Andy Mercer: Blog

It's a digital world and artists need to get use to it..

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 20 Sep 2015 09:42:31 GMT

Fine artists and Fine Art experts (so called) have been getting their knickers in a twist about "digital art" for a few years now. This culminated recently in my work being pulled without explanation by an art site.

Many "fine" artists will tell you digital art isn't real art or is inferior in some way. In order for it to be real art the artist must have produced it by hand with a brush. Now this really is nonsense.

It's a digital world and some Luddites in the art world need to get used to it.

But first lets talk about rocket engines.

Elon Musk CEO OF SpaceX is a very clever guy and as far as I can see he creates rocket engines by waving his hands around in front of a monitor.

He makes rocket engines using his computer digitally and then guess what he prints them using a 3D printer and using titanium. Nobody dare say to Elon.. "these aren't real rocket engines because you didn't personally hammer them into shape". I suspect if they did Elon would laugh in their face and show them out.

Are his rocket engines worse because he designs them and alters them digitally with his computer ? Nope they are likely to be better.

Ok I hear you say.. "there's a difference between rocket engines and art." True.. so lets talk about music.

Does anyone say to musicians they should stop going into studios to produce music.. because the end result is digital and therefore not real music. Real music has to be played live. I like live music.. but it is nonsense to say only live music is real music.

Even live musicians are recording their music, which is a digital process.
So if a musician decides that the crowd was noisier in Pittsburgh than in Delaware but the performance in Delaware was better.. and decides that he will take the crowd noise from Pittsburgh and add it to the performance in Delaware. Is that bad or good ? If you buy a download.. that's a digital download should I complain about it ? Of course not.. nobody cares.

Does anyone actually refer to digital music.. no ! Nobody is hung up about it, Which makes the often heated debate amongst fine artists even stranger.

Have you looked at art online ? All of that art is digital to an extent.. even the paintings.
I hear you say.. "Why" ?
Because it has been photographed and that creates a digital image that can be uploaded and viewed online. So when someone labels an artwork as a painting.. this isn't 100% true. It's really "a digital photograph of a painting". Heaven forbid the artist decides he will alter a color or line in the photograph because with each tweak it is less of a photograph of a painting and more a new digital work. This is the way digital art works.. it allows you to carry on being creative when you've finished a painting or drawing or photographing or.. whatever.

Supposing a I have two paintings one of the right side of my garden and the other is a painting of the left.. and I decide I will join the two photographs of these painting together digitally to make one picture of the whole garden.

I've made an entirely new work from two paintings. Does this somehow mean it isn't valid anymore ? Does it fig,
That's like saying recorded music isn't music ?

In my case I take images.. quite often loads of images and blend them digitally into one new image. Does this make it inferior in some way ?

I like you reader so I'm going to give you an image.. print it and have it as my little present to you for putting up with my ramblings on all things digital.

Its a bit wide for this blog but I hope you like it. It's a panorama of Limasoll Bay in Cyprus. I was a bit sad really because Rita Ora jogged past and I missed taking a photo of her because I was too busy asking my wife who that woman was.. because she looked familiar. I thought it was Rihanna. But I digress.

"It's a photograph".. I hear you mutter. Well sort of.. its about ten different photographs.
In the days before you could easily do a panorama on your Iphone I created this image by merging these images together digitally (not that well, to be honest). So it is more a digital work than an actual photograph of the place. On the left hand side you can see a couple both in the water and out of it. I'm not in the habit of painting my toe nails either so I admit my wife took a couple of the shots.. so the work becomes a digital collaboration between myself and my wife. I'm also in the photograph I'm the guy with straw hat.. so I am included in a work I created digitally. "What a fraud" I hear you say "how can that be art ?" Why not ?

When Ansel Adams (the famous photographer) was asked which equipment he used to make his photographs he replied "his eye". I'm quite sure Ansel wouldn't be worrying about whether digital works are art.

That photograph may be a good example of how "digital" is everywhere in art but it isn't really typical of what i do. In my case I start with drawings, paintings, photographs and I scan them. But instead of finishing there I continue to work on them (digitally) until you can hardly recognise the original images.

At one end of the spectrum you have genuine 100% digital art where none of the image exists outside the computer and these images can even be generated using mathematic formulae. (Fractals), and at the other you have very slight alterations to say a photograph. All of the images produced from one end of the spectrum to the other are "digital" to an extent. But some retain almost all of their original non digital imagery and at the other end of the spectrum you have 100% digital imagery.. should all these images be classed as digital ?

I think this is where the whole debate about digital v traditional art becomes a nonsense. Because we can safely say that almost all the people viewing "art" are seeing it as a digital image most of the time, via monitors etc nobody worries one iota about it. Even the paintings of the most traditionalist painters who spend their time attacking digital art are most likely seen by most as a digital image (photograph). The distinction between traditional and digital art exists only in the minds of a few artists.. its ALL just art. The ART is the creative part not the way it is produced.

In my case I tend to start with real drawings and scan them. I might also add in bits of photographs some digital some not, I then get to work on these bit using image manipulation software. The software can't make a bad image good.. that it is still down to the skill of the artist.

