The Art World and the World Wide Web

years ago. And art fairs are so intensive and involve so much
work and creativity. And yet they’re so brief—a lot of people
don’t see them. So our documenting of the exhibitions and
art fairs is a way of using the website as an archive. Now you
can have video and great images. Another change is we have
started selling large editions on the site. I’m kind of excited
about that. Of course, it’s been happening forever in other
businesses, with books, et cetera, but the art world is very
old-fashioned—that’s the charm of it—but I think things
have gotten to the point where people will go online and buy
a Tracey Emin edition or a Gilbert & George edition or a Do
Ho Suh edition. I didn’t think that five years ago.
What has changed?
The comfort level. People have gotten used to using their
computers and websites to buy things. One of the things that
turned me off was how slow things were. Another thing that
turned me off was people didn’t keep their websites up to date.
But I think people are getting better at both of those things
now, and so the climate is changing.
It occurs to me that one of the benefits of the upgrade to higher
quality images on your site is that you make it easier for clients
to feel comfortable buying things without seeing them in person.
No, there is no substitute for seeing the work in person.
Okay, but I was just thinking that improved image quality might
make clients even more comfortable with this process. Aren’t you
doing more business that way?
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