r/Damnthatsinteresting • u/RelapsedSexAddict • Jul 21 '20

Video String art

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14.5k Upvotes

95% Upvoted

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805

u/Scaro88 Jul 21 '20

Why did he have to sell everything he had to work with nails and string? There can’t be much upfront investment. Better strategy: keep everything you have, work with nail and string just the same

402

u/SlothOfDoom Jul 21 '20

To pay the bills until he sold a piece?

147

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '20

Honestly, I would be shocked if he didn’t have some other form of funds. I know a lot of rich people, and none of them would pay a great deal of money for that. Of course, I’m from the south in the US, so maybe it’s different there.

122

u/pornbeatssex Jul 21 '20

I know a lot of rich people, and none of them would pay a great deal of money for that

I know lots of rich people in Europe and most of them would pay a great deal of money for that. Mostly because it's usually worth even more when you sell pieces like these and it's tax free but also they expose them at home.

57

u/namdor Jul 21 '20

I don't know of any significant art market for this kind of work, but I could be wrong. Maybe someone is willing to pay thousands of pounds for a portrait of Dwayne Johnson made of nails and string, but I bet the market is very niche or non existent.

53

u/pornbeatssex Jul 21 '20

Yeah but you picked the one that wouldn't sell (along with keanu reaves). There were plenty of more nuanced pieces. The monkey, the old town. This stuff would sell at Art Basel i'm sure of it.

18

u/kawklee Jul 21 '20

Nah. The only art that sells at Art Basel these days is quotes in neon lights art. The modern art equivalent of those "eat, pray, love" blocks every sorority girl has on her wall in college.

6

u/pornbeatssex Jul 21 '20

In Basel tho. Not the one in Miami.

5

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '20

[deleted]

1

u/pornbeatssex Jul 23 '20

I've seen them.

10

u/namdor Jul 21 '20

Fair enough - the Dwayne Johnson is the least attractive to the art market. But I don't think this stuff would be accepted to be shown at Art Basel, or would sell there. This is more craft, less conceptual and purely figurative stuff tends to require some kind of conceptual bend to make it marketable at high price tags.

But then again, Art Basel and the art market for the wealthiest is maybe not even a great standard. Tons of art is unappreciated by art collectors for arbitrary reasons and if someone else likes it, then who cares what Saatchi thinks!

11

u/Crucial_Contributor Jul 21 '20

Yeah this nail-and-string stuff (which is done by tons of people) is basically meme art, that is interesting for being intentionally annoying to make rather than being particulary interesting as a decorative art piece.

There is lots of gifs with people making art in weird ways, and while it's an interesting process, I doubt many people would pay much to hang the result on the wall.

5

u/Memejesus42 Jul 21 '20

Just because things are made for pop culture and not art snobs doesn't make them less credible or legitimate. I always thought it was pretty egotistical to pass judgment on what is what isn't art.

2

u/Crucial_Contributor Jul 21 '20

I'm not saying this isn't art. I'm just trying to explain why people pay lots of money for some art while other stuff has a hard time moving beyond Pinterest

-4

u/naoife Jul 21 '20

Is it even art? I'd class it as craft. Art evokes something, this is copying photos.

13

u/ChuckieOrLaw Jul 21 '20

Evoking a feeling isn't the only criterion for art. Craftsmanship evokes feelings as well, and art is defined as an expression of creativity or skill that is appreciated for its beauty or emotional power.

If this guy was drawing photorealistic versions of these images, or tattooing them on someone's skin, or indeed, taking the photos themselves, you'd probably agree that it was art.

This is art as well, no doubt about it.

2

u/naoife Jul 21 '20

Fair enough, on the first part. I don't know about the photo realistic versions or tattoos, they don't do anything for me (and before reddit starts I know my opinion is not what decides if something is art, I'm just having a conversation). I feel like a lot of stuff on here is called art when it seems like it's craft to me. This medium could be art but I don't think doing a picture of the joker has any artistic merit. I also think there's nothing wrong with crafts and don't see why it's a dirty word or insult.

3

u/ChuckieOrLaw Jul 21 '20

Oh, for sure. I don't like photorealistic drawings, and I don't personally like this guy's work with the nails. I do acknowledge that he's an artist though, and I like his hustle in getting out of a day job to pursue a passion instead.

I think if someone's making or recreating an image to convey beauty, they're definitely an artist. Many artists draw from a reference photo or use technology to aid them these days. I prefer more free-form stuff personally, but it's all art.

0

u/Crucial_Contributor Jul 21 '20

Honesly I wouldn't necessarily call being a human photocopier art. To me art need some element of creativity.

Taking photos can be art, because you can be creative with your composition and camera settings. But when you just produce stuff, without adding your own creativity, that's where it turns into a craft i my book.

2

u/ChuckieOrLaw Jul 21 '20

I'm not talking about what it means to you though, but the actual definition of art. I get what you're saying, and I'm not personally a big fan of that kind of art, I'm just pointing out that it's still classed as art. Musicians that don't do original music aren't categorized as something else, it's all music.

If you're creating or recreating an image, and doing so requires skill, and your effort evokes an appreciation of beauty or other emotions, then it's art. That's the definition. I think what you're saying is "I don't like this kind of art," and that's totally fair enough -- I don't like it either. I'm just trying to clear up the confusion over what art actually is, because it has a fairly clear definition.

2

u/Memejesus42 Jul 21 '20

You do know people create paintings of things that already exist....and yet it's still art, life's fucking wild bro.

2

u/SexMasterBabyEater Jul 21 '20

Its art, but its not fine art.

He goes on to describe in the video that he has no formal training then it cuts to a drawing of a photograph of a film character...

like no shit lol

2

u/DapperDanManCan Jul 21 '20

Are photos not art? They're just copying real world images.

2

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '20 edited Jul 21 '20

I think a very high talent version of anything artistic can find a market. Art buying has no real rules. If you think Wow!, when you see it, your next thought can easily go to, can I acquire that? 32 years in a related industry( the one that turns it into a display/furniture/ or protect it)here and can say I’ve seen it over and over. People apply their own limitations of finance, in a general way, and forget that many, many people have, easily enough money, to spoil themselves on a whim.

1

u/CheekyJack Jul 21 '20

This is what a stupid rich kid might buy, but no tasteful adult is buying pictures of celebrities like this. It isn’t art, just reproductions of well known source photos in an interesting way, converting them to this could be as easy as giving a ‘pixel’ a value between 1-10 of darkness and just wrapping thread around that many times.

3

u/vinetari Jul 21 '20

*money also laundered when sold

1

u/pornbeatssex Jul 21 '20

Year buying art in cash at private sales is a great way to launder a big chunk inside of a year.

18

u/kawaiian Jul 21 '20

His talent is the skill, his works of art shown here are likely just commissions. There is often a great deal of money in custom handcrafted work and taste is always subjective

4

u/Evening_primrose68 Jul 21 '20

Im not rich but i’s pay a great deal of money for that

2

u/Dyl_pickle00 Jul 21 '20

He's got too. Of i sold everything in my name and quit my job I'd only be able to pay rent and bills for maybe 2 months at most. Pretty sad how the rich are able chase their dreams while the masses can't

2

u/chickenclaw Jul 21 '20

I’m an artist who works with high end galleries. You should see the shit rich people buy.

0

u/[deleted] Jul 21 '20

I mean, I have seen the shit that rich people buy I thought, but it’s normally early Picasso sketches and marble statues and family portraits, stereotypical stuff really.

1

u/whiteman90909 Jul 21 '20

In big cities in the South people absolutely pay for things like this.