Here's an example of my art. You may or may not like it.. that's your choice. But in what way does the digital process of its creation make it not art ? You can see quite a lot of the image is drawn.. they are scanned drawings. But other parts are taken from photographs.. and other bits are scanned bits of text. The red sun is a red sticker taken from a jar of jam. When folks order this work I look for a sticker in the kitchen I can stick on the print I send them. What I like abut working this way is the ability it gives me to produce a different kind of imagery and to be flexible. I can alter almost every print I produce.

Here's an another..

Now is this a drawing or a digital work because it isn't the same as the original drawing it is based on ? I moved the sausages so does that mean it is now digital art ? The whole debate is very silly when you think about. It doesn't really matter to me what it is called but for the record I would label this a "print taken from a drawing" for a customer.

In no other area of human endeavour does the use of digital technology cause a similar debate.. its a digital world and visual artists need to get used to it.

Right thanks.. I got that off my chest and can go to sleep now.

Andy Mercer's website

City Lines

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 17 Aug 2014 11:07:00 GMT

Latest version of my CITY LINES animation

Had a lot of fun and hit a lot of snags along the way with this. It sort of seemed logical as I like line drawings to string them together. Personally I like images that are rough at the edges so I'm happy with it, I know it will probably drive serious animators round the twist.

I'm indebted to the very talented Dorothea Baker of Melbourne Australia for allowing me to use her music.

Andy Mercer's website

Pixelation.. is it always bad ?

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 18:25:07 GMT

Quite a lot of my artworks incorporate pixelation.. and I quite often get comments from photographers and printers about it.

>In my experience many photographers and printers judge image acceptability according to photographic criteria.. and they use the same standards to judge artwork as they do photographs. They look at the work through a magnifying glass to check for clarity and that pixels are not blown. I often deliberately blow the colours and incorporate pixelation, I'm not really interested in good photographic quality, it's not what my work is about. I want to stretch the digital medium to its limits.. I like to think this "rough unfinished look" is in part what attracts clients and buyers to my work and I do have plenty of buyers.

I look on it this way.. if someone is painting you wouldn't reject the painting because the brush strokes are visible. So why is it a problem if pixelation (which is an inherent characteristic of digital art work) is visible or deliberately incorporated ? I want my images to have unplanned elements and rough edges I wonder if in 100 years from now.. the ever more detailed and clean digital photographic images will be of any more interest than the old grainy black and white photos of the pre-digital era ? Personally I doubt it. If a printer/client/photographer is going to judge my work by photographic standards my work is always going to fail.

For me the above detail has lots of interesting contrasts and nuances going on..

I'm not ashamed of the fact that I am using the digital medium.

Constructive comments welcome

Andy Merer
Andy Mercer's website

Marc Chagall at Liverpool Tate.

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 17 Mar 2014 18:24:06 GMT

Twenty years ago I had to travel to London to see Chagall’s work exhibited now he has moved nearer and come to Liverpool. In another twenty years maybe he'll be showing next door ?

Having spent most of my life in the 20th century, 21st century orientated folks will have to excuse my going on about Chagall. For reasons I barely understand I never tire of his work. It's hard to say anything new, for me it's like visiting an old friend..

There's a nice quote on the wall in the gallery attributed to Picasso

"When Matisse dies Chagall will be the only artist who knows what colour is."

He was "dead" right. I always feel the need to get in close to Chagall's work... and get my head round the logic of the illogical. From a distance things looks like a church, a person, a house, but up close they often make little sense visually. The eye is led a merry dance. Why should a guy who mainly painted Russian Jewish peasant life have such a hold on my/our imagination ? Not many Jewish Russian peasants at the show.

Some folks have a song or music as the anthem to their lives, but for us this role is probably played by Chagall. The artist with his love flying above his head while holding her hand was made for us, but in reverse. Chagall doesn't care if the line is scratched, the forms don't make sense and the colour isn't flat and neither do I, so maybe that's a part if it. It seems an insult to analyse his work by any conventional artistic standard.

Chagall is to Russia what Warhol is to the USA. At first it’s like looking at the pieces of a unmade jigsaw but magically over time the whole thing comes together. The sum is greater than the individual parts. Don't look too long, Chagall gets under your skin. Months later you will see a pic and know instantly he painted it. Go and have a look !

He doesn't preach, he isn't overtly political, arrogant or sentimental. His works goes against the current prevailing tyranny of photographic realism that cries out from all directions from every advertising hoarding and TV commercial. Chagall just is. I would happily hang a Chagall pic on my wall.

Which brings me on nicely to.. I'm not sure what the rest of Liverpool Tate is about. On the ground floor there was something about “Hangmen” I looked into for 30 seconds. I didn't see any Hangmen but maybe I didn't look hard enough.

How have visual art venues been hijacked by this stuff ? I'm all for experiments but I’ve been seeing similar obscure visual experiments in the majority of galleries for 40-50 yrs now. In what way is this still breaking boundaries or experimental ?

I suspect Duchamp understood he was on a road to nowhere and decided to do other things.

