Insane Imaginings, Random Reveries & Other Creative Cogitation

So a few days ago someone contacts me expressing interest in one of my new paintings, “Retweet.”  It’s not out of left field, when I showed it  a few weeks ago there was some interest in it.  This person says they want to buy it.

So I thank her for her interest in my art, I give them my usual spiel about how easy it is to buy using the PayPal button, give her a link, and then advise her that the shipping price quoted is for FedEx Home Delivery in the continental US.  If she needs it shipped elsewhere then the shipping rates could change, and that customs fees etc are her responsibility. I also tell her I will remove it from the stretcher bars and ship it in a tube if she likes (which can save a bunch on dimensional shipping weight charges), but that she will have to find and pay somebody on her end to re-stretch it.

She writes back saying she would like to proceed with the purchase for the original work (framed).  Also she would my address, phone number and name so she can pay me by certified check. She wants to use a local cartage company to ship the work from the US to South Africa.

Umm – she should have my name and phone number already. Its right there in my reply.  So already I am expecting that a scammer’s bot responded to me.

I do advise her the work is unframed as it is a gallery wrapped canvas painted on the edges so that it can be hung without a frame.

There are some people out there who do not realize the prevalence of check fraud including bogus certified checks (and I have done business with them) & who like to have information spoon fed to them. On the off chance a real art aficionado is on the other end of this communication, I respond with my next bit about check fraud, holding periods, finding a bank to write the check with affiliates local to the Phoenix Metro area (so I can complete the transaction at the bank the check is written on) and suggest if that all makes her uncomfortable that I am willing to work with a reputable escrow service or bank escrow service.  I thank her again for her interest in my art.

Because the second contact had all the usual elements of a common art & check fraud scam: The cartage company & a cover story as to why all of this had to be executed in the manner proposed i.e. husband’s company suddenly displaced them from their home in the US to someplace abroad-usually in Africa,  I really do not expect to hear back from her, and of course I haven’t.

The next stage of this scam would have involved me depositing her check at my own bank – the check probably would have been written for too much money and she would have wanted me to refund the excess to the guy who shows up for the painting.  Later on the bogus check would bounce and I would be out the money and the painting.

I’ve had to go find a painting and repossess it after a person purchased one with rubber check drawn on a local bank-it took 14 days for the check to bounce-she put a stop payment on it.  I don’t even want to think about how long it would take an international check to bounce.   So when one of the fraudsters makes me waste even 5 minutes of my time, I get a little aggravated.

Have you been approached by someone attempting an art or check fraud scam, are you the victim of one?  Do tell.  I am sure others would like to learn more about variations on this theme so they are better educated on what to look out for.

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

In this fourth installment of the Social Media Birds (working title), I have broken down the rigid lineal structure of the binary and turned it into a kind of ribbon shape. The canary flares for a landing carrying the bit of news; it fills the small canvas so much that it overflows it to some extent. I am also playing with the colors a bit, breaking away from the blue and yellow of the preceding works.

"RSS Feed" by Jake Beckman, an orange canary flares for a landing carrying a ribbon of binary; it appears to be singing as it lands.

The ASCII binary reads “RSS Feed” from Lower Left to Upper Right, and Top to Bottom. In this version I explicitly included a spiral in the background as a line of confluence for other things in the painting. What do you think? Which one do you like best so far?

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

So lately I have found myself making moves, which has the accountant in me is screaming, “This is fiscally irresponsible. “  The artist in me is telling the accountant, “put a sock in it.”

It started with the Biennale.

The accountant in me:  “$8,000 in estimated expenses?  Are you kidding me?  We don’t have the money.”

The artist:  “Everyone (who matters to me) is telling me I must go; it’s a ticket to the show.  I am going.”

The accountant in me:  “But it’s $8,000.”

The artist:  “I will find a way to make this happen…”

You get the idea.

The artist won on the Florence Biennale, but the benefit of attending the Florence Biennale is not financially obvious.  The artist still sees the intangible benefits I did receive.  The accountant is still grumbling. What were the benefits?

• The networking opportunities with like minded artists are unbelievable. All participants passed through the same ring of fire that I did and came out at the other side.  The Biennale is a band pass filter that indicates a level of commitment to your art.
• Some artists faced far more difficulty than I did getting there-risking their lives, jail…  for some other artists getting there was just another day on the job, but for me getting there was an accomplishment.
• After talking to many of these other like minded individuals my vision of my art has expanded.
• I did it without winding up homeless (I am absolutely sure for many of you reading this, that fear is one of your fears too).  I conquered my fear.

What am I talking about then?  A paradigm shift.  I perceive my world differently. The accountant is all doom and gloom, fiscal responsibility.  Reacting to the down economy by want to draw all resources inward and conserve them until the sun comes out again. The artist is telling the accountant, “You have no vision.  Besides, look around little accountant dude, the world is currently full of people who followed all the rules and wound up bankrupt anyway…”

The accountant in me certain has its place, don’t get me wrong.  The accountant knew it was going to cost 8 grand to get to the Biennale. The accountant can organize a plan.  Knowing what you need to accomplish something is useful too. But I needed to curtail the accountant’s powers to some extent as the accountant is fully aware of the worst case scenario and plans for it, but really, does it usually get that bad?

Anyway, so today I read someone else’s blog and the words for this change in my perspective clicked.  I thought, “Oh. That is what is going on.”  When I create, I create.  The whole process from beginning to end unfolds without regard for worldly distractions; I have a vision and it will be expressed in its complete form.  But when I am not painting I respond to the world reactively.  I don’t know about you but these last few years have given me a lot to react to.

