Delays, Changes, and A New Plan

The beginning of the school year always throws me off.  I suppose that I shouldn’t be too surprised by that.  I go from having nothing but free time for three months to a life of real responsibility.  But every year I find myself in a state of near total confusion:  wait, this is what most people do every day?  How do they manage?   How am I going to get rich?  Surely, I can’t put up with the indignity of going to work every day for the next few months.   

After about a week or so of thrashing about, however, I usually settle down and even come to enjoy the rhythms of the school year.  But during the first part of the year, I get very little done besides complaining to my girlfriend about how unjust the world is.

That is part of the explanation for my not writing a blog entry recently.   But there is another reason: I have become increasingly less satisfied with my idea of holding the auction for Charlie’s painting at the Brickhouse and have been trying to figure out what to do before writing something.

I have two reasons for my dissatisfaction.  First, planning and holding an event takes an enormous amount of organizational skill.  Now, I do have my ally, Shelly.  And she has been quite helpful in generating ideas.  But as we have been talking about the matter I have realized just how difficult it is to pull off a successful event of the sort we had envisioned. 

The second reason, however, is what really has persuaded me.  If I hold the auction at the Brickhouse, I will lose the potential participation of everyone on the internet including just about everyone who has been reading this blog.  And that strikes me as a very bad move.  Why would I want to limit the number of people who might bid on Charlie’s painting to the few who might show up the night of the auction?  To my mind, that makes very little sense.

So, I have a new plan:  I am going to conduct the auction right here on this blog.  How I am going to do that is still a bit of a mystery to me, since conducting an auction on the internet is as new to me as conducting an auction at a bar.  But the basic idea seems pretty straightforward.  And I even have a new wrinkle.

I will conduct two different types of auction: one will be cumulative; and one will be non-cumulative.  I will explain in my next post what exactly that means and why I want to have two different auctions.  But I will say that I am now as excited about the new two-fold plan as I was about the old plan.  And since I have finally grown accustomed to the cloak of responsibility, I should be able to post my next entry fairly soon.  

ArtWorks945

Yesterday, I visited ArtWorks945 again. This time I brought my camera so that I could take pictures of the art there.

Although I didn’t get to talk to all of the artists, I did talk briefly with some of them.

Here is a little bit about them and their art.

William Pumphrey

Ever since visiting the U.S.S. North Carolina at the age of 13, William has been obsessed with naval history. He has collected what he describes as a library of books devoted to the topic.

William makes remarkably intricate models of World War II ships from garbage he collects on the street.

The model displayed here is called ‘Fukushima’ in honor of the nuclear disaster that recently struck Japan.

Paul Kolbe

Paul paints beautiful landscapes. He has been painting since he was 15.

He shares with his landscapes a self-reflective intensity.

Leroy Philips

Believe it or not, this is Leroy’s first painting.

Although he is quite an accomplished drawer, this is the first time that he put paint on a canvas. I was thrilled to get picture of it.

Christopher Johnson

Christopher didn’t like this hand -- he erased it shortly after I took this picture. But he loves to draw.

Michael and Chris

Michael and Chris sew stuffed animals.

Michael has been sewing animals for eight years now, and Chris has joined Michael in the last four months.

Tatiana

I didn’t get to meet Tatiana, but I had to include at least one of her paintings, since they have such an amazing intensity.

Tatiana has one leg and signs most of her paintings ‘anonymous’.

Many more artists produce art at ArtWorks945 – I was only able to talk to the few that were there when I visited.  The collection of art is, to say the least, inspiring.

ArtWorks945 holds an auction every year.  This year the auction will take place September 10, 5-7 at their gallery at 945 North College Street, Charlotte 28206.  Anyone interested in any of these paintings, or any of the many other paintings, produced by some remarkable artists should be sure to attend.  Without a doubt, it will be time -- and if you purchase a painting, money -- well spent.

An Adversary, An Ally, and a Plan

I ran into Betsy and Dexter at the Brickhouse a few days ago and talked to them about the latest developments with Charlie’s painting. I mentioned that I now had an adversary -- the Appraiser; and they both agreed that if I could only find an ally I would have everything I could possibly want.

I must admit -- I found Betsy and Dexter very persuasive. What more does anyone need in life than an adversary and an ally?

Of course, it is one thing to want an ally and quite another thing to have one. After all, it’s not as if you can just go online and order one.

But once again, the Universe has seen fit to give me what I need.

Remember Dom? Yes, Dom. The artist extraordinaire, the visionary who produced Face With Line Through It, the artist whose work began the Van Gogh Project?

Well, he’s not my ally. But I feel pretty confident that he will be willing to help out however he can. Why? Because even though he’s not my ally, his mom is.

Shelly -- that is Dom’s mom -- works for the Nascar Foundation, which raises money for charity organizations. Yes, believe it or not, Dom’s mom holds fundraisers for a living. And better yet, when I asked Shelly whether she would help me arrange an auction for Charlie’s painting, she couldn’t have been more enthusiastic.

And we have at least the beginning of a plan.