How did this “Cult of Obscurism” take over almost every gallery ? And why not theatres, cinema's, science labs or music venues ? Did Karl Heinz Stockhausen take over the Royal Albert Hall to the almost complete exclusion of all other forms of music? Did Beckett and his followers take over all the West End theatres ? No.. so why has this stuff taken over so many galleries ? IMO it's plain weird.

I get the impression if grant funding was withdrawn (austerity could have an upside) the whole lot would vanish overnight. It feels like the Soviet Union of Art, appearing big and all encompassing but hiding its bankruptcy, then without warning “pop” it’s all gone. A very nice lady first brought me here when it opened, (apart from Mark Dion's ship disappearing down the gallery plug hole).. I hated the whole thing and remember being quite vocal about it. I think she was shocked. But for me art will be always have to incorporate colour and line.. I really don't understand anything else. I’m unashamedly partisan. I really don't care if some guy sticks old plates on a wall and calls it art.. I'm not interested.

I like the gaudy plastic chandelier in the foyer though.. it doesn't take itself that seriously.

Anyway still enjoyed the exhibition. Great to see Liverpool on a lovely sunny day bursting with international visitors and looking every inch the major European city it deserves to be. But that is a whole different story.

Liverpool Tate Café 12.50 11th July 2013

Andy Mercer's website

The Future of Design

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 06 Sep 2013 08:42:00 GMT

Not strictly art related but this does provide fascinating possibilities for creating objects directly from concepts. I'd love to be artist in residence at SpaceX.

Elon Musk is a 21st business visionary, a man who seems intent single handedly changing the world. After creating and selling Paypal he formed Space X with the intention of colonising space, his craft already supply the ISS. Tesla Motors to create usable electric cars and has recently announced the design for "hyperloop" an ultra fast transport system.

P.S You must watch it to the end and see the design component being 3D printed using particles of titanium.

Andy Mercer's website

Miro at the train station

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 25 Aug 2013 13:04:00 GMT

On holiday (vacation) in Puerto Pollensa on the island of Majorca, we decided after a few days relaxing in the sun to take a trip through the mountains to the north coast of this beautiful island. We stopped at the wonderful Lluc Monastery the spiritual heart of the island. It always amazes that people without any faith who never step foot in a church will happily pile into churches and religious sites while on holiday, but thats another story.

After a couple of short stops we reached Port Soller, a delightful coastal town on the north coast of the island. The town is known for its charming position surrounded by high mountains, orange groves and its delightful harbour. Majorca has been a favorite destination for Brits since the 1960's and flights to the sun first became affordable to the masses. This is the less developed part of Majorca with none of the large hotels and apartment blocks.

Harbour side Restaurant in Port Soller

Port Soller is linked by an old tram with the town of the same name a mile or two inland. The plan was to transfer from the tram onto the scenic railway that would take us back through the mountains towards the city of Palma. The tram clattered and wobbled it's way through the orange and lemon groves into the town of Soller and the journey ended at the railway station, where we were informed we would have to wait an hour for the train to depart. So finding we had an hour to kill in the Soller we started to walk back down into the centre of town in the 30C heat. It was then I spotted a poster showing unmistakable Miro work outside the station.

The town of Soller surrounded by high mountains

I thought "surely not".. an exhibition of Miro works in the train station ? But there they were inside the train station in what was probably once a waiting room. And not only that there was a separate exhibition of Picasso ceramics in another room. (I have to admit I'm not a massive fan of Picasso) Either of these collections would warrant a major show in London with security, massive queues and big big publicity but here they were almost unnoticed by the majority of folks waiting for the train in this small sleepy town in northern Majorca.

Miro's work is almost synonymous with modern Spain and he is unique in being an artist whose work has somehow taken on a life of its own. It doesn't appear dated. Miro and Gaudi are the two artists who we have come to be identifiedwith modern Spain, and especially the great city of Barcelona.

He created the "Espana" logo widely copied adapted for Spanish tourist brochures around the world.

http://goodlogo.com/extended.info/espaa-logo-3045

Could you imagine an important exhibition of art works at some small town rail station in Britain or the States ? I love exhibitions in random non art locations, I tried to arrange an exhibition this year at Preston Bus Station but the powers that be seem intent on knocking it down.. the fools. (But that is also another story) So these show's ticked boxes for me.

So if you are in Majorca and want to get away from the holiday crowds its definitely worth a visit to Soller station.

http://www.mallorcaweb.com/reports/monuments-and-buildings/the-soller-station/

The trip back via the mountain railway is also spectacular.

Going Global.. whoosh !

(Andy Mercer) — Wed, 25 Jul 2012 03:19:00 GMT

Going Global.. whoosh

I got several folks signing up to my mailing list last night. I've also noticed my website hits climbing steadily for a month so. So this morning I checked my website stats and they have gone through the roof and I still wasn't sure why. So I started do a little digging.

My work appeared here yesterday
http://www.isthisthefuture.co.uk/2012-olympics-graffiti-street-art/

Then overnight a French site picked it up and ran pretty much the same article
http://www.rue89.com/rue89-sport/2012/07/24/le-street-art-britannique-detourne-les-jo-234113
Of course the first two didn't ask permission or offer any payment.
Now I've got ESPN in the States emailing for permission to use my image for a similar article.