The shift: What I have started to do is apply the creative process to my life.  Rather than responding to deeply depressing state of affairs in the national economy, I am moving on.  I have no power over the deeply depressing state of affairs in the national economy, why am I giving it power over me.  I no longer want to be a flakey artist when I grow up-I will be a flakey artist when I grow up.  It’s the difference between a dream and a vision.

The area that I have always been weak at is marketing me.  My mission this year is to address that defect head on.  Since I have been unable to do it by myself, I am buying the tools I need to make this happen.  I am taking classes, and doing my homework and embracing the idea that for a while I will have to spend more time on this stuff than painting. Yes I am spending money on something other than the art-for me it is a lot of money.

But I realize do need to keep painting to be ready to take advantage of opportunities as needs arise.

Oh, and I have given the accountant another thing to squawk about.  Remember that Biennale networking I was talking about?  That network has presented the opportunity for a mere $1000 to show in NY and get the full court press of publicity from NY Arts Magazine. It’s the publicity that is the thing. Oh yeah, little accounting dude is screaming.  The artist is saying, “Shut up, obviously I have work to do.”

What are your thoughts?

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

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The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

I thought I had already posted this, but I guess I spaced it. I wrote is a few weeks ago.

Of course now that I am back from the Biennale and the information is of no current use to me, I have found out what those temporary importation licenses are called; Tawera Tahuri  of New Zealand told me this thing is called a Carnet.  I Googled “carnet” and bingo up pops the USCIS website which is where US folks would apply for one.  Most of the following is copied from the USCIS website.

CAVEAT: I have not ever obtained a Carnet so there may be nuances I am missing.  For example, I recall the EPS wanted artists using them to ship to the Biennale to get an Employer Identification Number (EIN) in our given name to use in their shipping process somehow-my guess is that it may be necessary somewhere…

Moving along…

“Carnets are “Merchandise Passports.” They are international customs documents that simplify customs procedures for the temporary importation of various types of goods.  In the US two types are issued: ATA and TECRO/AIT Carnets. “

• “ATA Carnets ease the temporary importation of commercial samples (CS), professional equipment (PE), and goods for exhibitions and fairs (EF).  They facilitate international business by avoiding extensive customs procedures, eliminating payment of duties and value-added taxes (minimum 20% in Europe, 27% in China), and replacing the purchase of temporary import bonds.” This would have been the one desired for shipping to Italy via FedEx etc.
• “TECRO/AIT Carnets, used between the U.S.  and Taiwan only, appear similar to, and serve the same function as the ATA Carnet.  TECRO/AIT Carnets result from a bilateral agreement between the US and Taiwan, covering only commercial samples (CS), and professional equipment (PE).  Merchandise entering countries in addition to Taiwan may also be accompanied by an ATA Carnet.”

Benefits of a Carnet:

• “Carnets are valid for one year,
• “Are accepted in over 75 countries and territories-see list below,
• “Eliminate value-added taxes (VAT), duties, and the posting of security normally required at the time of importation,
• “Simplify customs procedures.
• “Carnets allow a temporary exporter to use a single document for all customs transactions, make arrangements in advance, and at a predetermined cost,
• “Facilitate reentry into the US (and presumably other countries of origin) by eliminating the need to register the goods with US Customs (and presumably other countries of origin) at the time of departure.

“CARNETS DO NOT EXEMPT HOLDERS FROM OBTAINING NECESSARY LICENSES OR PERMITS.

“Merchandise Covered by Carnets: Virtually all goods, including commercial samples, professional equipment, and items for trade shows and exhibitions, including display booths, ordinary goods such as computers, tools, cameras and video equipment, industrial machinery, automobiles, gems and jewelry, and wearing apparel, extraordinary items, for example, Van Gogh Self-portrait, Ringling Brothers tigers, Cessna jets, Paul McCartney’s band instruments, World Cup class yachts, satellites, human skulls, and the New York Philharmonic.” We artists moving sculpture and other artwork around fall into this extraordinary category. “Carnets DO NOT cover: consumable or disposable goods (e.g., food and agriculture products) giveaways, or postal traffic.

The List of Carnet Countries (as of December 30, 2009) on the USCIB website: Algeria, Andorra, Aruba , Australia, Austria, Balearic Islands, Belarus, Botswana, Bulgaria, Canada, Canary Islands, Ceuta, Chile, China, Corsica, Croatia, Cyprus, Czech Republic, Denmark, Estonia, Finland, France, French Guiana, Germany, Gibraltar, Greece, Guadeloupe, Guernsey, Hong Kong, Hungary, Iceland, India, Ireland, Isle Of Man, Israel, Italy, Ivory Coast, Japan, Jersey, Korea , Latvia, Lebanon, Lesotho, Liechtenstein, Lithuania, Luxembourg, Macedonia, Malaysia, Malta, Martinique, Mauritius, Mayotte, Melilla, Miquelon, Monaco, Mongolia, Montenegro, Morocco, Namibia, Netherlands, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Norway, Pakistan, Poland,  Portugal, Puerto Rico, Reunion Island, Romania, Russia, Senegal , Singapore, Slovakia, Slovenia, South Africa, Spain, Sri Lanka, St.  Barthelemy, St.  Martin, French Side, St.  Pierre, Swaziland,  Sweden, Switzerland,  Tahiti , Taiwan*,  Tasmania, Thailand, Tunisia, Turkey, Ukraine, United Kingdom, United States, Wallis & Futuna Island

(Wow – I have never even heard of some of these places)

There are three basic components to the Carnet application process:

1. General list
2. Carnet application, and
   
3. Security deposit.

Basic processing fees are determined by the value of a shipment.  In the US fees range from $210-$350 and the normal processing time is about two working days…  Payment usually can be made in the form of a check, money order, or credit card…  In the US as the National Guaranteeing Association, USCIB (United States Council for International Business) is required to take security, usually 40% of shipment value, to cover any customs claim that might result from a misused Carnet.  Acceptable forms of security are certified check or surety bond.  Cash deposits are returned in full and surety bonds are terminated upon Carnet cancellation.

