As a young curator, I am often faced with a multitude of changes, whether it be logistical or mental. Questions that I often ask myself are: How am I going to find a space? Are people interested in my vision and want to be a part of it? Do I have enough money? (Or even, do I even need money?) And most importantly, am I too trusting of people.
I learned this the hard way, this Sunday morning when I received a rude awakening that I am, in fact, too trusting. As I try to navigate through the world of social media, clout chasing, piracy and copyright, I often get lost, reach dead ends, or be robbed of ideas.
The art world lacks integrity, it is not a symbiotic relationship between artist and curator. Its carnivorous, and if you don’t slap a watermark on it or know how to play the game you could be swallowed up like nutrition. That is what happened to me this morning when I reached out to an artist, Kim Hyunji or “kimkimkimxx” and current resident curator on the online platform, Paint Guide. Given that she has been an active follow of David Rappenau for years, a skilled artist, and a current resident in a prestigious online magazine, I decided to reach out to her for comment on Rappenau’s works. This was a research strategy that I employed to get a round-about lens of David’s work, to interact with his audience that he so often tests. After two days of no response, in the early hours, Kim posts David Rappenau’s work to Paint Guide. Tagging her name, and his. Over 2,000 likes and 100s of comments later, a piece of me is destroyed. She never emailed me thank you, I never got the 2 cents of her opinion, I just hopped into her Inbox and she stole my idea. Like a snake.
There could be a positive outlook on this, and that is is that its now on Paint Guide. Though he is now getting more exposure, which makes my urgency to publish this article faster, I also get insight into the community of Paint Guide and their perspective on his work, which I could potentially quote in the future.
But, this experience has taught me that not everyone wants to uplift each other in the art world. They can be presented things, and then take them without reciprocating. For me, it changes the fundamentals of my approach to primary source research as a curator and to harvest information within myself, or in face to face interaction.
Also, what the HELL is this caption? Comparing to the previous resident, Sarah Sitkin, Kim’s words are bland and useless. Come ON. Maybe I should have seen that as a sign.