Stayed tuned to see what tomorrow brings ;)

Andy Mercer
Andy Mercer's website

Fraudulent Websites stealing artists work.

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 11 May 2012 13:09:00 GMT

I became aware of these fraudulent sites a week or two ago.

I would encourage every artist at the very least to sign the petition below and raise the profile of this issue with the powers that be.. the bigger the stink the more chance there is of getting this sorted.

http://www.change.org/petitions/protect-artists...#

The big difference between this and other scams is that the sites are being replicated massively (see the list below) and are gaining google rankings. They are not only stealing artists work they are then using our work to fraudulently to obtain payments without delivering anything. In addition they also prominently displaying trusted logo’s which make them appear legit. Verisign, Paypal, Amazon, FAA etc.

So far attempts to remove them from their servers have been unsuccessful. Hopefully by the time you check the links below they will be gone. Full details of this can be found at the FAA forums in the “Is this a legit affiliate” thread.
http://fineartamerica.com/showmessages.php?mess...

Please check and see if your work has been stolen.. mine and many others have.
Unlikely as it may seem a google search of scam sites reveals that people are being ripped off by these sites.

The major problem here is that if these fraudsters can get away with pretending to be an affiliate of Amazon and using trusted logo’s like Verisign, Paypal etc and have Google search rankings then people will be ripped off. (Google, Amazon and the server hosts appear complacent and disinterested). Many of these fraudulent sites are also making income from Google ads.. this again makes them appear legit. The failure of Google etc to act on this issue threatens the very credibility of online trading. As you can see these sites are replicating massively.

It won’t be long before victims start saying “and the artist did nothing about it”.
People are being ripped off for hundreds of dollars by these sites. Google “Scams NanYang ESC International Trade Co Ltd” which is a China based company associated with this.

http://www.scaminformer.com/scam-report/nanyang...

Please feel free to link to this and copy and paste this and spread the word.

This is a list of all “China Wholesale Sites” we know of so far
The first link is always the mainpage. The second link is always the print & posters category where you can look up and insert your own works
…and the ones which end with xml are the google-sitemaps of the requested sites

http://h.toolshomes.com
http://h.toolshomes.com/Wholesale-prints-poster...
http://h.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml
http://home.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories.xml
http://desktop.toolshomes.com/sitemapcategories...

http://video.toolscameras.com
http://video.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-...

http://audio.toolscameras/Wholesale-prints-post...
http://audio.toolscameras.com
http://audio.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-...
http://gps.toolscameras.com/
http://gps.toolscameras.com/Wholesale-prints-po...
http://www.toolscameras.com/sitemapcategories.xml
http://www.totodeal.com/sitemapcategories.xml

http://kitchendini.com
http://kitchendini.com/index.php?main_page=inde...
http://kitchendini.com/sitemapcategories.xml

http://umbrellahi.com
http://umbrellahi.com/index.php?main_page=index...
http://first.winbootsugg.com/sitemapcategories.xml

http://gardeningbin.com/
http://gardeningbin.com/index.php?main_page=adv...
http://www.gardeningbin.com/sitemapcategories.xml

http://ear.goodsvideo.co.uk
http://ear.goodsvideo.co.uk/Wholesale-prints-po...
http://co.goodsvideo.co.uk
http://co.goodsvideo.co.uk/Wholesale-prints-pos...
http://co.goodsvideo.co.uk/sitemapcategories.xml

http://fan.audiogoshop.com
http://fan.audiogoshop.com/Wholesale-prints-pos...
http://digi.audiogoshop.com/
http://digi.audiogoshop.com/index.php?main_page...
http://elk.audiogoshop.com/
http://elk.audiogoshop.com/index.php?main_page=...
http://one.audiogoshop.com/sitemapcategories.xml
http://canon.audiogoshop.com/sitemapcategories.xml

Andy Mercer's website

Work

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 04 May 2012 01:02:00 GMT

A work about.. err.. err.. work !

Andy Mercer's website

"All inclusive" by Andy Mercer

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 29 Apr 2012 03:05:00 GMT

Cyprus is a lovely island and the people are very friendly but it is very hard to escape the feeling even when you fly in for a week and for the most part stay within the hotel grounds that there is a lot going on all around you.. in Syria, in Turkey, in Greece, in Israel and across the region.

Even more curious is that Cyprus seems more British than just about anywhere else in the Med, everyone speaks English… full English at breakfast with a few olives.. milk in their tea.. distinctly British looking traffic lights.. and they even drive on the right side of the road. It's a Britain in the sun.

I have to say things generally tend to happen to us when we go on holiday (vacation)
One day my wife and I were taking in the spring sun by the sea.. when I noticed unusually that there were no pleasure or cargo boats out at sea. Within a few minutes a military patrol boat came up the coast and took up position close the marina.

A few minutes later a Rihanna (type) jogged past with her security guard, who I thought was a perve following a young lady so closely but my wife put me right on that one. Surely even Rihanna or her look alike doesn't warrant a patrol boat ?

