Part 10 (2/2)

Informal Barriers Protect Collective Reputations Because e supply of art and artists, art consu is not easy One often needs to be an expert to know the value of a particular artwork a the oversupply of, for instance, pop nicant or does it represent the beginning of a new and important trend? With respect to new art, there is a certain amount of 'uncertainty of taste'24 Art moves in many different directions, and even experts nd it difcult to predict long-term developments Nevertheless, experts still have a better idea of what is hot and what is not than the average consumer does Because information is asymmetric, like in the case of used cars, experts assist consu various marks of quality in the fornal quality Like the certicate on the door of the used car dealershi+p, a reputation promises certain qualities for consumers, which artists without this reputation cannot offer Neverthe-less, a reputation is not a certicate; it is not a piece of paper conferring certain rights on the owner, rights that are guaranteed by some ofcial authority Instead, a reputation in the arts is part of a discourse in which ht down, or pro-tected

Reputations have (1) an individual component and (2) a collective component The individual component is the personal trademark of an artist Artists are usually known for certain authentic characteristics in their work, which they do not share with other artists This personal 'trademark' is an essential part of their reputation Because experts including colleagues are continuously assessing the authentic qualities of artists' works, the reputation of, for instance, Freud is different in many aspects froh they all belong to the saurative painters

The collective coroup of related artists The collective aspect of the reputation plays an i as artists are not considered the top in their particular art fornal or mark of quality, which is connected to the inforroup of related artists (As noted, nowadays these 'schools' usually do not have names, but are known by the names of one or two key artists) Gatekeep-ers decide on who to let in (to attain a certain reputation) and those who are to be kept out In fact, participants in the discourse occasionally let artists in by granting them a favorable reputation, while others are rejected or are stripped of their favorable reputations This way the favorable reputation of the insider artists can be protected Letting artists in is often a matter of cooptation, but cooptation within the lialoffenders is apparently possible Taking the favorable reputation away froet a negative reputation and begin to lose incoaret in the illustra-tion is reluctant to show her relationshi+p with Alfred She is afraid that people will learn about the connection and begin to see her work in a dif-ferent light This could eventually harm her reputation

Innovations in the Arts are Protected and Indirectly Rewarded The acknowledg the extensive presence of innovation in the arts At rst glance, there seems to be little award for innovation in the arts There are no laws protecting innovation in the arts Although copyright laws protect actual products such as texts, ht does not protect the innovations in the inherent artistic styles in an art-work In theory, patent law could protect some of these innovations, as it does in industry, but in practice, patent law is not really applicable in the arts The law requires unauous criteria In the case of industrial innovations, these criteria are supplied in the form of specications Descriptions of styles, however, will always be auous

For example, anybody can copy Mondrian's style Not only artists working in the style of Mondrian, but also producers of shower curtains (and Yves Saint Laurent) using Mondrian-like patterns could freely prot fro as they did not directly copy Mon-drian's work In other words, no legal system of appropriation is in place with respect to Mondrian's innovation in style26 At the sah Sometimes many years of 'research' by one or, numerous artists precede the innova-tion inherent in a new style Therefore, without some other systeht easily disappear If governe portion of scien-tic research, the same would happen in the sciences, where patents soy, a case can be and has already been overnment subsidies to the arts to help foster innovation27 The necessity of the subsidization of artistic innovation seeical It is not however because er to innovate Even though not all art fore and development are typical for both thearts28 Why are so ed in innovation, if it is, in fact, an unprotable endeavor?

Although innovators in the arts do not receive rewards by selling patents, they nevertheless do receive rewards The fact that outside the ive innovative artists a reputation for being innova-tive contributes to other rewards Gatekeepers grant a favorable reputa-tion to innovators, which serves as a signal and gives them status and also indirectly increases their market income Imitators on the other hand, receive an unfavorable reputation and in this way, the reputations of innovators are protected

This means that while patents serve as formal barriers in the market, important informal barriers replace patents in the arts The law protects the rights of the patent holders Only those willing to pay a price are allowed to use patented ideas Leslie Singer has suggested that the direc-tors of important modern art museums run se artists by giving the these reputations to soe to control an informal barrier Therefore, nicant role in creating rep-utations

Nevertheless, the inuence of er-ated Reputations often begin developing long before these directors becoatekeepers is more appropriate They create and assess reputations for innovation30 Science, the twin sister of art, also has to deal with the fact that many innovations cannot be protected by law The sciences however, have an extremely institutionalized and formal reward system The sciences employs a system of certied ranks and titles, which is conducted by peers The arts has no ofcial ranks and titles Instead, infor discourse structure the arts These barriers produce a balance between variety and continuity The balance shi+fts over time and varies between art forms In some art forms, like classical music, continuity comes rst In others, like the visual arts and pop h patent laws cannot be applied to o totally unprotected Inforatekeepers protect reputations for innovation that lead to recognition and indirectly to monetary income (thesis 103) Since artists are indirectly rewarded for their innovations, a degree of appropriation exists

