Attached Link: Neoflux: A New Approach to Old Ideas

Hello artists,

I am part of a group organizing a new artist catalog, Neoflux, which is currently accepting entries to its first volume from artists working in all media. 

This catalog unlike many others is attempting to revamp the processes used by other similar publications with the most striking difference being that Neoflux is free to enter and does not involve costly printing fees.

This is possible primarily by 2 changes to the typical process:

1-      Artists are provided with easy to complete templates so all submitted work is formatted for quick and clean insertion into the book. This removes problems with missing information, time consuming review processes to verify the information has been entered correctly, and most importantly grants the flexibility needed to properly display a wider variety of artwork. 

2-      Books are produced through print-to-order technology. With this process the book is available through web stores including sites such as Amazon.com. As copies are ordered, the factory accesses the printing documents, prints, assembles and ships a copy of the book automatically. This allows an unlimited number of copies of the book to be available whenever you or any one else choices to order them without the cost of manufacturing and storing a preprinted inventory.

Each selected artist will be represented in 2 full color 8”x10” pages. With 100 artists showcased in each volume, high quality printing and premium binding the resulting book is an excellent way to showcase your work.

For templates and more information go to: http://www.neoflux-animator.com/neoflux.html 

Thank you for your time and consideration,
-Mike Schneider

The website is lacking any information on what subjects/themes are acceptable or not acceptable, and there is no statement of usage or limitation thereof.
You'll almost certainly need to work on those before you'll get many people submitting artwork (to a hotmail address).

There isn't a limit of subjects or themes. That aspect is common to most artist catalogs.
Where as an 'art' catalog may have a theme or subject uniting the work, an 'artist' catalog includes the artist statement along with the work showcasing each artist individually.

The selected pages are entered directly into the book. Usage is limited to the publication.

As far as the email, I see your point. It's a registered email, I've been using for years... though unless someone looks into it for verification, there isn't any clear difference between a registered and unregistered email address. I could setup an email address through the domain that redirects to that address.. though with submissions already being entered, I'm not sure how many people share that fear.  Does anyone else have an opinion on the email issue?

-Mike

Attached Link: http://www.renderosity.com/mod/gallery/browse.php?username=kjr

what kind of information will have the pictures selected into the catalog ? who is keeping the pictures copyright ? if it's sell a catalog do the owner of the picture receive something ? a copy of the catalog perhaps ? thank you for your time... and I think that there is need to be know what exactly are you looking for your catalog cause maybe someone send you cats, or trees, or nature or nudes or who knows... I don't think you'll do a catalog mixing all this kind ... ciaoo...I hope you give me an answer... by kJR

what kind of information will have the pictures selected into the catalog ?

Artists will be selected based on the quality of the pages submitted. There is not one magic word; It is a combination of the quality of the work, how it is explained/ justified, and how well it is presented. The best pages will be accepted into the book.

Who is keeping the pictures copyright ?

Artists retain the copyright to all of their work. Their work will not be used by us outside of the purposes of the book.

If it's sell a catalog do the owner of the picture receive something ?

The final book price will be priced closely to the cost of printing and manufacturing to make it available as cheaply as possible. Because of this, there will be little in the way of revenue generated from the sales of this book. For the artists it is a chance to show their work, not a money making oppertunity. That alone is something which most other publications would make you pay for.

and I think that there is need to be know what exactly are you looking for your catalog cause maybe someone send you cats, or trees, or nature or nudes or who knows... I don't think you'll do a catalog mixing all this kind ...

Actually you are wrong. I think I need to clarify the terms.  There is a difference between an 'art catalog' and an 'artist catalog'.

An art catalog is a collection of works, often linked by a singular theme or overarching concept.
These are usually completely driven by images and a target audience with interest in that particular theme.

An artist catalog is a collection of artist and their works, it presents the individuals with their contact information, artist statement, a sample of their work and a web location where they can view more of it.