In the distance another two ships came into view.. they looked a different shape to the cargo ships that you can regularly see on the horizon and they were moving much quicker. A few miles from shore they slowed and stopped. Then a small black dot lifted off the back of one of the ships.. flew around the ship a couple of times and then flew over us and away.
It was military.

We watched engrossed by it all.. not a single pleasure boat went down this busy tourist coast but there were now several large vessels on the horizon. One looked like an aircraft carrier.

After the departure of the helicopter nothing much happened for awhile. So we decided to head back to the hotel while keeping one eye on the sea.

Throughout the rest of the day I kept on checking the horizon but things remained pretty much the same. Three or four ships on the horizon and the military patrol boat anchored near the marina.

As we prepared to go and eat I switched on Sky news. Kofi Annan and John McCain were in Turkey supporting the Turkish after Syrian troops had been shooting refugees inside Turkey and Lebanon just across the water. After his speech to the camera's the UN General Secretary was shown climbing onboard a military helicopter as he left.

A few minutes later we heard a helicopter in the distance, it flew out to the same ship and landed on the back.

Within a few minutes all the ships were gone or leaving. So was it the edge of international politics or is that the trouble with creatives doing nothing on holiday ? Sadly Hilary Clinton didn't turn up at our hotel for a press conference.

The war ships on the horizon.. the helicopters.. made it feel like “all inclusive” in the danger zone.

After a few days of doing nothing but bringing up the vitamin D levels, just for a change we decided to take a trip over the green line and visit a place that doesn't officially exist The Turkish Republic of Cyprus.

When the week ended we flew away to “normality”

Andy Mercer's website

How to blog an artists work without getting into trouble !

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 16 Apr 2012 12:18:27 GMT

Many people use an artists images without consent or acknowledging the artist. Images available on the internet are very often NOT in the public domain. This is the correct way to feature an artists work in a blog or on a personal website.Amiria features my work here My name is shown with the work and there is a link to my website. I have no objection at all to this type of use. Amiria who owns the blog has lots of very good info for students of art. There really is very little reason to use an artists work without acknowledgement.Just to be 100% certain the blogger sent me this message

"Hi Andy,Just letting you know I have featured one of your awesome artworks in a blog post I wrote to help high school art students: Line DrawingsI have credited the image to you and linked back to your website.Hope you don't mind! (If you do, I will remove the image at your request).Keep up the great work! :)Amiria"

Do it right and the chances are most artists will "thank you" for promoting their work. Steal an artists image (yes it is stealing) by using an image without consent or acknowledgement and you risk being "named and shamed" or even being sued. If you think its unlikely you will ever be caught think again.. you would be surprised how many people report artists images being used without consent on art forums. Many artists routinely search on their image names to see where they are being used. If you want to build a reputation for blogging you'd be surprised how much damage taking images without consent can cause. Is it really worth all the aggravation.. when many artists will "thank you" if you do it the right way ? Andy Mercer's website

Urban Picnic

(Andy Mercer) — Thu, 29 Mar 2012 01:08:00 GMT

http://www.urbanpicnic.co.uk/current-exhibition/Andy Mercer's website

Artists and the Megacity

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 18 Mar 2012 10:44:00 GMT

My work recently featured in this interesting blog Artists-vs-the-Megacity-interpreting-urban-sprawl

Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4)

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 08 Jan 2012 04:04:00 GMT

Corona Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (4), a photo by The Billboard Art Project on Flickr.

A sequence of my images as shown at San Bernadino as part of the US Billboard Art project 2011.

I'd recommend viewing these as slideshow.

New Orleans Billboard Art Project 2011

(Andy Mercer) — Thu, 15 Dec 2011 10:22:00 GMT

Following the link below for more of my images as shown at the New Orleans billboard art project 2011

Billboard Art Project 2011

Andy Mercer's website

Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3)

(Andy Mercer) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 06:57:00 GMT

Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (3), a photo by The Billboard Art Project on Flickr.

Another shot from the US Billboard Art project

Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2)

(Andy Mercer) — Sat, 26 Nov 2011 04:42:00 GMT

Baton Rouge Billboard Art Project Andy Mercer (2), a photo by The Billboard Art Project on Flickr.

My work being exhibited in Baton Rouge as part of the Billboard Art project

Microlawns.. don't ya just love em ?

(Andy Mercer) — Sat, 22 Oct 2011 04:07:00 GMT

http://microlawns.tumblr.com/

Wouldn't the world be a better place if we all had one of these !

Andy Mercer's website

US Billboard Art Project - New Orleans

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 21 Oct 2011 11:07:00 GMT

Map, showtimes, & artist biographies for the New Orleans Billboard Art Project. Four weeks of art interspersed with advertising.

My work is featured in week 4

http://www.billboardartproject.com/cities/new_orleans.html

Andy Mercer's website

LED Billboards in the US display my Art

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 30 Sep 2011 03:47:00 GMT

Anyone live in New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and San Bernardino who can keep an eye out for my work displayed on digital roadside Billboards !

I'm trying to organise a vid and/or photo's !

