 crisis.
"However, the decline of face-to-face interaction, previously essential to art market transactions" (Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)" were barriers to selling visual arts online. A broader survey finds that nearly 200 US galleries reported a projected average loss of 73 percent for the first quarter" (Kinsella 2020;Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020).
“Social media has provided not only a forum for reasoned debate and activism but also a platform for fake news,” (LeopoldinaFortunati, JohnO'Sullivan, 2019 ) so building trust in the form of today's online relationships, such as face-to-face relationships, will be other challenges facing online media." Yet despite a desire for stability in interaction orders, now operating at a distance, COVID-19 prompted remarkable changes in the auction segment toward a more digitized market sphere, especially when compared with the gallery segment." (Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)
"Global art sales reached $64.1 billion (€56.7 billion) in 2019, according to the Art Basel and UBS bank Art Market 2020 report. This is an overall decline of 5% from the previous year. Sales in China were down even more". (Timothy Rooks, 2020)
"For collectors, trust is essential. While purchasing art is an economic transaction, personal ties are crucial, particularly at the higher end of collecting" (Moulin 1987;Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020).
"In 2019, Sotheby's recorded results of $4.8 billion from over 400 auctions. Sales in Asia were $939 million, which according to the company gave it a 16% lead in market share over its biggest competitor. Asian-based clients accounted for around 30% of their global sales. Still overall sales were down from the previous year's high of $5.3 billion.
Christie's, which has been privately owned since 1998 by a holding company run by French billionaire Francois-Henri Pinault, didn't fare much better. Total auctions and private sales last year brought in $5 billion — well down from $7 billion in 2018". (Timothy Rooks, 2020)
"Megan Green, a younger New York City-based collector, now in her 30s. He said about buying works of art online: [These platforms] might have some real staying power, because you can’t be everywhere, so I think there is a really nice bridge between the physical and digital world.
For Green, digital platforms are not a replacement for the physical world, but a valuable supplement. Green finds the increased transparency in pricing on some online platforms a major benefit." (Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)
"in March 2019 the Gagosian gallery sold a painting from 1988 by German artist Albert Oehlen for a record-breaking $6 million, well over his highest auction result. The work was sold in its own viewing gallery "within three hours of the artwork being revealed, and the purchaser never seeing it in person," according to a tweet by the gallery's manager, Sam Orlofsky.
This sent a clear signal that buyers are willing to spend a lot online for things that they have never seen in person. In spite of this call to action, things are changing slowly though." (Timothy Rooks, 2020)
"Lisa Dennison is chair of the Americas at Sotheby’s, one of the world’s most powerful auction houses. Her responsibilities include international business development.
She stresses the development of trust through face-to-face interactions.
She aims to replicate her “high touch” approach digitally, “making the outreach very personalized.” As Dennison confronts her limits, she recognizes how meaningful the bonds she created before COVID-19 have become, As in-person auctions were postponed, a task force that Dennison joined strategized pivoting auction sales online. The first results have been promising. By mid-May, Sotheby’s (2020a, b) reached $100 million in global online sales—a 370% increase from the same period in 2019.
even attracted a substantial 30% of new buyers globally. This success during a crisis seems astonishing if one recalls that Sotheby’s lost a disconcerting $130 million when it briefly partnered with eBay and Amazon at the turn of the millennium, due to low online demand" (Horowitz 2012; Larissa Buchholz, Gary Alan Fine, Hannah Wohl, 2020)
The thirteenth Tehran auction was postponed twice and has not been held either in real or virtual space.
"Lily Golestan, the director of Golestan Gallery, who has held the 28th annual exhibition online, says about this exhibition:
I started in a state of doubt and despair, based on the past experiences of others, I thought the online fair was not very successful, but it was exactly the opposite of what I thought. Audiences started buying artworks from the very first hour of the opening of the online exhibition. We met people who bought 8 or 15 artwork.
Lily Golestan
Golestan added: "The online nature of the exhibition meant that we did not have the time limit of the exhibition and of course the dimensions of the works. When this exhibition was held in the gallery, the largest size of the painting we could get from the artists was 50 by 70 cm." (honaronline.ir, 2020)
After nearly ten months some people try to hold art events in real space by following hygienic protocols. For example, the Iranian sculpture biennial held with limited visitors in real space and simultaneously was displaying on online media.
It seems artists look for solutions to organize art events and open the doors of galleries and museums. Even though we can't overlook the positive aspect of the artistic activity atmosphere in society, but we have to accept all changes that have been happening during the coronavirus pandemic and our focus on cyberspace, it will continue to affect our future communications.
Nevertheless, cyberspace with its unique benefits has attracted public attention and has been able to create effective streaming. Our website visit statistic shows the rate of online gallery visits during the Coronavirus pandemic (01 Jan 2020 - 01 Dec 2020) has increased by 35/64% compared to the same time last year.
onlineartgallery.ir website report 2020 (AWSTATS)
onlineartgallery.ir website report 2019 (AWSTATS)
Also, among the social networks Facebook, Instagram, Telegram, and WhatsApp, most of the audiences tended to follow the news through Instagram, and it’s clear that respectively, video reports, art competitions, and news had the highest views.
Consequently, as we can see the mental, emotional and physical conditions of people are affected by the type of communication. Communication can change the expanse of the artists' world.
Base on scientific evidence intimate communication can cause the spread of the disease; on the other hand, new communication resources such as virtual word and Instagram can prevent the spread of the contagious virus around the world. So communication has a crucial role in human survival and its forms have been changing throughout history.
Online and digital facilities of our time make a better situation for us than people who lived 100 years ago and face Spain flu. Now can we guess if the world contracted a highly contagious disease that similar to covid_19 next century, how newer facilities would make a better and more convenient situation for Earth habitant? And how would the meanings of communication become different? Would this news be scary?
“The city will be quarantined and artistic activities must be stopped.”
References
Fortunati L, O'Sullivan J. 2019.Situating the social sustainability of print media in a world of digital alternatives. Telematics and Informatics, Volume 37
Buchholz L,Alan Fine G, Wohl H.2020.Art markets in crisis: how personal bonds and market subcultures mediate the effects of COVID-19.American Journal of Cultural Sociology, volume 8
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