The Arts are Structured and Develope and infor Neverthe-less, these barriers conne the economy of the arts; the economy is less open than expected Informal barriers not only conne, but also struc-ture the economy of the arts (thesis 104) Therefore, the results of people's activities in the arts are not altogether unpredictable In this context, I will offer a few ree in the arts Theyof the economy of the arts (A detailed discussion of the subject falls, however, outside the scope of this book) When gatekeepers rants, they speak the sae because they have been trained in the saree easily, sometimes to their own astonishhts gradually creep into the discourse and inuence the out-comes of decisions

In o By e the inarticulateness of container terms 'dialects' develop When a new style survives, the dialect starts to inuence the main discourse And when it becomes more and more noticed, chief experts and peers start to assess the new school or style At this stage, existing gatekeepers ridicule the new style, ght it, respect it, argue for its recognition, and even start to 'produce' it This is a give and take between the newcomers and the established experts and peers In this way, the central discourse changes froe

Usually there is only one doht between two discourses can go on undecided for a long tiarde (contemporary) and traditional (modern) art in Britain discussed in Chapter 3 In this case, two dis-courses exist side by side which have their own gatekeepers and chal-lengers and that largely change froh a discourse is exible, it would be wrong to assume that a discourse can take any form An art form has a history Over time cul-tural capital has been accuree, they always have soround to stand on It is above all because of this xed core that co the barriers that new styles face, gatekeepers indirectly dene art They check whether new develop-ments respect the core of the specialization or take it in directions they do not approve off34 The authority or power invested in the inforroups of insiders, artists, and other experts In this respect, not everybody who takes part in the discourse surrounding a barrier has the same power For instance, the director of an ier say than a critic writing for a local newspaper This conrms the conclusion in Chapter 3 that not only the power of rich people's money, but also the power of words of those with a lot of cultural capital inuences the denition of art, an inuence that most others do not have Because the power to dene art is unequally dis-tributed, the arts are not as open and free as they seem to be

The inaccessible or open nature of the arts also depends on the way the power to dene art changes hands Is it vanquished or is it handed over voluntarily? Is there an element of heredity involved in the sense that important artists and experts hand over power to their own kind rather than to strangers? Viewed from the outside, such a system of cooptation would ies artistic freedom

In the arts, cultural capital and social capital are i artists, to participate in the rele-vant discourses Their capital is found in relationshi+ps and a network, in their knowledge of the history of an art form, of its developments, of the names of its relevant artists and of the accurate interpretation of perti-nent teroes undisputed If others e to increase their cultural and social poithin the discourse, the value of the cultural and social capital of the rst di the access to circles of recognition, including govern-ment funds, the experts and artists concerned have an indirect uard their cultural capital and pass it on to whoatekeepers tend to favor fellow artists or artist friends who belong to the saatekeepers studied or worked as teachers This means that to be accepted, the cultural capital, as well as the social capital of newcom-ers, counts These 'kinfolk' or 'rookies' are likely to respect the cultural capital of the gatekeepers35 (Alfred in the illustration is evidently not an ih Alfred aret, she joined an established circle of recognition with its own leading artists Because Margaret doesn't take risks and goes to great pains not to offend her colleagues, she is atekeepers invite a 'rebel' in as well So rebel can slon the devalua-tion of the gatekeepers' capital) At the end of their careers, the old guard's poill necessarily diminish, but their capital can rees choose their own directions but will refrain frouard and continue to pay tribute In this way the cul-tural capital of older artists lives on in the work of their younger col-leagues and becomes part of the core of the specialization This is how successful older artists increase their chances of having their art outlive them

Because infored position, allow cooptation, help channel the benets to 'offspring', and soes beyond the death of the artists concerned, they lead to ely unintentional mechanism described above is also present in other professions, above all in the sciences The difference is that new-comers in the arts unjustiably expect the arts to be open Therefore, they arrive in droves, are ill-informed and unaware of the extent of infor-mal monopolization in the arts

The Risks of Some are Reduced at the Expense of Others Due to informal barriers the arts are structured and partlyis informal and difcult to discern Informal monop-olization causes a reduction in risks for artists in privileged areas, while risks are higher for artists outside these areas36 In the selected areas, average inconition and usually soher because many are excluded and numbers are relatively small Therefore, competition is less intense In these areas, there is a consolidated effort to support the reputations of artists Artists are also inforainst theft of the intellectual property inherent in their innovations Moreover, risk is further reduced as gatekeepers par-tially control the development in the discourse about art Therefore the chance that totally unexpected developments will occur is smaller than elsewhere