"You will be in the New Orleans, Baton Rouge, and San Bernardino shows. We do not have the schedules for the shows set yet. New Orleans will be a four week affair and your work will be featured in a group in one of the four weeks and on the weekends. That show will be interspersed with advertising. Baton Rouge and San Bernardino will 24 hour shows and your work will appear 6 different times over the course of the 24 hrs. You can check the schedule on the web site for the dates and the times will be posted a couple of weeks before the shows go live."

Getting the exact details of times and dates is proving tricky.. I'm thinking if I can get shots of each location (I quite like the idea of someone stuck in a traffic jam snapping it through their car window).. even if its not my art shown in the photograph I can photoshop my image onto the billboard in the photo !

New Orleans, LA
Saturday, October 22, 2011 at 12 a.m. to Friday, November 18th at 11:59 p.m.
Four weeks of art interspersed among advertising
at Pontchartrain Expressway, east bound, just after South Claiborne Avenue. See map

Baton Rouge, LA
Saturday, November 5, 2011 from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
24 hours of continuous art
at 8558 Goodwood Boulevard, at Tara Blvd, Baton Rouge, LA 70806. See map

San Bernardino, CA
Friday, December 2, 2011 from 12 a.m. to 11:59 p.m.
24 hours of continuous art

Anyone fancy a drive to these locations ?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=adaVTfAUvTY&feature=player_embedded
http://www.billboardartproject.com/

Andy Mercer's website

Welsh politico's rip off my art.

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 20 Jun 2011 14:08:00 GMT

I was recently made aware that my artwork was being used on a Welsh political commentary site called waleshome.org
with neither my consent or any accreditation.

The image was removed after I contacted Daran Hill, the writer of the article. But in recent emails to Daran Hill and copied to Duncan and Adam Higgitt. It was Duncan Higgitt who responded (even though in previous emails he has denied working for the site) he also refuses to accept that payment is due for the 15mths my image was used on the site prior to its removal. It says on the site that Daran Hill is the editor..

This I believe is the same Daran Hill who recently appeared on the main UK wide BBC evening news as a commentator on Welsh political affairs.
"..is a political commentator and also manages Wales’ fastest growing public affairs firm, Positif Politics, which he founded in 2006. After ten years in the profession, he is one of the most authoritative public affairs consultants in Wales, is well-connected across the political spectrum, and is a current Executive Member and former Chair of Public Affairs Cymru, a Trustee of the Bevan Foundation and a Fellow of Institute of Welsh Affairs. His experience and communications ability has been recognised in numerous media performances. In 1997 he was National Organiser of the successful “Yes for Wales” devolution campaign, which won the referendum that led to the establishment of the National Assembly."

"Duncan Higgitt is a former editor and journalist with, among others, the Western Mail. After serving with the British army, he worked his way up through local free sheets and weeklies before joining the Western Mail in 1997 as a district reporter covering Mid Wales. He went on to work as news editor and features editor for the paper. He is press and political officer for Bethan Jenkins AM."

I wonder what senior management at the BBC would think about their casual approach to intellectual property rights ? I've exchanged a few emails with several people associated with waleshome.org. You will notice if you have a look that quite a few prominent Welsh politicians and media types are regular contributors to the site. I've contacted several of these people over the last couple of weeks and they seem curiously reluctant to come out against the site. Does this indicate that the political establishment in Wales have a casual approach to intellectual property rights ?

The domain name is registered to Adam Higgitt who is identified as an editor of the site.
"..is the former Head of Policy for the Welsh Labour Party and author of the party’s 2003 manifesto. As a Special Adviser in the Northern Ireland Office, he was involved in negotiations to restore devolution and accelerate paramilitary decommissioning. He now works for Ofcom, and writes for WalesHome.org in a personal capacity. Adam is responsible for the Home Truths and Review columns."

I am amazed these people are happy to be contributors to a site that does not seem to think artists should be paid for the use of their work.

In his last email Duncan Hibbitt (the same Duncan Hibbitt who emailed claiming he didn't work for waleshome.org) told me it was their hobby site.

I think political commentary and punditary is their business and
waleshome is a vehicle for delivering this.
Looking at their CV's on the site they are hardly those of hobbists !

I requested the details of ownership, address etc to make my complaint official, they would not provide them. The information doesn't appear anywhere on the waleshome.org site, IMO this is a prerequisite for any legitimate organisation.

I really am quite appalled that people who place themselves in positions of authority seem to have such a cavalier attitude to intellectual property rights. Also politicians who associate themselves with an organization that believes they are immune to the law or that it does not apply to them must also become questionable as to how they will implement the law.

I'll leave you to be the judge as to whether I am ripping these "poor hobbists" off ? Am I demanding £2k.. or maybe £1k.. or even £500.. no I have sent them an invoice for £75.

The future of democracy, enterprise and the rule of law is clearly safe at waleshome.org !

Please feel free to pop over to waleshome.org and express your displeasure at their actions

Andy Mercer
Andy Mercer's website

To be continued and expanded..

Diana Ross's daughter selects my work for review at Zatista

(Andy Mercer) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 10:55:00 GMT

http://www.zatista.com/guest-curator/chudney-ross

I've never been one to miss a decent marketing opportunity so I was delighted to find out today that among the many thousands of works at Zatista Chudney Ross selected one of my works for review.