We have gotten as far as figuring out where to hold the auction -- The Brickhouse. Nick, the owner of the Brickhouse, is a very generous man who has held many fundraisers. He also is an avid photographer as well as a patron of the arts. I haven’t yet asked him if he would be willing to hold this particular fundraiser, but I feel very hopeful that he will.

And we have two tentative months: October and February.

That’s about all we have – a place and two tentative plans. But I figure that is good enough for having at least the beginning of a plan.

So I now have an adversary, an ally, and a plan (sort of). If I could just get a little press, I might have a fighting chance against the Appraiser.

Worthless

That’s what she said: Charlie’s painting is worthless.

And who is she?

I wish I could say that she is a two-headed, bile slurping she-beast who lives in a cave beneath Yugoslavia.

But I can’t. Indeed, quite the opposite -- she is a very lovely owner of an art gallery here in town. I am quite fond of taking the twenty-minute walk to her gallery and looking at the paintings hanging on her walls. When I am lucky, she takes time to talk to me about the various artists who have made the paintings and the various techniques that they employ.

And….

She is also a professional art appraiser.

So it seemed entirely reasonable that I should ask her what she thought of Charlie’s painting now that it has been damaged. And though, as I said, she is very lovely, I learned that she is also ruthlessly no nonsense. She asserted the following theses, what I shall now call The Appraiser’s Theses.

Appraiser’s Thesis #1: Charlie’s painting is worthless. (She actually said that the painting is either worthless or seriously diminished in value.)

Appraiser’s Thesis #2: A painting’s worth is determined by a set of rules that more or less track the status of an artist in the ‘art realm’.

Appraiser’s Thesis # 3: When a painting becomes damaged, the damage reduces or eliminates the value of the painting.

Appraiser’s Thesis # 4: Marcel Duchamp’s painting Bride Stripped Bare By Her Bachelors, Even is worth as much as it is because: (i) it was a great painting by a great artist; and (ii) Duchamp rectified the damage that was done to it by putting the broken glass back in its place.

Appraiser’s Thesis #5: The category – art that has been accidentally damaged but thereby improved -- is an inconsequential and hence valueless category.

I must admit that I was initially distressed by the Appraiser’s Theses. After all, they don’t bode well for the auction I want to hold for Falling Down Man. But then, as I walked back to my house, I began to realize that despite asserting such disquieting theses, the owner of the gallery had actually given me an invaluable gift: an adversary.

In every endeavor of any worth, there is always an adversary. Achilles had Hector; Napolean had Wellington; Patton had Rommel.

And now…I have The Appraiser.

Now, let me be clear. I in no way intend the phrase, 'The Appraiser', to refer to the owner of the art gallery with whom I talked, since I really do like her and she was acting in utter good faith when she gave me her opinion about Charlie’s painting.

No, I like to think that ‘The Appraiser’ refers to something like an abstract idea, one that represents a worldview.

At the core of that worldview are the five theses I just articulated. But more important than those theses is what lies at the periphery of the worldview: a collection of allegiances forming a tangled web that ensnares us all.

Here are some of those allegiances:

Money.

Power.

Control.

Reputation.

Success.

In other words, at the periphery of The Appraiser’s worldview are things that Van Gogh lacked. Indeed, he didn’t just lack them. He utterly lacked them.

And somehow that makes me happy: it makes me think that the Appraiser’s worldview is seriously defective. Moreover, it makes me want to give the worldview a name that sounds as defective as the worldview itself. So I will call it:

Appraisery

As I said, I think Appraisery must be false. And I hope that at least some others agree with me, since on Tuesday I visited Arts945. Just as a reminder, Art945 is the art gallery for the homeless to which I will donate the money from the sale of Charlie’s painting. It is an incredible place run by remarkable people. And I am hoping that at least some people who attend the auction will reject Appraisery so that I can raise some money for such a cool organization.

But I have learned that I can do more than hope. I can also tell the Universe what I want.

So, Universe:

I want enough people to reject Appraisery that I will be able to raise a significant amount of money for Arts945 from the sale of Falling Down Man.

I want enough people to reject Appraisery that I will be able to raise a significant amount of money or Arts945 from the sale of Falling Down Man.

I want enough people to reject Appraisery that I will be able to raise a significant amount of money or Arts945 from the sale of Falling Down Man.

Synchronicity

Very shortly after deciding to auction off Falling Down Man and donate money from the sale to a homeless shelter, I had the most remarkable stroke of luck.

As I was walking to a local art gallery that is framing a painting for me I ran across my friend Chris Biby, who was talking to a friend of his, Brian, whom I had not yet met.

I had a lovely conversation with Brian. I learned among other things that he had been a student where I now teach and that he is a writer. Eventually, conversation turned toward his wife, Tyler, who, it turns out is the director of an art gallery for the homeless in Charlotte.

I really, truly at that moment couldn’t believe my luck. What better organization could I hope to donate money to from the sale of Charlie’s painting than one that is an art gallery for the homeless?

So I asked Brian for his wife’s e-mail address, contacted her and have arranged to meet with her on Tuesday of next week. I quite simply cannot wait. It looks like an incredible organization. It is called Arts945, which is part of a larger organization devoted to homelessness called the Urban Ministry Center.

