ARTISTS SHOULD KEEP RECORDS

It’s likely that the last stage of anyone’s life will devolve into chaos. A person’s thoughts get consumed with disease. The capacity to carry out everyday tasks such as working or going grocery shopping becomes more difficult when one’s strength and memory begin to deteriorate. The proprietor will be able to retire without the company suffering. People will spend the rest of their lives trying to live as stress-free lifestyles as possible. nam june paik, a multimedia sculptor who was born in 1932 and passed away in 2006, had a stroke in 1996 that limited his capacity to construct new works. Despite this, nam june paik’s career was far from done. It was anticipated that his work would be presented, the most recent pieces were still being built up, and the previous works were being offered for sale in galleries. In addition, a number of pieces of sculpture that are said to have been created by Paik but have been refuted by the artist himself have been placed up for sale. Unfortuitously, it was Paik who was the one who was charged with two lawsuits, both of which his attorneys decided to settle since they believe he does not have the mental capacity to provide testimony in court. ken hakuta, who is also the executor of paik’s estate, is paik’s nephew. ‘this may be seen as individuals taking advantage of an elderly artist, ‘ she said. He had been ill. ‘ The legal disputes were settled out of court in the end. This would not have been possible if Paik had maintained a documented record of all the work he had done. The ability to maintain accurate records is unfortunately not one of the characteristics of a very successful artist. However, for some artists whose businesses are operated completely out of their heads, a reduction in brain function may prove to be quite detrimental. ‘Just growing older is difficult, ‘ the doctor remarked. ‘bills don’t get paid; things don’t get put away, ‘ said the director of the woburn, john zeiselof of the Massachusetts-based nonprofit artists for alzheimer’s. The majority of creative people already have stuff sitting about, and when they get dementia, it makes it much more difficult to arrange. The artworks that have been lent to a gallery, museum, or collector may be forgotten about, which is one of the difficulties that may arise as a result of all of these factors. The benefactor could consider it a present or presents, and they might even decide to sell the works. artworks that are confined to a gallery are forgotten. There is also the possibility that galleries would neglect to pay the artists. Photos that have only been approved for usage in business settings are similarly forgotten. elliot hoffman, a lawyer based in new york city who practices in the field of arts law, said that ‘postmortem royalties, with few exceptions, tend to taper out. However, occasionally royalty payers neglect to pay the artist, the artist’s estate, or the artist’s descendants. ‘ Sometimes, they may just stop paying and watch to see if anybody makes a fuss about it. The artist does not pay attention to the many components that are involved in the production of multiple editions, such as mock-ups, proofs, maquets, molds, or sketches. Nevertheless, the publisher, foundry, or fabricator continues to use it or sell it in some capacity. artworks that are not recorded or collated with images or textual data (title, size, year, medium), which might make it impossible to attribute the piece to its original creator. When an artist suffers from memory loss (as was the case with nam june paik) or passes away, the problem of attribution is exaggerated or magnified. In most cases, an artist is considered to be the best judge of his own work; however, there have been instances in which some artists have been dishonest, denying early pieces they now dislike or, in the case of giorgio di chirico, intentionally misdating works. The procedure of determining who produced the work and when the work was made has become increasingly time consuming and costly. According to hoffman, ‘artists, by definition, are not business-minded. ‘ This is not accurate nor a description of the situation; nonetheless, there have been numerous cases of artists who have not bothered to maintain adequate records of their artworks, loans, licenses, and consignments, which has resulted in complications and litigation throughout an artist’s lifetime and beyond. If artists were more diligent in keeping records of their works and careers, there could be less of a need for authentication committees and legal disputes. In order to accomplish this objective, the Joan Mitchell Foundation (155 Avenue of the Americas, New York, New York 10013, 212-524-0100, www.joanmitchellfoundation.org) has created a grant program that gives artists the opportunity to create documentation of their work. The foundation will subsidize this process not by providing money to an artist directly but rather by employing an archivist, paying for a computer (if one is required), and creating an image and text database. ‘If you merely give artists money, they may not spend it on archives while they are alive, artists can develop their own catalogue raisonné, ‘ said the executive director, carolyn somers. ‘If you give artists money, they might not spend it on archives. ‘