Inforhtly more pre-dictable and therefore less risky for its participants But it does not turn these areas into a safe haven Even in these areas, however, artist's careers are in no way comparable with university careers, for instance Risks reh Nevertheless, once an artist drifts outside these areas the risks becoreater Risk reduction in the inner cir-cles implies increased risks in the unstructured outer zone In other words, some prot at the expense of others

When I envision the arts, I picture a large outer zone in which many unsuccessful artists dwell and a small inner zone comprised of a small nuht stands for recognition The large outer zone is a plane and the inner zone is a inning of the hts indicate three or four successive circles of recognition Because newcomers with equal artistic talents see the plain to reach the mountain, they all seem to be as bad off in the unfriendly outer zone This is not true, however Due to other differences in social, cultural, and economic capital, newcoe, those who e to cross the rst barrier, the plain, have more social, cultural, and economic capital than the rest And after that, fewer and fewer artists reach the higher ain and again,So the way; other capital was already there Most artists, however, never ued that artists are ill-informed about the arts; because of the myths about freedom and autonomy they can't see the full extent of the barriers Therefore, many people enter the art world, ould not have entered, had they been able to see the barriers clearly Because the control of numbers in the arts is infor a career in the arts are usually ill-informed; they think the arts are more open than they really are and they are unaware of the extent to which informal monopolization characterizes the arts (thesis 106)

10 Conclusion Why does Margaret, in the earlier illustration, publicly deny her rela-tionshi+p with an artist friend whose work she admires? And why is it so iaret has passed through the infor, successful avant-garde artists She does not want to jeopardize her position by revealing herself as having too overnnition because it represents the inforood' from 'bad' artists

On the one hand, the economy of the arts is exceptional because there is little occupational regulation No diplomas are required to practice art or to call oneself an artist Ade in the arts is also not controlled There is a taboo on both forms of con-trol because the arts need to protect their autonoo The arts must appear to be open On the other hand, however, the economy of the arts is exceptional because of the existence of many informal barriers that are difcult to ascertain and ultimately reduce the openness of the arts

Successful artists and other gatekeepers control inforaret, only limited nunition Versatile rules develop and are applied during discourses a this kind of discourse reputations are built, assessed, or destroyed

Reputations resehts in the nize the style of a particular artist or a group of artists, another artist or group can no longer lay claih artists cannot acquire patents to protect their work under the law, their innovations are nevertheless informally protected

It turns out that in the introduction to this chapter both the artist and the econo that few barriers exist in the arts There are more barriers in the arts and the arts are more structured than one would expect in the absence of a for the arts are often not aware of the numerous barriers They believe that all that matters is talent and hard work Many artists will continue to think this way until their dying day This attitude is part of the artist's habitus Artists are apparently ill-informed The importance of barriers is underestie incoe numbers who enter the arts and their low incomes is the relative invisibility of barriers in the arts

The arts appear to be a rough eld to enter It seems that everybody is as bad off as everybody else is Nevertheless, for reasons nobody quite understands, some nd their hile others do not This chapter has hopefullystructures, which privilege some at the expense of others In practice, areas of reduced risk in the arts are reserved priht kind capital

Discussion 1One view has the arts pictured as an extremely anarchistic sector where everybody only looks out for themselves Another view of the arts is that it's more like a battleeld where successful artists coatekeepers they 'organize' the arts in order to leave their mark on art history What is your view?

2In this chapter, part of the explanation has been shi+fted to areas, which are not treated in this book What is the origin of artistic devel-ope and how do they develop? How do differences in capital arise? Can you elaborate on these subjects?

Chapter 12

Conclusion: a Cruel Economy

Why Is the Exceptional Econo for not Going into the Arts Alex meets Marco at a classical music concert When Alex tells Marco he's a visual artist, Marco condes in Alex that a few years earlier he had con-te to a music conservatory to study coood pianist and that he has won so their conversation, he reveals his regrets about going into inforrets appear to be of the roe in Alex is etic about his choice not to go into the arts, as if he has done soize Maybe he feels the need to apologize because Alex did o into the arts In Marco's opinion, Alex has done the right thing This has happened to Alex before: people being apologetic for not choos-ing the arts Marco is, however, the rst who explains why he is apologetic He notes that by letting the arts go, he feels that hean artist, he has harmed himself, like he has mutilated himself He could have put himself, his personality, into his corow He would have becoed, belonged to the world of art But it's not just he who has lost out Alex ant but society also lost out because of this regrettable decision If he had become the composer he wanted to be, he is sure he could have offered soroup of artists who help shape the history of art, of civiliza-tion itself Yes, he is ashauilty Alex tells hi it as a professional composer would have been extres worse It demonstrates that he is a coward, some-body ants to play it safe Alex has to admit that Marco doesn't appear to be a very adventurous person Moreover, Alex notices that he thinks Marco is 'bourgeois', even though Alex knows he should be congratulating Marco in his decision to choose a lucrative career

