Story of a Lady Who…
By Tom Wachunas
“Making money is art and working is art and
good business is the best art.” –Andy Warhol
"I've decided something:
Commercial things really do stink. As soon as it becomes commercial for a mass
market it really stinks." –Andy Warhol
“If all life is sacred, then
the marketplace is of the same spiritual significance as the temple...” -
Harold Loukes
Exhibition: Annie’s Love Story, by Judi Krew, at your local ACME Stores, ongoing
while supplies last…
Back in October of
2013, Judi Krew wrote in her blog, Snarkyart, about a recent ambitious project
by interviewing herself. It was a clever idea, giving us a broad new app for “selfie.”
Anyway, if you missed it, you’ll need to read it NOW to get the gist of what follows
here. Click this link:
Thanks and welcome
back.
There was a time,
long ago and in a land far away, when art that smacked of anything even vaguely
commercial - and any ideas about marketing “art for the masses” - were anathema to me. Older now, I realize that
a mind is a terrible thing not to change. That said, the two Warhol quotes at
the top of my post here were uttered many years apart. But oh, that Andy…such a
kidder. I can just about hear him laughing all the way to the bank when he said
the second one.
Not that Judi Krew
is getting filthy rich from her series of six reusable shopping bags marketed at Acme. Frankly it’s
not relevant one way or the other. At any rate, over the years I’ve come to
better appreciate Krew’s wit, generous palette, noteworthy painting and
compositional skills and yes, her business acumen. She’s one savvy bag lady, so
to speak.
I’ve now collected
half the series. Is this how soap opera fans feel, following the doings of a
beloved character? Will we see Annie kiss the man she smiled at on bag number
two? Or will that come only after their hands touch when reaching for a Honeydew? An
exchange of phone numbers? I wait with bated breath.
Seriously, it’s
good fun to watch for elements repeated from one bag to the next – including references
to other artists. Krew was spot-on when she described the experience of looking
for recurring visual motifs as “…a sophisticated game of Where’s Waldo.” Maybe
when I’ve acquired the whole series I’ll offer you my full “script” and eventually
see how well it matches up with Krew’s.
Meanwhile, I truly
appreciate the bags as objets d’art - an edition of “sculptural prints” on 100%
woven polypropylene. And washable too (but DO NOT tumble dry)! I have no
intention of using them for real shopping.
Then again, the
bags have given rise to a fantasy scenario. What if we begin to see shoppers
using them in stores other than Acme? Annie goes viral. So OK, I bring one or
two to use at my local Fishers one day - a performance art piece to see how many
managers’ eyebrows I can raise.
Oh, that Tom…such a rebel.
PHOTOS (from top) First three bags, in sequence, from a series of six. Bottom photo - side views
1 comment:
Thanks Tom! The best bags are yet to come, numbers 4 and 5 are my favorites along with the elusive bag X. Annie bags are in Florida, Illinois, North Carolina, and others states as well. I use mine at Sam's Club. ;-)
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