Here is a link:

http://www.urbanministrycenter.org/communityworks945/artworks945

I must admit that events like this always have a peculiar effect on me. I can’t help but start thinking about the nature of coincidence. Was it a mere coincidence that I ran into the husband of the director of a gallery for the homeless just moments after making a decision that required me to find just such a person? Or was it…I can barely bring myself to say this…part of a plan? Or, just to play the part of a philosopher, is it possible that the dichotomy I have just drawn is a false one and that there are perhaps other options -- is it possible that the meeting was neither mere coincidence nor part of a plan?

I usually try to avoid asking those sorts of questions, since I have found that pursuing them too seriously can make you do crazy things like go to graduate school in philosophy. But despite my best efforts, I can’t quite seem to shake them in this case.

I mean, what the fuck?

Really, Universe, what the fuck?

I don’t mean that in a bad way. I’m incredibly grateful. But if you are going to keep this up, I might have to start doing some real thinking again about the nature of coincidence.

And I got tenure a few years ago, which is supposed to mean that I don’t have to think all that hard anymore.

Betsy and Dexter

One of the great things about my house is that it is one block away from the Brickhouse, which is the only bar in the town where I live. And one of the great things about the Brickhouse is running into Betsy and Dexter, who are not only a very lovely couple but who also enjoy talking about art.

I have been doing a bit of thinking about the auction I want to hold for Charlie’s painting but, as usual, haven’t done much research into the matter. (That happens to be an occupational hazard of going into philosophy: too much thinking, not enough doing.) At any rate, it seems to me that I have a few options: I could hold the auction informally on this blog; or I could hold it through an auction house, either online or in an actual house. Which to do? I’m not sure. (That’s another occupational hazard: uncertainty.)

As I was mulling over the auction options at the Brickhouse, I happened to see Betsy and Dexter. We started chatting about what I should do with Charlie’s painting. Although they didn’t solve the problem as to where I should hold the auction, they did suggest to me that I donate all the money I raise from the auction to a homeless shelter rather than just 20%, which is the amount I had cited in my last post.

I was initially a bit luke warm to the idea. After all, doing so would mean the end of the Van Gogh project. Without any money from the auction, I would have no way to buy a painting thereby continuing the project. But when I pointed this out, Betsy looked at me, raised her hands, smiled her irresistible smile, and said: you never know, it could be the beginning of a whole new adventure.

I must admit, I couldn’t help but smile back at Betsy and tell her that she was right: I don’t know -- it could be the start of a whole new adventure. And then I started mulling that idea over – like I said, too much thinking is an occupational hazard. And though I am not sure exactly why I think this is a good idea, (though I do think that the Universe has been leading me in this direction the whole time) I am going to do what Betsy and Dexter suggested. I will donate all the money from the sale of Charlie’s painting to a homeless shelter here in Charlotte.

Maybe Charlie’s painting will fetch nothing.

Or maybe it will, as one of Betsy and Dexter’s friends who was chatting along with us proclaimed, fetch a million dollars.

Either way, I will donate all the proceeds to a homeless shelter.

Now I just need to do some research into homeless shelters in the Charlotte area.

And auctions. I need to do some research into art auctions.

And if I were really diligent, I would mow the lawn as well.

But it’s summer. And the Brickhouse is only a block away.

An Idea

I’m not sure whether it was the summer solstice or going to a Mixed Martial Arts class. But I think I hit upon an idea.

(Just as an aside, I got my ass kicked when I went to the Mixed Martial Arts class. After thirty minutes of exhausting exercises and another thirty minutes learning two very basic jujitsu moves, I was put up against Marty, a blue belt, who proceeded to throw me around the mat for about five minutes before twisting my arm into some horrible knot causing me to ‘tap out’. To Marty’s credit, he kicked my ass gently. But he kicked it nonetheless.)

Falling Down Man presents a dilemma. I really do believe that it has entered a very select club of paintings as a result of the USPS chucking a spear into it. Moreover, I think that it *should* now be worth quite a bit of money. But of course, I can’t simply pronounce that to be the case. True, I announced Charlie’s Law a few posts ago according to which Falling Down Man doubled in value. But the fact is, the value of Charlie’s painting remains something of a deep mystery.

So how do I proceed? That’s the dilemma. I want to trade Charlie’s painting for another painting. But how much should that painting be worth? What is a reasonable price to put on Falling Down Man now that it has become one of a kind?

I do not know the answers to these questions.

But I’ve decided that there is a way to find out:

An auction.

By holding an auction, I can let the market dictate a price. That might not be the ideal way to figure out Falling Down Man’s worth. But I’m not sure what other way there is.

In the not too distant future, therefore, I will hold an online auction. Because Falling Down Man concerns the homeless, I have decided to give 20% of the proceeds to a homeless shelter in Charlotte, which is the city closest to where I live. And I will take the remaining money and purchase a painting with it.

It won’t be a trade. But it should be an interesting experiment. And I hope that it will also allow me to move upward in my pursuit of a Van Gogh.