The Sartorialist

I adore The Sartorialist !

Long ago I, too, wore the uniform for Washingonian men. Well, maybe I pushed it a little, since I had a thing for Polo suits and mixing patterns. But I did wear a tie every day. I wore that uniform when I worked in hospital administration, finance, and advertising. That is until the image consultant arrived. The ad agency, seeking to differentiate itself from every other, hired an image consultant. After watching us work, the consultant proclaimed us to be, "The California agency" and our new dress code was casual. No jeans, but also no ties. And that was really the last time I wore a tie for business.

Now that I work making museum exhibits, I'm pushing casual towards grubby. I have a huge collection of t-shirts from artists and museums, but it's a t-shirt none-the-less. I wear jeans or my Swedish workpants with more pockets than I can count and keep track of.

I love how The Sartorialist reports on what he considers to be fashionable. It's always individualistic and seemingly effortless.

Collecting

I'm occasionally asked where I have found the work that we've collected. The majority of our collection isn't local and some of it is international. It takes a lot of research and persistence. We're mostly interested in the work of emerging artists. We have work from established graffiti artists in our collection, but they weren't that way when we acquired their work.

I keep an eye on a few graffiti blogs and am on some mailing lists. Tracking down artists can often be a challenge. Dealing with some galleries can be even more difficult sometimes - even just getting them to return an e-mail or phone call. Although I never buy art that's offered on e-bay, I even occasionally watch e-bay listings to see what work is generating interest and demand.

But we're not looking at collecting as an investment. Our credo it to buy what we like. After all, you have to live with it. But I make mistakes and all I can do is learn from them. A few years back I was offered the opportunity to buy a Banksy piece. Because of the frenzy that occurs when a piece of his becomes available, I had to act quickly. In fact, I didn't even have the opportunity to see the work. But I already had one Banky piece in my collection and was familiar with his work, and took the chance. I couldn't have been more unhappy when it arrived and it remains my most valuable yet never displayed piece. And it was the last Banksy piece I bought.


We look for work that interests us; that has something to say; that is original. I think anyone interested in collecting ought to do the same.

wk interact

My wife, Lena, and I collect art. More specifically, we collect work by graffiti and street artists. That can be originals or limited edition prints. From time to time I'll show you a piece from our collection, or something new from the artist.

Part of the graff artist ethos is to be known only by their tag. Most of the artists in our collection are unknown to me except by their tag. Others are my good friends. I wish I could meet them all.

wk interact  is an artist whose work I've long admired and tried to acquire. (Graff artists can be extremely difficult to buy work from --- not wanting to "sell out".) If I had been able to buy from wk years ago, when he first hit my radar, I don't know what I could have paid, but certainly not the $12,000 his originals now command. 

wk interact's work is a blend of wild illustration stretched out like putty combined with other images like industrial drawings. On the streets or for installations, wk pastes up prepared images creating a collage of images and ideas.

He finally had a print that I liked, so wk interact is the newest addition to our collection.
   

"It was a dark and stormy night......"

"It was a dark and stormy night...." Fans of "Peanuts" will recognize that introductory sentence. Snoopy, among many things, considered himself to be a writer. And every story that he'd start began with that sentence. And that first sentence, as I recall, was as far as he could ever get. Maybe I can do better.

It has other connotations as well, but I'll let you explore those on your own -- http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/It_was_a_dark_and_stormy_night

Stunt Diver will be my personal exploration into art and ideas that interest me - and may interest you. It will report on artists that I like, events that may be exciting, and anything else that captures my imagination. 

So, welcome. Feedback is encouraged including links to art and ideas that interest you.