Galleries, art directors, art collectors, art schools, art historians and other such institutions are the primary target of this type of publication. The focus is more on the artist; the work is obviously a large part of that however the text information is equally important.

Where as the art catalog is a means through which to get your work out to the people who are interested in it, an artist catalog is a means through which to get your work into galleries, artist residencies and other roles within the art world and hopefully opening additional opportunities to get your work out to new and larger audiences.

I hope that clarifies things. If there any additional questions let me know.

• Mike

if you make a catalog and put the paints of Dali into...what is it ? art catalog or artist one ? Or if you put Dali and Goya, or Velasquez and the flowers of van Gogh or portraits of Rembrandt...and artist who make an art in taking pictures to animals, or peoples who make art with nudes or some who make it from nature...  do you think I'm wrong when I ask what kind of pictures do you want ? Cause maybe I like the idea and think to send you 2 pages...and maybe I will not like the catalog if I see it and between it's nature or cats or horses and some people nudes. If you watch closely on this website... you will see that there are people who has good rates for picture taken on the streets or to some cats or etc... you got the point... and others who really work for a picture an entire day, then more processing and have not a so good rate.... and their pictures are photography, not just simple jokes... which one is the art... ? who decide what art is ? you ? Renderosity ART community ?? You think that for example if I have 150 views and 3 comments for a picture I work a lot and other who just had the camera with him and surprised a cat starring and then posted it here and has 800 views and 50 comments...bla bla... and 8 - 10 fav.... that will be the art ??? ENLIGHT ME PLEASE THEN TELL ME THAT IF I SEND 2 PICTURES OF MINE WITH TWO FINE ARTS NUDES WILL NOT BE INTO A CATALOG WHERE I WILL FIND THE SKY OF SOMEONE OR THE STUPID LOOK OF A DAMN CUTE CAT, OR A TREE INTO THE WIND, CAUSE I RATHER PREFER NOT TO SEE A CATALOG LIKE THAT, THAT WILL BE ... A SOUP...
... and the other thing is not about the money... if you have a hundred person selected and you publish 10,000 copies ...that means you make money with... the 100 persons do they deserve  at least a book like this for free ?
You come and tell me that I should be proud and thankful that my work appears and people know me... but I tell you ...the internet it's enough for everyone to be known... the work ...the real work matters... and YOU SHOULD BE PROUD AND THANKFUL THAT YOU CAN MAKE A CATALOG WITH THE OTHERS PEOPLE WORK.
FOR YOU IT'S JUST BUSINESS, FOR ME (for ex.) it's passion, idea, work, sweat, and days...
I know my work and the value of my work, for this I ask what kind of theme do you have for de catalog... I don't think that some artists wants to be mixed in something that the hole part doesn't represent them... and the maybe I have nice pictures with people on the streets and I send you nudes then you publish a catalog with streets people or with flowers...
I REALLY HOPE YOU GOT THE POINT BETTER NOW...
THANK YOU FOR YOUR TIME !

If you make a catalog and put the paints of Dali into...what is it ? art catalog or artist one ? Or if you put Dali and Goya, or Velasquez and the flowers of van Gogh or portraits of Rembrandt...

In general terms, they might be archives, art history catalogs, if released by the estate or museum which owns the work they would be collection catalogs, if structures with stories that would be consider a biography or photo journal... it really depends on how it is structures and what purpose it is suppose to serve.

Generally an artist catalog is living current artists represented with their permission.

do you think I'm wrong when I ask what kind of pictures do you want ? Cause maybe I like the idea and think to send you 2 pages...and maybe I will not like the catalog if I see it and between it's nature or cats or horses and some people nudes.

Well in part this is the reason for the 2 pages. This way when someone opens the book... at no point will they see your work next to someone else's work. This helps to isolate the work a bit.

If the work seems to have categories, then the book may develop vignettes but that is a very organic process. Defining that before hand would lead to the exclusion of potentially great artwork.

... their pictures are photography, not just simple jokes... which one is the art... ?