So if you get a Carnet, presumably you can use whatever shipper you desire, but I still would go with one that ships between your country and Italy so you have no issues dealing with getting your stuff shipped back home.

I really would have like to have had this information – I dunno – back in September perhaps?  But I am getting more and more educated in international shipping.

Thanks to Tawera Tahuri of New Zealand for the clue.

If you have further knowledge of international shipping of art please share it with us all.

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the $7651.31 I charged to attend this event; this amount is the sum all the receipts I can find relating to the trip-about $4,000 is the Biennale artist’s share, then hotel & airfare, plus packaging for my art, taxis, meals in Italy, postage and other incidental expenses. I have raised about $2079 in donations-many thanks to those who have contributed to this event.  But I need more assistance and every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

Sorry to have fallen of the Blog planet for so long.  Holidays.  Was busy living instead of writing blogs.  I hope you all were enjoying the holidays as well.

It’s the Happy New Year now and I am back. At the moment I am considering how to use Social Networks as a marketing tool.  Quite frankly I know very little about it.

Sure I have a MySpace account, a Linked-In account, a FaceBook account, a Twitter account, a Manta account, my websites ArtandBusinessConsulting.com & AKAJake.com and blogs ArtandBusinessConsulting.com/blog/ & AKAJake.com/blog/ but how does one use them to market your business?

So this will likely be the topic of several of my next blogs as I see how these accounts can be used to market one’s business.

In the meantime if you have any insights to offer please feel free to post them.  I would love to hear from you.

Today, I updated my Linked-In account, attempted to update Manta which hung up for some unknown reason, posted my first Tweet in a long time, and posted a new blog entry on MySpace and now here.  It seems that Linked-In  will follow my Tweets and my blog on ArtandBusinessConsulting.com and Manta will also follow my Tweets so I guess I should use Twitter more often.

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the $7651.31 I charged to attend this event; this amount is the sum all the receipts I can find relating to the trip-about $4,000 is the Biennale artist’s share, then hotel & airfare, plus packaging for my art, taxis, meals in Italy, postage and other incidental expenses. I have raised about $2079 in donations-many thanks to those who have contributed to this event.  But I need more assistance and every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

What I would do differently…  The Real Biennale Experience:

I participated in the 2009 Florence Biennale; these ruminations result from my first hand experience of that event.

As you read the following please keep in mind I found the Biennale to be a personally and artistically enriching experience.  I did enjoy talking to the other artists about their work and lives.  My feelings as of this moment in time, which is immediately after the event, are generally positive.

All that said, here are the downsides in a nutshell…

• Shipping art to the Biennale can be problematic for people living outside of Europe.
• The costs in total are expensive. Right around half of what I spent was on the artist’s share, about $4,000; the artist’s share is NOT refundable whether you actually attend or not.
• Given that I charged about $8,000 for this trip, I don’t know if the financial side of this venture will eventually prove meritorious or not.
• There are rumors of a scandal, which I have NOT been able to verify, and that the city of Florence may stop backing the Florence Biennale.  Please keep in mind I really have no personal knowledge if this is true or not and as for me I enjoyed participating in the Florence Biennale.
• Some artists think the Biennale should do more for the artists and they may have a point.  Consider: My estimate based on the Biennale’s own report of participants numbers and the cost of the artist’s share that they received at least 1.5 million Euro (US $2.25 million) from the artists for this show. That said…
  • The regulations stated there would be one chair per artist, but many artists spent the show swiping unattended chairs so they could sit down a while-perhaps a few extra chairs for spouses who join the artist on this trip would be in order?
  • Of my own personal knowledge, at least 2 artists stood in the rain for a least an hour waiting for someone to tell them where they could store their card board boxes.
  • In general I did not see advertising for the Biennale other than the signs on the Fortezza da Basso itself, and one billboard at the airport.  Many locals had no idea what I was talking about. However, my observations regarding the Biennale’s efforts at marketing are anecdotal at best.
  • Some artist’s packets were missing things like signs for their artwork.
  • Some artists were slated to show who didn’t make it, yet were several premium display areas, more toward the center & around the Café in the pavilion  that remained empty throughout the show.  In the meantime there were artists whose work was in terrible locations, but the Biennale did not seem to want to move anyone into those premium locations.

Those are the downsides as I perceived them, you must make your own decision as to whether to participate or not. Moving along…

Initial contact: The email I initially received from the Biennale Committee (flbiennale@artestudio.net) looked like a scam.  As with all email, you should not click on links in the email if you are suspicious – just type in the real website, www.florencebiennale.org, and make contact from links there.  Initially they just asked for a snail mail address to ship the Technical Regulations Part I. Also some artists I talked to at the event were initially contacted via snail mail not email.