White City by Andy Mercer Digital on Paper, 13”h x 26”w, $288
A product of the big city, I am drawn to the urban landscape of this print. This is a city I want to jump into even with the chaos of the layering and busy texture of buildings. I love how the playfulness, the flower, and the sun lighten up the black and white scene to keep it whimsical and fun. - C.R.

Many thanks to Chudney for her excellent review..

Andy Mercer

Andy Mercer's website

Red Bubble

(Andy Mercer) — Wed, 15 Jun 2011 02:50:00 GMT

Red Bubble's decision to remove contentious material from the site has come too late. RB is "damaged goods" now for me.. many seem happy to just carry on but I won't be going back.

The whole point of Red Bubble for me was the community aspect.. so when dissenting voices within that community were summarily suspended and even removed then for me that conclusively demonstrates the people who control RB have little regard for that community and it is time to move on. This was the clincher for why I left.

Red Bubbles print options were always poor you wouldn't go there for quality prints. It was the community of artists that made Red Bubble.. this episode proves to me that Red Bubble thinks it is bigger than its artists. It all reminds me a little too much of art.com and the way they treated their artists.

I do draw a very real positive from this episode and it is that artists acting together can make a difference... and that the vast online artist community has the power to change things for the better. Artists acting together are powerful they can make or break a site. So for me when the same artists find another site with similar interactive capabilities they will make that site successful.. and RB will be history. Of course there might just be root and branch change at RB but in my experience this rarely works.. and when it does what's left of the original ethos is usually lost. I don't invest in any one organisation the right to host the premier online artists community in my view websites must gain and hold onto that right. As I see it RB lost that right so for me it is time to move on.

Good luck to my friends who stay.. I don't have any problem with your decision.
Keep in touch.

I wish I had the cash and contacts to develop a rival site on similar lines.. any takers ?

Why I've left Red Bubble..

(Andy Mercer) — Tue, 24 May 2011 04:56:00 GMT

I thought my friends deserved a bit more detail on why I have removed my work from Red Bubble.

I've not been involved in any discussion about this at RB before finding about this I had no prior grudge against the site. I hosted two groups and have been there since June 2008 without major problems. I like to think my input at RB has been 100% constructive. My political views are pretty much in the centre.

I've left RB because I am unhappy (and can't afford) to be associated even indirectly with the material in question and after discussing it with several artists I decided to remove my art. I have relatives who fought and suffered as POW's in WW2 and feel anything less would be disrespectful to their memory. I know several artists who have pulled out in the last few days and also prior to that... I wouldn't class any of them as trouble makers and don't even think they are active participants in the RB forum debate. They just saw what was happening and like me didn't agree with it.

Whatever the original context of these works for me this matter has moved beyond that. when I see a T shirt saying "Back to the Fuhrer" the joke if there ever was one is lost on me.
If its a joke then it's in very poor taste.. if its not a joke then the message is pretty clear. If this is a strictly commercial decision by RB i.e. because these shirts are selling well, then for me its the wrong decision. And there is worse than that..

I doubt very much that Neo Nazi's considering buying this material will be put off that it's supposed to be a parody. The wider impression being created because few will check the original context and why should they.. is that RB is protecting the producers of Neo Nazi imagery while suspending or canceling the accounts of those who object. At best it appears to trivialize the holocaust, and for that reason alone I am unhappy with it. The damage being caused to RB international reputation is increasing exponentially. I've picked up reports on this on several business news sites and it seems to me only a matter of time before the main stream media picks this up.

If these images are simply kids and a generational thing.. then its time to explain that they have created a monster with a life of its own. If as has been suggested the creators motives are not sinister I appeal to them to prove it by ending this now. I've not checked them out.. I'm not interested.

My original thinking was to sit tight and hope for a change in policy.. but I increasingly felt that lack of action on my part was interpreted as tacit support for RB's current policy on this. If my mail box is anything to go by then this issue is creating a lot of unease amongst RB's core supporters.

I'm not interested in discussing it further as I've made my decision but just felt I should explain my reasoning further. I am already missing all my friends and supporters at RB. I'm not at all certain where I will find another vibrant artist community like it. I do hope if you read this you will keep in touch.

I hate censorship and have always defended RB's open approach against criticism but I simply can't support them on this.

In the end I am interested in promoting my art to a wide audience in a professional way, and I want my work on sites with compatible professional and artistic aims. In the final analysis if a site allows dubious content I can't afford to be associated with that site, its as simple as that.

I take no pleasure in making this decision at all.
I'm not going to post endlessly about it, I've made my decision and now I'm moving on to try and find another vibrant online artist community. I do hope my RB friends if you read this that you will keep in touch.

For now I'm building up my presence at Blue Canvas.. the community is small but I am impressed by the professionalism of the BC organisation. I don't know whether it is the answer but I'm giving it a go. Facebook for all its issues is a vibrant meeting place for artists.. and many friends already have a presence there.

I think what RB have lost site of is that it was artists pointing their links at RB that made the site expand massively. At the moment these same artists are leaving in droves.. and taking their links down. RB was primarily a vibrant artist community and it would seem RB have forgotten that.

