In constant battle with my own elitist tendencies, I personally applaud at attempts to transform art into commodity — whether they are books, posters, postcards, cups, umbrellas, etc. But of course, art for the masses has its own intrinsic problems — the masses being fickle and uniformed, catering to the beast is a matter of discovering the right cow, milking, skinning and slaughtering it until not a bone is left.

I think there is a balance to be found, though it may force an artist to walk a pretty thin rope. Fall too far to one side, and you cease to be an artist, and become a mere “creator”, fall too far to the other and you’ll find yourself either at the pinnacle of your success (catering instead to investment professionals along with appreciative collectors) or at that pitiful but pure place called “the starving artist”.

there are two major art fairs in aisa, one in Hong Kong and the other in Tokyo. Obviously, the one in Hong Kong is much bigger and lively.

you know, in this economic climate, the prices of contemporary art are getting down, and the dealers for contemorawry and emerging arts are struggling.

on the contrary, prices for old masters are stable and even keep rising these days. do you know the biggest art fair in the world? that is called TEFAF, based in Maastricht. this is for dealers and curators of old master paintings.

last month, the richest people around the world gathered together to the small city of Maastricht by their private jets:
“Old Masters are better than buying gold nuggets”.

http://www.theartnewspaper.com/article.asp?id=17097

私もこのカフェが大好きです。
3年半前、幼なじみが教えてくれて、行きました。
クロックムッシュを食べた記憶があります。
ジャズが流れる、落ち着いた雰囲気。
親しい人の部屋にいるみたいですよね。
また行きたいな。

でも、ブログのインパクトはすごいと思うから、そのうち「何を読んでいますか」の答えはブログのタイトルになるかも？と思ったり。。

ちなみに、

「今何を読んでいるでしょうか？」を友達に聞いてみた。

ではなく、

「今何を読んでいるでしょうか？」と友達に聞いてみた。
(I asked my friend, "What are you reading?"）

もしくは

今何を読んでいるのかを友達に聞いてみた。
（I asked my friend what they are reading.）

かな。

おやすみなさい。