I get a fair amount of art related junk mail. Proposals from Eastern European artists shotgunning for massive career retrospectives, PR in Spanish for shows I could have less than zero interest in, baroquely worded introductions from clueless art agents, hilariously stupid art world remixes of Nigerian 419 Scams, you name it, I’m roundfiling it.
Today, I walked into my office to a pair of mails of a sort I haven’t really encountered before - art world version of a pay-for-play “Who’s Who” book and a “survey of contemporary art” in Crete that’s structured as a cash funnel. I’ve seen similar E-mails, but this pair of messages just seem particularly exploitative. They were sent out by an outfit who’s URL is omma.us, where you can read more about their programs and projects. I hate this kind of practice - it preys upon less talented and desperate artists who lack the skills or talents to attract normal curatorial attention, taking their money and giving them a falsely derived sense of self worth and importance.
I could eviscerate both of these E-mails, but they speak volumes themselves. All grammatical and/or spelling errors are theirs. I’ve redacted the full contact info on these, as well. If you’re all sad and mopey that it’s not there, drop me an E-mail and I’ll shoot it your way.
E-mail #1 - the Pay-for-Play Who’s Who
Include your art in the Art Book “International Contemporary Masters 2007″
We are delighted to be able to send you the offer of presenting your works in the art book
“International Contemporary Masters 2007″ which will be published in the second part of 2007.
The submission
Professional artists are invited to submit materials for selection to become published in International Contemporary Masters 2007,
a global art book edited and published by Omma Center of Contemporary Art. www.omma.us
Artists should apply by sending at least 5 JPG images by email or their website address.
If the artist is selected, will be notified within 5 working days.
Place and availability in the book are subject to quality. All submissions are subject to acceptance.
Once accepted you may choose between one-page, two-page and four-pages.
the selection
Submit free for selection. Our art committee will review all submissions and make decisions on acceptance.
After notification of acceptance an inclusion fee is required.
INCLUSION FEE
Inclusion fee for a page in the catalogue is 350 Euros or US $ 445
This page will include one image of the artwork and a short biography
For two pages the cost is 550 Euros or $ 650 USD.
For four pages the cost is 900 Euros or $ 1,080 USD.
The artists will receive one free copy of the catalogue.
If they want to buy extra catalogues, they will get a 20% discount, unless
they place an order through Amazon or elsewhere.
The inclusion fee may be provided by a gallery or museum, corporation or individual contributor representing the artist or self-provided.
The cost includes the following services: full editing, creative layout and design per-page, text review & post-editing, plates, offset printing, distribution.
The catalogue will be published by December 2007.
Deadline for applications; May 15, 2007
All media will be accepted.
The catalogue will be distributed for free to selected collectors, curators, and art-lovers and will also be sold from Amazon.com
E-mail #2 - The Pay-to-Play International Exhibition
5th International Art Festival ‘Chania 2007′
PAINTING, MIXED MEDIA, SCULPTURE, PHOTOGRAPHY, DIGITAL ART, VIDEO ART, INSTALLATIONS, PERFORMANCE ART
GALLERIES CAN PARTICIPATE WITH A GROUP OF ARTISTS
Omma Center of Contemporary Art is organizing the 5th International Art Festival from July 10 until July 15, 2007 at the OLD CUSTOMS public exhibition center in the Old Town of Chania, Crete, Greece . The exhibition space is over 4000 square meters in area. The festival is one of the largest annual art exhibitions in Chania and one of the largest in Greece, and will be covered accordingly by the local and national media.
Artists from all over the world can participate. Visit this link to view the previous festivals: http://www.omma.us/festivalapplyseeprevious.htm (if the links don’t work, please copy and paste in your browser)
There are two ways of participation;
1rst way;
Participation fee 430 Euros.
With this participation fee the artist will display 2 works (no size limit) in the show, and one of these works will be included in the full color edition catalogue which we publish for the show together with a short biography email and link to their website, as well as on our internet site
The artists will get two copies of the catalogue for free. If they want extra copies they will have to purchase them at the price of 20 Euros per each copy.
2nd way;
Participation fee 200 Euros.
With this participation fee the artist will display 1 work (size limit 100 x 100 cm. or 33 x 33 inches) in the show, and only the name of the artist will be included in the Index of the catalogue, together with their email and website link (no biography and no artwork will be shown on the catalogue). Only the link and email address of the artist will be shown on our website omma.us. The artist does not get any free copies of the catalogue. If the artist wants any copies of the catalogue they will have to purchase them at the price of 20 Euros per each copy.
Apply by sending at least 5 JPG or Gif photos (no more than 250 kb each) or your website link.
One of the works and a short biography of each artist will be included in a full color catalogue which we will publish for the exhibition. Each artist will get two copies of the catalogue for free.
The works can be shipped unframed or unstretched. We will undertake restretching or framing at our cost
March 29th, 2007 at
Do Not Mail Opt-Out Law would be fair to everyone.
The proposed recent “Do not mail” is an Opt-Out law. Only those not desiring advertising mail need opt-out. Anyone desiring advertising mail can do nothing - and continue to receive it. Why deny those wishing to avoid advertising mail the power to do so?
I do not consider handling unwanted advertising placed against my will on my personal property to be a civic obligation!
The US Supreme Court said in the Rowan case in 1970, ““In today’s [1970] complex society we are inescapably captive audiences for many purposes, but a sufficient measure of individual autonomy must survive to permit every householder to exercise control over unwanted mail. To make the householder the exclusive and final judge of what will cross his threshold undoubtedly has the effect of impeding the flow of ideas, information, and arguments that, ideally, he should receive and consider. Today’s merchandising methods, the plethora of mass mailings subsidized by low postal rates, and the growth of the sale of large mailing lists as an industry in itself have changed the mailman from a carrier of primarily private communications, as he was in a more leisurely day, and have made him an adjunct of the mass mailer who sends unsolicited and often unwanted mail into every home. It places no strain on the doctrine of judicial notice to observe that whether measured by pieces or pounds, Everyman’s mail today is made up overwhelmingly of material he did not seek from persons he does not know. And all too often it is matter he finds offensive.”
Furthermore, the Supreme Court said, “the mailer’s right to communicate is circumscribed only by an affirmative act of the addressee giving notice that he wishes no further mailings from that mailer.
To hold less would tend to license a form of trespass and would make hardly more sense than to say that a radio or television viewer may not twist the dial to cut off an offensive or boring communication and thus bar its entering his home. Nothing in the Constitution compels us to listen to or view any unwanted communication, whatever its merit; we see no basis for according the printed word or pictures a different or more preferred status because they are sent by mail.”
We need a nationwide “Do Not Mail” law to create a one-stop, convenient place for homeowners to give senders the aforementioned affirmative notice that we do not want certain kinds of mail sent to our homes.
http://www.newdream.org/emails/ta19.html
Signed,
Ramsey A Fahel
March 30th, 2007 at
I’d normally delete the above, but I’m totally in love with the sadness of receiving meta-spam, that is spam about spam mail. Yet more evidence that we’re living in the age of zombie irony.