Photograph taken by Caleb Phillips
Once Upon A Time, In A World Far Far Away...
28 February- 1 March 2020:
Wow! This seems like a lifetime away, even though this was not much more than two months ago.
Wow! This seems like a lifetime away, even though this was not much more than two months ago.
At this point, travel was okay, standing right next to someone was okay, having no masks or gloves on was okay, going out for an indefinite period of time was okay, nightlife and art excursions were okay.
I was selected as one of 12 people from my accommodation in London- Goodenough College- to be a part of the Dean's Seminar 2.0 in the exciting city of Madrid, Spain.
Our Dean, Alan McCormack and Dario Corsetti were leading and facilitating us, while the seminars were undertaken by Professor Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal, Professor of Banking and Finance Law at Queen Mary University, London, and seasoned art collector. As the only fine artist on this seminar, I was excited to be part of a group of people who were from such varied fields, but interested in different aspects of art creation or collection. To me, I was looking forward to hearing about the creation of value in terms of my own art work, along with a general idea of how value is established in
the art world.
I believe the seminar worked splendidly. Alan and Dario were great organisers and
supporters, and this trip gave us a chance to know each other better over splendid
Spanish food and drink- courses and courses of it! Professor Rodrigo was a gem to interact with; not only was he well-informed and funny, he also shared the emotional connection he has with his
art collection with utmost enthusiasm.
I had the BEST churros and hot chocolate in Madrid. Yummm...can still taste them!
At this seminar, I was able to step outside of being a practitioner of art in order to see how a lover and collector of art sees the art world. I learned the importance being
able to tell a story behind the artist, the intangible recovery of art collecting via the
joy of seeing it daily in your house, the fact that galleries and auctions houses are
two different art markets altogether, and how the art market can be subtly
manipulated and taken advantage of.
Photograph taken by Caleb Phillips
For me, the foray into exploring the work of Argentinian and Spanish artists was quite insightful, since my
knowledge so far had largely revolved around Pakistani, UK-based and American
artists.
I learned about MADI, the international abstract art movement initiated in
Buenos Aires in 1946 focusing on creating concrete art, as well as the Asociación
Arte Concreto-Invención (AACI), an Argentinian art movement that also focuses on
concrete art.
We visited one of the most influential art fairs in the world, ARCO, which
was an immersive experience.
Photograph taken by Caleb Phillips
Professor Rodrigo Olivares-Caminal giving us a talk about art at ARCO
Melting China?
I met Spongebob! :D
Photograph taken by Caleb Phillips
Our final day of discussions at the beautiful and enormous El-Retiro Park in Madrid, Spain
Furthermore, we learned about the behind-the-scenes stories of art fairs:
We learned that Museums
and the uber-wealthy buy from them, and they establish the relevance of artists in the art world.
Ai WeiWei's Zodiac series was exciting. I'm sure the aura around Ai WeiWei's name added to this experience.
We learned about the main art world players: artists, collectors, auction
houses, galleries and private dealers. I had so far believed that curators and art
critics have an important part to play in the value creation of art today, but according
to Rodrigo, since these entities can be influenced from the outside, this is not the
case.
From the thousands of art-works we saw, we were to
choose a piece we would be interested in collecting, which became a part of our final
discussion. The work above was the one I chose. It's little people from afar, and paint blobs from up-close. Ingenious!
Our days were all about engaging art discourse, visiting art fairs, museums and
galleries,
as well as delicious Spanish dinners and breakfasts with churros, coffee and hot chocolate. Also, making friends with a whole new set of people who I may not have otherwise had the chance to meet in my accommodation was invaluable.
On the last day, a few friends and I were able to visit the Reina Sophia to see Picasso's Guernica, which was
an amazing experience.
I also met my friend Aissa after 4 years.. it felt like not more than half that time had passed since I last saw her in 2016 at Festival Belluard Bollwerk International in Fribourg, Switzerland. Almost forgot she lives in Madrid until a night before when she put up a post, and the meeting worked out!!
Picasso's Guernica
This Dean’s Seminar allowed me to further my practical experience of learning about
the art world in a different light from the Master of Fine Arts (MFA) degree I am
currently pursuing from The Sir John Cass School of Art, Architecture and Design (also known as The Cass).
Since many of my fellow attendees are interested in art collecting, and my own
art collection has been negligible and largely based on graphic design, I am now
looking into possibly building my own collection in the near future.
Photograph taken by Caleb Phillips
What a time.
I cannot wait to travel again, see the world, and learn from it!
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