Andy Mercer
http://www.andy-mercer.co.uk

Available in a store near you on Feb 11th !

(Andy Mercer) — Fri, 04 Feb 2011 07:21:00 GMT

Yes.. my work will be available at Dwell.co.uk

Dwell is a bit like Habitat's competitive younger brother.. they sell online, through catalogues and have plenty of stores in the UK. So I hope all my Lancashire chums will be queuing through the night to be first to buy in Manchester on Feb 11th. Don't tell anyone but "signed" versions available from me.

The first person to post a photo of themselves in store standing next to this print, will get 10 points. And you know what points mean..

I know.. I know.. the "quality" of their photograph is absolutely terrible. I'm busting a gut to get it improved. My dear wife will not be parted from the sample provided now hanging in our Lounge... you just wouldn't believe how different from this it is.

P.S. My work will also be available in Habitat this spring..

Note : Sadly as yet my work is only available in store near you if you live in the DisUnited Kingdom.

My Red Bubble - Art Prints

Facebook

(Andy Mercer) — Sun, 23 Jan 2011 13:49:00 GMT

I quite often send invites to "Friends" from my personal FB page over to follow my ART FB PAGE.

Today I discovered that many people who previously have been following my PAGE have without warning been disconnected. I believe these people are those who originally became FANS of my PAGE before they switched to "LIKE". These people have been FANS since I started using Facebook i.e. a few years ago... and include family members. I noticed a while ago that visitors numbers and responses had dropped for no apparent reason, now I know why. So anyone who has a BUSINESS PAGE might want to check this.
I would suggest you invite FRIENDS from your BUSINESS PAGE and see if the same has happened to you.

It really seems with the ongoing changes to Facebook.. the horrible new personal profile page, LIKE instead of FAN (Whats that all about ?) and now disconnecting folks who have already opted to follow my ART PAGE that the current management of Facebook are doing a really excellent job off putting off their users.

I'd like to invite you to head over to LinkedIn and connect with me (Andy Mercer) because the way things are going I'm not sure I will be active on Facebook much longer.

Regards

Andy Mercer

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc

Habitat

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 10 Jan 2011 08:21:00 GMT

This work will be available in Habitat in Spring 2011 !

Designer Terence Conran founded his iconic Habitat store in London in 1964, to market his Summa range of furniture. The first Habitat store was opened in Fulham Road in Chelsea. This store became the Habitat template, with its quarry tiled floor, whitewashed brick walls, white-painted wooden-slatted ceilings and spotlights creating a feeling of space and focusing attention on the product.[3]

In October 2009, Habitat employed 1,574 people and operated in 71 stores: 35 in the UK, 26 in France, five in Spain and five in Germany.

In addition, the company operates stores or concessions in Belgium, Iceland, Indonesia, Luxembourg, Portugal, Thailand, Turkey and Scandinavia.

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc

QR Codes

(Andy Mercer) — Sat, 01 Jan 2011 05:06:00 GMT

Testing.. testing..

As you probably already know I'm into random bits of printed material. I've been reading about these QR Codes. I've no idea if this will work but pointing your mobile phone camera at this image should direct you to my website ?

Not sure if you will need a app ?

Can you let me know if it works for you ?

Happy New Year..

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc

Facebook is sh*te !

(Andy Mercer) — Thu, 16 Dec 2010 13:29:00 GMT

I spend quite a while getting things the way I want.. and then without notice along come this prat called Mark Whatever and changes it without notice.

Cos he knows best what I want.

Control freakery of the first order !

It seems to me this guy is intent on spoiling a good idea..

Not impressed

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc

Featured at Whopple

(Andy Mercer) — Mon, 15 Nov 2010 13:44:00 GMT

Today I'm featured at a website called Whopple.

http://www.whopple.com/artist-interview-with-andrew-mercer.html

The site is run by Anne Marie a retired national media publicist that is currently donating her time to emerging and thriving artists.

"My goal is bring creative people into the limelight. This is the true meaning of Whopple where artists are highlighted through an interview." Art buyers and gallery owners love to see inside an artist’s life. So Whopple is the place to highlight artists, their art, their inspiration, and their lives."

Many thanks !

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc

2nd Place award

(Andy Mercer) — Thu, 28 Oct 2010 13:45:00 GMT

I've received a few awards in my time but this one I think is worth noting..

The Solo group are a group of artists at Red Bubble who nomimate, exhibit and then make awards to art taken from the huge number of images on the Red Bubble site. I don't normally get that involved with competitions because art is a very subjective business and inevitably in most contests, politics are a major factor. So I was delighted to first be nominated without making a submission and then to recieve three awards from the Solo group of artists.

Intially I was very pleased when two of my works were selected for online exhibition from the many hundreds of thousands of art works on the Red Bubble site, but then to receive three awards including a second place in the Traditional Art category is very pleasing.

I think its worth recording that these awards are made by artists to their fellow artists.. so being acknowledged by your peers in this way is always special for me.

Many thanks to Fran and all those involved..

My Red Bubble - Art Prints My Zazzle Shop- Cards, Mugs T Shirts etc