Get organized: In 2009 the Dutch artists organized, set up a email network, organized group shipping and also prepared a lovely glossy booklet of the all the artists in their group for distribution at the Biennale-it was brilliant.  As for me, I found out there was a US group, but only after I pretty much set-up everything for myself.  Reinventing the wheel takes time. Many hands make light work, therefore if a group has been organized in your country, make use of it.

Don’t dawdle: You will find everything takes longer than it should, therefore if you decide to participate, start fund raising, get your paperwork in, get your passport in order, figure out your shipping etc. as quickly as possible.  Participation in the Biennale is a financially draining, labor intensive, time consuming process; there is no good reason to make it a stressful cram-session too.

Awards: I didn’t know that they had them at this event.  They do.  Awards are a certificate and some people get medals.  If this sort of thing interests you then you will need to put your best foot forward.  I did not know about the awards until I was there.  Some judges did look at my work, which made the Italian artist showing next to me very excited for me, but I didn’t win anything.  I will say that my stretching job on one piece could have been a little bit better but I forgot to bring my canvas pliers – did that cost me? I can’t say.  Being in smaller fields such as video, installation, or photography may improve your odds of winning.  Painting, my category, is by far the largest field, and sculpture is not too small either.

Shipping:

• If you live in Europe it probably is not a problem, just drive in with your art – lots of European artists did.
• As for the rest of the world, EPS the shipper chosen by the Biennale did a good job from what I could see; they are very convenient as they not only transport and store the art, they hang it & take it down as well, but they are very expensive.  The Biennale will not help you with alternatives so you will be on your own. I have blogged about the subject of shipping extensively already, but I will relate how it went for me.
• I paint on stretched canvas. I took my work off the stretcher bars, rolled it up and took it on the plane with me in a tube; the bars, assembly tools and brochures I checked in a gun case that was under the 62-inch length + height + width checked-bag-limit and the bag weight less than 50 pounds, therefore I did not incur any fees using this method.  I purchased a new cabin bag to put clothing etc in as the size of a cabin bag has shrunk since I purchased my last one.  Delta counted the tube of painting as my extra item – such as a coat, purse, laptop that other people carry, but I did check with the airline to make sure this would be OK before my flight.  I did not lock the gun case, so customs and the TSA would not have any problems, but I did wrap it with one of those baggage straps to make sure it did not pop open during handling.  The gun case did freak out Italian customs briefly, until they realized there was no gun in there.  I was not charged a VAT for entering Italy with my art.  In short I paid nothing except the cost of my luggage (about $140) to get the art into Italy and I can reuse the luggage.
• At least one other artist flew into Italy with an over-sized package containing her art, which she could not roll up as she creates using mixed media such as glass.  Italian customs did charge her a 20% VAT based on the value of her art for customs purposes. If you fly in – be sure to have self-certification, photos, and pro-forma invoices similar to the ones EPS required, showing a low value for the art. OR maybe you can convince Italian customs officers that the art is for exhibition only & not for sale (per l’esibizione solo & non in vendita) and has no value for customs purposes-good luck.  I don’t know if this other artist was able to successfully reclaim the VAT when she left Italy or not.  Anyway, it seems to be hit or miss as to whether Italian customs takes an interest in art transported into their country.  If you are stopped and asked to pay a VAT, be prepared part with the funds at least for the duration of the show.  12/28/2009 UPDATE: The artist in question responded, “They gave me back the money, all of it but not the first day (14th) they had me go back and bring a paper from fedex proving that I’d indeed shipped the artwork back to the US.  So I spent 50 euros in cab fare going back and forth.  So far the art is trapped in Italian customs-FedEx called me today to clear up the problem.  I’m glad you are putting all the details on your blog-all in all the experience was worth it even if expensive, I think. “
• Some artists had their art stuck in customs for using other carriers.  When I contacted several of these other carriers, they tended to be very vague about what happened on the Italian end and this result confirmed my suspicions.  Some artists from New Zealand got a temporary importation license that took care of the issue of using alternate shippers & Italian customs; the Kiwis suggested contacting your country’s embassy in Italy to find out how to get one of these licenses.  I have not actually done this for myself, but I will try to find out what these licenses are called and other information.  Others who successfully navigated Italian customs with other shippers, recommended Google-ing shippers that ship between your country and Italy and start working with them.
• The Biennale will give you a very big, heavy book of all the artists and their bios.  It weighs about 10 pounds (4.5 kg) and is 12 x 10 x 2 inches (31 x 25 x 5 cm) in size, at least those were the dimension of the 2009 book.  If you want to ship it back in your crate when the show is over, plan for it to be there in your crate.
• If you ship to the Biennale using an alternate carrier you will need to pack your own tools for opening and closing the crate.
• In 2009 the Biennale did supply an area to store packaging for the duration of the show.
• Realize that shipping is a two step process; you need to figure out not only how to get your art there, but also how to get it back home.  That is the reason for finding shippers that specifically work between Italy and your home country, so you can contact them at the end of the show to come get your crate to ship it back.

Brochures: A 2007 participant recommended bringing 1000 brochures.   I don’t know if you need that many.  I needed to make room for the book in my luggage so I was pushing my brochures very hard at the show.  I didn’t bring any other materials such as post cards or business cards and I came home with at least 200 of my brochures.  I think a some brochures – in case a gallery approaches you – plus several business cards for people who do not want a large document to pocket and 1000 attractive post cards would be a better way to go.  Post cards seem to move better, perhaps because people can use them.  You have the possibility of contact from the person who picked up the card and the person who receives the card in the mail; just be sure to include your contact information (name, phone, snail mail, website, email) on the Post Card if you go this route.

