The art industry is always transforming. The way people see art today and the way they saw art 90 years ago is very different. From understanding the reason and meaning behind someone’s art but also assessing if the art is indeed an art, is the questions artists and buyers are trying to assess today.
Back in 2013 the famous appropriation artist Richard Prince was sued by the little known photographer Patrick Cariou, for using several of Cariou’s photographs in a series of collages that were sold for tens of millions of dollars. This is a well-known issue around the art and design industry. An artist always wants to come up with new products and art pieces. The competition between new artists is very high and therefore difficult to make something that’s popular and valuable. This is why there are several cases with lawsuits about copyrights, like the Cariou vs Prince.
The reason behind copywriting is uncertain, but have some attachments to the money behind it and modern art. For a well-known artists like Richard Prince and others, there are expectances from there audiences all the time to deliver as good art as they have delivered before. This makes the pressure to make something good even higher, and the making of the art is not as significant as before. Now its more about the money and the popularity, and how long you can stay on top.
Modern art is a new type of art that has flourished the last 10-15 years. Typical characteristic with modern art is exploring new art that is not so conservative and more about exploring possibilities. Modern art can also show itself using well know paintings, pictures and remake them to something new. This is not necessarily a copyright, because they are making something “new” and maybe with another meaning or story behind. In the law suit about Cariou vs Prince, 25 of the 30 pieces were approved by the court because the meaning behind the Prince`s art piece had a hole other meaning then Cariou art piece. The last 5 pieces were not talked about anymore, but the only thing we do know is that they were not destroyed.
Using well- known paintings, pictures and art pieces to make new art can become so beautiful, as we already have seen in the modern art world. This will furthermore evolve to new type of art.
Making sense of art and design industries 