Alex has discovered people like Marco everywhere, even in a poor country like Brazil Alex (the alter ego of the author) wrote this chapter in Recife, Brazil One day, while he was in an alternative bar in the new part of Recife, Alex met a woman, Maria, who told him that she had alanted to become a dancer but ultimately decided not to It struck Alex that she talked about it in exactly the saht, Maria introduced Alex to a group of dancers None of them were e for fringe dance co to con-tinue to do so The a was that their descriptions of the Brazilian fringe dance scene sounded a lot like the fringe dance scene in the Nether-lands: the sae groups of dancers working only once in a while The fundamental beliefs that underlie the arts and the econoht

Marco's apologetic behavior lies at the heart of the exceptional econorettably decided to not pursue art, many others decide precisely the opposite They enter the art world because the arts are extremely attractive, despite the prospects of low incoetic

I set out to write this book to explain why incomes are so low in the arts and why the arts ree a the process, it turned out that in many respects the econo chapter, I will list the aspects which makes the economy of the arts exceptional I will also sus with respect to low incoift sphere On top of that, I will try to analyze the results by atte to answer, rst, whether the economy of the arts can be qualied as a cruel or merci-less economy, and secondly, whether artists sacrice themselves or are sacriced within this merciless economy

As an artist, I am aware that the arts did not bestow the ro an artist is just a lot of hard work and also badly paid work Nevertheless, I continue to believe that all les will ultimately be worth the effort I am convinced that in the years to conicant to the history of art Because the work is hard and badly paid I really need this kind of belief to keepAs a social scientist, I ah place for e The economy is mer-ciless It is also an exceptional economy Because of all the myths that swaddle art, the economy of the arts is persistently exceptional

The Economy of the Arts is an Exceptional Economy In the course of this book, I have drawn a picture of the economy of the arts that shows its exceptional nature The following table lists several exceptional aspects as they appeared in the pages of this book Taken together they portray an exceptional econo to the exceptional nature of the economy of the arts 1The valuation of art products tends to be asyroup, while the latter looks down on the low art of the former (Chapter 1) 2In the arts: (1) the economy is denied; (2) it is protable to be non- commercial; (3) commercial activities are veiled (Chapter 2) 3 Art and artists have an exceptionally high status (Chapter 1) 4 Artists overlook or deny their orientation towards rewards

(Chapter 4) 5 Top incoher than in other professions (Chapter 5) 6The large majority of artists earn less than other professionals do Hourly incoative In the modern welfare state, this is truly exceptional (Chapter 5) 7Despite these low inco-sters still want to become artists The arts are extre artists face farprofessionals (Chapter 5) 9 Money represents a constraint rather than a goal for many artists

(Chapter 4) 10Artists are (more than others) intrinsically motivated (Chapter 4) 11Artists are (more than others) oriented towards non-monetary rewards (Chapter 5) 12Artists are ( risks (Chapter 5) 13Artists are unusually ill-informed (Chapter 5) 14A combination of myths reproduces misinformation about the arts (Chapter 5) 15Artists more often come from well-to-do families than other pro-fessionals (This is even more exceptional because usually the par-ents of 'poor' people are also poor) (Chapter 6) 16Poverty is built into the arts Measures to relieve poverty do not work or are counterproductive (Chapter 6) 17The arts are characterized by an exceptional high degree of inter-nal subsidization By using non-artistic income artists ift sphere in the arts is large; subsidies and donations coe portion of income (Chapter 2 and 8) 19Unlike other professions, the arts do not have a protected body of certied knowledge Anybody can access it (Chapter 11) 20Unlike other professions, there is no formal control of nuardless of their qualications (Chapter 11) 21Many informal barriers exist in the arts (Chapter 11) The exceptional nature of the econoed in the chapters of this book, is a relative exceptional phenomenon The differ-ence between it and other sectors is a iven the combination and intensity of exceptions, the phrase 'excep-tional economy of the arts' is justied

Despite the Many Donations and Subsidies Incomes are Low in the Arts This book has attempted to answer the questions of why income is low in the arts, why the arts are so attractive and why they receive so many donations and subsidies The h status of the arts It leads to overcrowding and there-fore to low incoh status The denial of the econoh status of the arts and contributes to this very status Because the average artist cares less about money and more about non-h status of the arts