The Internet: I didn’t know this right away, but the Biennale had 2 computers connected to the internet, which Biennale participants could use for 10 minutes at a time for free at the Biennale.  I did use an internet access point provided by my hotel, which I had to pay for, but I also used this free service provided by the Biennale.  Had I known about it in advance I probably would have brought my FaceBook password and my camera cable and done live updates from the show.  FaceBook would have allowed me to reach out to many people at once instead of emailing spammy newsletters.  Remember that whether you log-in at an internet access at an internet café, the Biennale or at your hotel, you probably should mark all log ins as “public terminal” so your user name and password are not stored.

The Gala Dinner: I enjoyed it.  The food was an acceptable 5 course meal, with bottomless red wine and/or water; they served espresso and aperitifs at the end.   I didn’t arrive early, but at least I was solo so I quickly found a table where I knew at least a few people. If you have a larger group that wants to sit together you do need to get there early to claim a table.  Many people dress for the event, but photos were made at the table so good hair, make-up and a nice top are all that is really required; I wore a blingy top, jeans and tennis shoes and it was fine.  They had opera singers for the entire meal, which made me feel like I was in The Godfather movie.   In general a good time was had by all, but at the end of the show, the Fortezza security none too gently kicked us out of the hall. We all piled in cabs and went to a dance club – some of that crew wandered into their hotels at 8 AM the next morning – as for me I think I was in by 3 AM.  As for dinner, order the extra tickets you might need in advance with the second batch of Biennale paperwork, then pick them up timely at the show-those that didn’t pick up their tickets timely may have found them resold by the Biennale for people who failed to order extras in advance (these were made available first come first served).

Hanging and tearing down, etc:

• I came prepared with my own tools so I didn’t have a problem.  If you rely on the kindness of strangers it might work out, but it will take a lot longer to get ready for the show & I wouldn’t want to be expecting help when it comes to tear down.
• If you need to use a ladder or something like that you will experience delays waiting for one to come available.
• The Biennale did deliver large crates to the space where the art was to be displayed, but I heard reports that getting them removed to storage was a bit more difficult.  The Biennale folks did get the big crates moved eventually.  Presumably there would be issues getting them back out of storage as well.
• The sculpture stands – It is forbidden to order one for brochures – don’t know why.  In any case they seemed to be made of particle board that was painted white and they cost extra, 50 Euro each. If you have very heavy sculpture you may want to bring your own stands-but that does imply shipping them with the attendant hassle.
• You also may want to securely mount fragile sculpture; one award-winning Venetian glass piece was destroyed when a cameraman backed into it on the second to last day of the show, knocking it from its stand shattering it into many pieces. I don’t know how that worked out-did insurance pay for the work, or the cameraman, or did the artist bear the loss?
• Some artists carried their un-stretched canvas into Italy and hired a local company to stretch them for 100 euro.  One artist rented manikins locally.  It would stand to reason that other things could be rented or purchased locally as well such as stands, tools or a ladder.  I recommend you do your research before you get to Florence, rather than after though.
• The signs that the Biennale supplied for the individual works were printed in tiny type.  The signs were all printed on self adhering paper so it seems to me that if you wanted larger signage you could probably make it on your own computer at home and bring it with you.  Ditto any additional information you would like to post at your space such as an artist statement, bio, etc.

Biennale Rules: For the record I followed the rules, I brought 3 24 x 36-inch simply-hung works that were back stapled – each piece weighed about a kg.  That said…

• In 2009 as a painter (which for these purposes includes any flat-ish wall-hung art) I was told I had a space of 3 x 2.5 meters (about 10 x 8 ft). For the most part wall space was exactly that, but some walls had protruding partitions that some artists used to expand their domain.  One artist brought a lot of large work and they moved her to an exterior wall that was much larger – I have no idea how she got this variance from the Biennale.  At least one artist had very long paper pieces – she was in an area with much taller walls – I don’t know if she made a special request in advance or not.  Anyway if you have odd-sized work that doesn’t conform to the space allotted I think you  would want to discuss that with the Biennale committee before deciding to show.
• Sculptors (which includes installations) got a floor space of 6 square meters (or about 8 x 8 ft); the floor space was a bit more flexible from what I saw.  If you were located in a wide open area you could spread out a bit, otherwise… but there is no way to know how far out you could spread in advance of the show.  You don’t know where you are located until you get there. Again if your work doesn’t fit, I think you  would want to discuss that with the Biennale committee before deciding to show.
• Wall art could weight 40 kg max (88 pounds); work was hung by cords suspended from hooks at the top of the wall – the weight limitation probably makes sense.  I only recall one piece that violated that rule, and they brought their own wall.
• Photographers were allows 6 works all others only 3.   Yeah right.  I saw several painters with 6 works or more; sure some could be classified as diptychs or triptychs, or multiple pieces of some larger whole, but there were many who obviously just brought more than three.  The same holds true of sculpture as at least one I can think of had 5 stands with 4 or 5 pieces each. Of course if you get classified as an installation then all your related sculptural work counted as one.
• There had to be 10 cm between works paintings.  Again, if the artist brought a lot of work there often was no separation between the pieces.
• Sculpture could weight 80 kg (176 kg max).  I don’t know if this rule was violated, but there were several stone sculptures with metal stands, and several life size figures that may have.
• Sculpture could only be 2.5 m high max (8 ft).  I don’t know if any sculpture in the exhibit hall violated this rule.
• Although part II technical regulations suggested the work had to be ready to hang and back-stapled, some artists hung “tapestry style” (un-stretched), and some artists hung unframed side-stapled pieces.
• The Biennale states that the art has to remain in place for the entirety of the exhibition – it makes sense – they are selling tickets to their show.  However some pieces did “walk out” even before the final day. By the time 7 PM rolled around on December 13, 2009 (the exhibition was open until 8 PM) several artists were tearing down and leaving with their work even as the Biennale intercom blared such activity was prohibited. I left my work in place and It took it apart and packaged it for the trip home about 9:30 AM on December 14, 2009.  By then I would have to say most of the art was already gone or being packaged to ship.

