Controversy: Here the ad does not make school
If you think that art should live away from advertising, don't read Christophe Castaros' article in Art Press. It would definitely take the words out of your mouth! In what way? It spits out all the venom that can be spilled out of hatred for advertising. Out of love for art?
It all starts with a visit to the Poush artists' studios, opened in early 2020 by the Manifesto agency in a disused tertiary building at Porte Pouchet in Clichy. What is meant to be an Eden for young artists, preferably with wealthy parents (average rent = 400€) is shown as Hell itself according to Art Press. To begin with, the name Poush is annoying. It is too good! Let us specify that in marketing, a "push" strategy is a commercial action that "pushes" a product. As the name "Push" indicates. But there is also a second meaning: Poush = the nursery where one grows. And even a third meaning: "Poush" can be written with an o like Pouchet. It says at the same time what you do and where you are. The circle is complete. Bingo!
Technically, this kind of triple meaning is called a "plurimotivation" of the name "Poush". At first, it's kind of nice to say several things in one thin syllable. Well, no, Art Press seems to be saying that advertising is not allowed to do that. At least not to promote art. It's too perverse, clever, vicious. Art, on the other hand, has every licence and every opportunity to multiply the layers of meaning in a divine "polysemy". The ability to give several meanings to things is, moreover, the discriminating criterion most often invoked to make the difference between a crust and a work.
And what is 'polysemy', in fact? It's a synonym for "plurimotivation"! Signs with multiple meanings. But obviously, polysemy is very good in art, but plurimotivation in advertising is very bad for Christophe Carros. It's understandable. It's certain that artless "coaches" will never be as good as enlightened curators. Each to his own. That will make for more expertise. And it's clear that it can be annoying to hear jargon in marketing flanglais about art in a building invested by an alibi school created from scratch as part of a gentrification operation in one of the last Parisian neighbourhoods that can still be gentrified. Let Mr Barros rest assured, however. It is just as horrifying to hear this galimatias inflating the bladders of advertising agencies! But the dog barks...
An irritating question: is the art world as self-critical as the advertising world since the advertisement for Papa made in France was denigrated by Philippe Michel, whose excellent "C'est quoi l'idée" Christophe Barros may not have read. Because it doesn't matter if plans like Poush are phoney, hollow and overplayed. They can produce, in spite of themselves, encounters of ideas and, why not, disappointments, frustrations that will lead to tracks, tricks, things and, in fine, works. Like the flowers that colour the cemeteries.
Let's not fight the wrong battle. Perhaps art should start by attacking itself. It has allowed itself to be ape itself a bit easily. To the point of serving as a mere alibi for trendiness for property developers who want to replace the less glamorous inhabitants of a grey neighbourhood with bobos. The fascination of the artist's lifestyle will always sell. Paradoxical.
How did we get here? Has the art that is supposed to represent its time become too focused on its great causes to play the white knight by gently extending its paw. And then, a fool, he would candidly get his feet stuck in the carpet of the first little scheme demonised here as an entire career of serial-killing. Isn't this all a little too Manichean?
One artist is good. Several is better. Or at least more. A question of spirit. What is missing in art today is not individual successes but movements. Each artist invests a role that is bigger than himself. The very idea of the possible existence of an artistic movement seems unnatural in our one to one and one to many world. But every artistic movement is spiritual.
The promotion of individual talents is always in essence advertising. From the simple business card with a bit of a look to the artist's website, which only lacks multilingual chatbots, to the poster that a "graphic designer friend" who has since been lost forever has had to redo six times. Advertising is already all about this coquetry. But why all this cosmetic work?
Is talent, or even genius, no longer enough to ensure public recognition on its own? It is difficult. Today, a young painter from Leonardo da Vinci's studio would throw the Mona Lisa at you in cash as a preview on Insta. Not even dry yet. And the next day, no one would want to hear about it. Gone. Outdated. This ephemeral nature of images, words and sounds is totally unprecedented in the history of artistic creation. Sign of the times. We are in the age of Kleenex art. This is the size of the challenge facing the artists of the 1920s.
Criticizing the bloated nullity of blind commercialism and contempt for art, as Mr Barros does, is always welcome and salutary. Even enjoyable! But was Vinci really virtuous? And Jeff Koons? Anselme Kiefer? JR? To ethically prohibit young artists from using today's communication tools is like sending them on a pedal boat to Niagara Falls. ART Actif fully assumes its role as an art sales platform offering optional services designed to accelerate notoriety. We talk about it without taboos. Like art. You need at least black and white to make a picture.
To renounce all promotion in this Warholian age of the media is noble, pure and laudable. But hoping that one's art speaks for itself and letting the public come to one rather than chasing after it is also a strategy in itself. A premeditated behaviour. The strategy of the spider in its corner on its web. It does not move. It weaves and waits for someone to come to it. This is called a "Pull" strategy in marketing. It means "Pull" and in practice "Attract"? It is the exact opposite of a Push strategy. Sorry, Poush!
What about you? Do you prefer push or pull?
E. Sembach
Art Director A
Photo: Advertising from the 2000s by CLM, Philippe Michel's agency