I pondered the necessity for such a section for a long time, scared that it might shed too much light on the whole concept and offset the balance of the carefully carved mysterious approach (yes, I probably overthought this).
It seemed to me that if I had to justify myself, I would have already made an error, an admission of guilt; how wrong I was.
Anyway, my inner fight is over and find below the answers you were probably looking for.
An hybrid art concept at the crossroads between a gallery and a marketplace.
A place to discover art based on chance, moderation & diversity.
A place to contemplate art with the slow looking feature.
A place to acquire art.
10 artworks are presented to you in an interactive way, from at least 5 different mediums (painting, sculpture, photography…), no more.
Randomly picked up from the curated catalogue, every connection to this place generates a new selection of artworks: the wheel of art.
I also implemented an option to contemplate and fully engage with an artwork: the slow look feature.
In the end, you can acquire the artwork(s) you like.
The citizen of The Blue Neon.
The entity through which we speak and discuss with you, the visitor.
We don’t express ourselves as a team (except when contractual clarity is required), don’t promote our skills, don’t show how we look, don’t abide by the traditional corporate marketing rules.
BLUE helps you navigate The Blue Neon and pilots the journal, where it answers all your questions and dives deeper into the philosophy of this place.
I believe that an endless choice distracts us from engaging genuinely with art, traps us in an echo chamber and prevents us from exploring our curiosity.
In The Blue Neon, I don’t want you to scroll for ages, looking for the perfect artwork and waiting to be struck by one (even out of boredom).
I limit your opportunities and give you instead the possibility to value each one fully.
10 to 27 seconds: the average time spent looking at an artwork in a museum or a gallery (and drastically less online).
I expect you to slow down during your visit here, discover unexpected artworks, contemplate them and find beauty in what is in front of you.
Though it doesn’t replace the brick&mortar experience, I do hope that coming here from time to time allows you to explore new horizons without the distraction of infinite choice.
In short, I favour this mantra: reclaim your attention.
They play along with the same rules as the visitors.
Aware that given the random selection, I can’t promote them directly.
But once one of their artworks appears on the wheel of art, you are more likely to connect and engage with it.
On their side, I also limit their capacity to only upload 10 original creations, establishing a sense of fairness among them.
This implies that the commission they receive from me is significantly higher than in any other galleries, online or not.
I don’t hold in great esteem the recent, contrived & fast communication strategies, i.e. you won’t see me on the main social media (except empty shell account to contact some artists).
The idea of slowing down in front of an artwork contradicts the very features of these addictive AI-based platforms that fight for your attention and undermine your brain chemistry.
So, the possibility to put my thoughts into the writing of a blog constitutes the main content, for now.
Can you only be considered legitimate in the arts if you have been educated at a very young age, if you go to galleries/museums every week, if your social circle is only composed of artsy people, if you rush to the new trendy exhibition, if, if, if…?
I rather consider the broader picture of my passion as being at the intersection of art, wandering, meditation, immersion and contemplation.
My devotion to share with you the joy of slowing down and exploring art is absolute.
Also, uncommonly, I don’t favour the democratisation of the arts per se – this one deserves its own article (see chapter 13) for an exhaustive explanation.