Bottom line – in 2009 the Biennale “rules” were flexible.  If you decide to push the envelope you do so at your own risk in future shows.

That is all I can think of for now.

I will be posting pictures and a sort of diary on my website about my Biennale experience. I am currently slogging through my images, editing them and putting on captions.  There is a general travel update post I made before this one, plus several older posts about finding a hotel, shipping container, airlines etc.  I hope you find this information useful.

Do you have any observations or tips to convey to future Florence Biennale participants? Please respond and help inform future Biennale participants about what to expect.

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the $7651.31 I charged to attend this event; this amount is the sum all the receipts I can find relating to the trip-about $4,000 is the Biennale artist’s share, then hotel & airfare, plus packaging for my art, taxis, meals in Italy, postage and other incidental expenses. I have raised about $2079 in donations-many thanks to those who have contributed to this event.  But I need more assistance and every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

What I would do differently…  General Travel Tips

If you are going to be in Italy for a few weeks, renting an apartment may be a more affordable solution than staying at a Hotel.  Don’t misunderstand me, the Utell Property Hotel Arizona was fine; my room had its own bathroom, closet, desk, TV & refrigerator-the towels were changed daily, the water in the bathroom had good pressure and was hot even in the middle of the night and their continental breakfast was among the best to be had locally – at least that was my impression when I talked to other travelers staying elsewhere; also the staff were friendly, helpful and their English was better than my Italian by far. Hotel Arizona had a computer with Internet access, charged on a sliding scale of time purchased-I bought 5 hours for 10 Euros to check a webmail account daily, and still had some time left. But if I had my own apartment it would have been 20-30% less expensive, even less if I rounded up a roommate to split the cost, and I would have had a kitchen in which to prepare my meals.  As it was I ate a lot of cold cuts, bread, and seasonal produce purchased at the Mercado Centrale in Florence – also there were several Supermarkets to pick up soda pop, yogurt etc., but without a stove or microwave oven my options were limited.

I should have learned more of the language.  You can certainly get by in Florence speaking English, but I still think I should have made a better effort to pick up the native tongue.  As it was I understood a lot of what I heard because of my familiarity with Spanish, but I could not respond for the most part.  I did bring a Frommer’s survival Italian guide with me as well as Rick Stevens travel guide for Tuscany 2010.  Both were useful.  If you can’t find a Frommer’s phrasebook and culture guide – several other companies produce something similar.

For the long flight there and back, bring soft earplugs so you can sleep. If you are sensitive to light, you might also bring an eye-mask to block out the light.  Many travelers had those U-shaped pillows to wrap around their neck too.  But for me noise was the big issue, so foamy earplugs were my need.

Even though I got both the seasonal and swine flu shot before I left – I came down with the common cold on my last evening there.  Another tip is to bring your favorite cold and flu remedy with you.  As it was I did not have the time in the morning before my flight to hit the Farmacia and even if I had gone there, what would I have picked up?  I don’t know foreign over the counter meds.  Given that my flight out of Florence was cancelled and subsequently I was booked on the marathon flight from hell via Delta – I spent the worst day of my illness running through airports & sandwiched between other passengers on long flights without any medicine whatsoever; I was miserable.

Do not go into an Italian restaurant that has no customers.  Chances are the food is not great and worse than that you may be overcharged-some of these awful restaurants have hustlers standing outside trying to bully you in.  Don’t give in, just move along.  Some of the best food I had in Florence was not the most expensive.  Vegetarian is not that hard to do in Italy, but halāl is a bit more difficult unless you go to a döner kebab.  Once again, learning enough of the lingo to convey that you do not eat meat, to ask if the meal is halāl, or to express other dietary restrictions is beneficial. I am very low maintenance in this department, I’ll eat just about anything, but I did dine with an Islam practitioner on several occasions and I am reporting my observations regarding her efforts to find food she could eat.

My hotel gave me a small map of the city when I checked in.  You want one of those and you want to carry it with you.  Florence is not a big city so it would be very hard to stay lost for long, but a good map makes walkabout so much easier.

Skip the traveler’s checks – they are too hard to cash. A couple of hundred dollars cash to convert into Euros once you are in Europe, so you can catch a cab to your hotel & grab a bit of food before you crash and burn, and an ATM card are the way to go. Fortunately I had notified my bank of my intent to travel to Italy, had money in my account and brought my ATM card with me.  When cashing a check proved difficult I found an ATM in my network and withdrew the maximum amount of Euros, 250 Euros in my case.  My rationale is that I would limit the amount of fees I would be charged for accessing my account via a foreign ATM if I took out one big chunk of change rather than several smaller ones.  I also notified the credit card companies of my intent to travel abroad and where I would be so that my charges would not be refused because I was roaming far afield.  I brought 2 charge cards just in case one didn’t work, but I didn’t need the extra one.

Think about forking over the dough for a daytrip outside Florence: Sienna, Pisa, a wine tour etc.  Apparently they are very easy to book and worth the money.  Be advised that you will be gone all day so there is no possibility of conducting business on a day you decide to do one of these tours.

In general my attire was appropriate for the weather, which I check into before I packed.  Florence in December has temperatures around 50 F (10 C) & it rains periodically.  Until the last 2 days, when it became bitterly cold I was fine with my clothing choices: Layers that included a windproof & rainproof shell, a sweater and a long sleeved shirt worked well.  I should have brought at least one pair of long johns for those days when the weather dropped to freezing, but I left them at home.

Florence is a walking city with a lot of cobble stone.  Stiletto-heeled shoes, whereas stylish are NOT good to wear strolling around Florence.  The locals wear fashionable flat boots this time of year.  I took a pair of black, well-worn tennis shoes with me; I live in Phoenix and wear sandals year round so I knew I needed a comfy pair of shoes to minimize the blisters that I would get from suddenly cramming my tootsies into a pair of closed-toed shoes for extended periods of hiking.  When wanting to be chic, Florentines will check their walking shoes with their coats, and slip into the stilettos at the event.

Note: Edison’s facing on to Piazza Repubblica in Florence has an English language book section on the third floor.  They also have a smaller section in French.  Most of the books are in Italian of course.  Anyway I throw this in here because you will probably be spending some time in the airport, or sitting at the show doing nothing and a book is always a nice way to kill time.

Cell phones in the US are CDMA, Cell Phones in Europe are GSM.  That means your cell phone that you use in the US will probably not work in Europe.  As for me I have travel before with out being able to call anyone and so I opted out of upgrading and extending my cell phone plan in order to obtain a tri-band or quad-band phone.  I also decided I did not need to spend money on a GSM phone with minutes and a calling card for DH in order to make contact, but the other artist from Phoenix traveled with some friends; they did rent phones from Cellular Abroad and they told me the phones worked but the coverage was a bit spotty.  When my flight got canceled out of Florence I did find myself wishing a did have a phone, but it all worked out.  In my opinion, if you are traveling by yourself and do not have people you need to contact at odd hours at home, then the need for a cell phone is questionable.  If you have a tri-band or quad-band phone already, your carrier may unlock your phone’s SIM card so you can swap it out with a local Italian carrier’s SIM card, but you may need to give your cell phone service provide a bit of notice so they can do this for you.  Or you can contact Cellular Abroad or some other service and buy or rent cell phones and service.

That is all of the general travel tips I can think of that have not been covered in previous posts.

For things specific to the Florence Biennale, I will submit a post on that subject next.

Do you have any last minute tips for travelers?

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the $7651.31 I charged to attend this event; this amount is the sum all the receipts I can find relating to the trip-about $4,000 is the Biennale artist’s share, then hotel & airfare, plus packaging for my art, taxis, meals in Italy, postage and other incidental expenses. I have raised about $2079 in donations-many thanks to those who have contributed to this event.  But I need more assistance and every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

Just a quick note to say I am off to Italy for the Florence Biennial.

This last week has been very busy wrapping up local business, Turkey Day, then tying up local loose ends and picking up a few final items for the trip.  I purchased one of them hidden cash belt things, a luggage strap for my hard case with the stretcher bars and brochures in it, an Italian phrase book, a new pocket-sized digital camera (my old one doesn’t even talk to a Vista computer), a tube to put my paintings in (Jerry’s Art-O-Rama had a 4-inch diameter expandable one for sale a the local store) and a new carry on (my old carry on was purchased in 1996 and was exactly the right size for a carry on at the time; it is now too long by about 2 inches-they keep shrinking everything it seems).

As for the tube of paintings I called Delta and they said I could carry it on as my extra personal items as it is likely short enough (at 25.5 inches) to fit in an overhead bin or stand up in a closet.  So I am checking stretchers and brochures case and carrying the majority of the other things I will need on the trip along with the canvases.  I am really glad Delta said I could carry the canvases as they are the whole reason I am going to Italy.  Without them the trip is a waste.

I have prepaid all bills I expect to come due while I am away and left DH all other important things I can think of so this is it.  DH thinks I over prepared for this trip, but that is in my nature I guess – why get surprised by things you can control. Wish me bon voyage and good fortune and I will do the same for you.  I’ll be back to blogging in a few weeks unless I decide to get on at an internet cafe.

Do you have any last minute tips for travelers?

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the estimated $8000 it is going to cost me to attend this event.  Every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

I dunno, how do you react when someone clearly has taken advantage of you and not delivered on what they said they were going to do?  Recently I and other members of my group were courted by a certain city to do a certain show on a certain day in a certain location.  We were told the establishment that we would be affiliated with & located next to, would be running a special for the event and that the city would be dropping visitors off right in front of this establishment.  I juried in, signed on & paid a fee of $50 several months ago for a 10′x10′ booth & a one-shot 4-hour opportunity to show & sell during this event.  The downside is the location of this spot, which is up an alley and out of eye-shot of the main drag, but given a trolley stop, and signage of  an establishment running drink specials I figured we should do OK.

In the meantime the promoter of the event who got me involved has been promoting, and I myself have done my own marketing mentioning the city and the establishment, my participation in it, and that I would be there right next to the trolley stop.

Fast forward to the night of the show.  I get there after spending several hours with my roadie (DH) loading up my van with art-du-jour, trinkets, lighting and all manner of other things one need to have to show and sell stuff at night.  It takes a couple of hours.  We get there and it takes another couple of hours to set up. I sell paintings, which mean walls, among other things-it is quite nice when done, but it does take time and is labor intensive.  When I am done, I decide it would be nice to stop over to the establishment and take five, only the establishment is having a private party which is to continue halfway into the stated hours of the event.

I am feeling crabby after to hiking to public restrooms & a might bit parched as well but I figure the trolley stop will make it all better.  You guessed it – there was a trolley stop – but it was about half a block away where debarking passengers couldn’t really see us, not right in front of the establishment as our group had been lead to believe. Anybody looking for us was going to have a hard time finding us if they had never been there before.

I remind you this location is up an alley and around a corner so folks on the main drag don’t really know you are there without decent signage.  Which brings me to the signage: The signage was a large sandwich board placed dead-center & perpendicular to the entrance of the alley, psychologically blocking the entrance. It made no mention of our little group, and merely indicated that the establishment was closed until 8 PM for “private party only;” from our standpoint it was basically a “DO NOT ENTER” sign.

Needless to say, traffic into our little corner of this happening scene did not exist-despite music, lights and wares aching to be examined and despite lots of pedestrian traffic half a block away.   A friend of a fellow vendor purchased a single greeting card from me; that was it the whole night.  I probably had 10 visitors, obviously brave and curious soles who decided to explore & ignore the private party only sign.  We folded up our tents as 9 PM instead of 10 PM because there was no traffic and the establishment in question closed soon after their private party let out.

So I paid $50 to be there, plus a sales tax license, plus 20+ man-hours (tear down and put away takes just as long as load and set-up), plus wear and tear on my van & equipment, to sell a greeting card for $2.88 to someone else’s roadie. That card cost me about $1.40 and for which the city and state are going to take their $0.24 bite, plus 2-$0.44-cent stamps to mail in the sales tax form reporting this glorious sale; my net on the card is about $0.30. Basically I paid $50 for the opportunity practice setting up a show and to sit there in the dark for 4 hours. Those sitting there with me at this non-event were equally disenchanted; the promoter was also in our number, and having a hard time looking us in the eyes.

The day after the event, the promoter offered us a free show in the same location.  Yeah.  Right.  OK, the promoter is looking for another place for us to put down our stakes, but at the moment…  I have avoided mentioning which city, which event and which promoter as I hope sooner or later someone will make this right, but who knows what will happen-I am not looking for any additional trouble, just venting.  $50 is a lot of money when you are flat broke.  It could be worse I know, but in the language of the wild west “I feel road hard and put away wet.” Already figuring I shouldn’t throw good time and money after bad.  But I don’t know what I could have done that would have made this turn out different and feel pretty stupid about it.

I guess the worst part is I don’t understand why.  Why would the city ask us to do this thing in the first place?  Why would the establishment just bail on us like that? What did they get out of our art-show fire-drill? I know the promoter didn’t see this coming ’cause I sure didn’t and beside the promoter was right there rotting with us.

What do you all think?

Yours in art,

Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the estimated $8000 it is going to cost me to attend this event.  Every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.

I started asking about what do I do if I need to make a phone call while I am in Italy.

My travel agent suggested I contact my cellular service provider, so I did.  My current cell phone is not GSM compatible.  I am not due to renew my plan for another 6 months or so, so the idea of renewing that early for 2 years, just to get a GSM compatible phone is not super attractive.  I had decided the next go round I would get a phone that would be friendly for text messaging; hitting a number button 3 times to pull up a letter is annoying.  But in order to get a GSM phone with those abilities I would have to sign up for more than my current plan, I’d have to add email-it might not be a bad thing, but I have multiple phones sharing minutes and I am not sure how that plays out under the new plan.  The least expensive plan I saw was $99 a month which is $40 per month more than I am currently paying for my base plan and I don’t know how much more the other phones are going to run or even if it is possible to have them share minutes under the new scenario. This cost is in addition to the $149 to $179 cost of the upgraded phone.  On top of that their roaming charge is $1.99 per minute in Italy.  All in all this looks to be a very pricey way to go, but as I said I have been thinking about upgrading my service anyway, just not quite so soon.  At a minimum I will pay an extra $240 over the next several months that I would not have otherwise paid and their roaming per minute fees are just about double the alternative.

The Alternative: A friend who lives in Italy suggested I pick up an inexpensive unlocked GSM phone and get a chargeable SIM card for it.  My first foray into this idea found a service that offers a phone loaded with 30 minutes for $179.  Alternatively they sell the SIM card alone loaded with 30 minutes for $59. This company also rents cell phones, but I have heard there are expensive insurance contracts on rented cells so it is probably just as cost effective to buy one.  I can get an international calling card with non-expiring minutes for my husband that will run $25. If he were to call me on this GSM phone my incoming call would be free and about 28 cents a minute to my husband on the calling card.  My outbound calls would be about 99 cents a minute and free to him, which is half of the cost of my current cell service provider.  The GSM phone purchased this way does not require a plan or incur a future obligation to me.  My current cellular service does not sell unlocked phones so there is no way for me to upgrade my phone and use the rechargeable SIM with it.

Does anyone else have any ideas?

Yours in Art,

-Jake

Artist, AKAJake.com Come Experience the Art!

PS. I am still looking for Sponsors & Contributing Patrons to help me pay the estimated $8000 it is going to cost me to attend this event.  Every little bit helps.

The art work in this blog is federally copyrighted. All reproduction and publishing copyrights are retained by the artist. Images are not to be copied, re-distributed, imitated, derived OR otherwise used in any form without the explicit written permission of the artist.