I personally have degrees in Painting, Sculpture and Digital Media... other artists involved have formal training in a range of processes such as Screen Printing, Printmaking, Photography... and apart from being showing artists they are also gallery directors and active members in their respective art communities...

Does this mean that there is a way to completely escape sample bias, no. Is it always possible to know how much work goes into a piece... no. With a group of professionals working in different processes, there is at least education and first hand experiences with the materials to base the selections on.

Now in my opinion, a photo of a cute cat... could be lit well, dramatic, have a strong visual aesthetic and be justified by a beautifully written artist statement. Is that the usual case.. of course not. We must not let the endless bad example cause us to exclude the potentially great ones. This is the net... there are billions of people shooting poorly lit grainy images of their genitals with web camera. Does that mean that a well crafted image should not be allowed to enter because it contains nudity... again, of course not. That is why I am reluctant to say anything will not be accepted... because there is always room for a well done piece of artwork to change your mind.

As far as the ratings on the web people choice what they like... if you have enough hacks in a room any rating system is useless.... it's kind of like the government.... sorry bad joke.

I do animation, my current clip for example is hand drawn large scale conte drawings spending hours drawing for each second of result. On a site like youtube, it might get 10-12 views in a month... where as yet another stick figure getting stabbed will get 10,000 views in the first hour. It's not because people are wowed or impressed... it's because they are amused and the more views something gets the sooner it comes up as a result.

... and the other thing is not about the money... if you have a hundred person selected and you publish 10,000 copies ...that means you make money with... the 100 persons do they deserve  at least a book like this for free ?

No, the people working on this book are artists and active members of art communities. I've been in books which were out to turn a profit and I felt it was a disservice to the 'nobility' of the statements they presented. I've put out hundreds of dollars towards the printing fees and spent the 25-50 dollars an entry into shows which takes the 3% that they thing sits best together to go on display and then take 50% of any work they might sell. For many artists, they have to make choices between getting their work out there and affording the materials needed to make more.

The book cost breaks down as follows:
Base fee (from printers)
Per page fee (from printers)
Posting Percentage (from printers) [when on-demand/ print-to-order printers post the books, they store all the files and have their machines able to access that information ready to print as they go. For this they claim 20-40% of the purchase price outright.]
Once that number is calculated the price is rounded off to a clean list number.
When it's all said and done 'profits' from the book sales maybe... maybe... will cover the costs of drafts prints which we need to pay out of pocket to have made to verify that everything looks right.

It's not a business [ Unlike the printers] we're hoping to maybe break even on money we are putting out of pocket.

Throughout College it's something I wish existed. All of the artists talks blur together because there are so few current artists which are well known and even with the net granting us access to everyones web galleries... it takes hours of wading through photos of kittens and sunsets and drawings of anime characters, hearts and rainbows to actually stumble on something which I would call art.

We're trying to release a good quality product with as little expense as possible. We are sinking hours of work into organizing advertising and assembling the work... and by the end... I'm still paying for my copy.

If you need a theme, how about interesting well made work by contemporary artists. Most artist catalogs do not have a theme... it doesn't need one. Think of an artist catalog as an anthology...  your pages should have a clear focus... focus of the book is to present this collection of pages.

So that's where it stands. If you choice to enter... use your pages to present yourself as focused and skilled as you can. The book's focus is to present artists.

-Mike

ok. Thanks. I got the point. But one more question... if, maybe, I have no degree in art, and I work as photographer since2003 as self educated - am I less artist than others who has a degree in art and theirs works sucks and they have no talent ? Cause I know a lot of degrees people who have nothing to do with art just a piece of paper... so should I feel no artist because I studied other things, but in years I made the photography the way to express myself and trying to make it an art ???
Thanks
Romeo

Quote - But one more question... if, maybe, I have no degree in art, and I work as photographer since2003 as self educated - am I less artist than others who has a degree in art and theirs works sucks and they have no talent ? Cause I know a lot of degrees people who have nothing to do with art just a piece of paper... so should I feel no artist because I studied other things, but in years I made the photography the way to express myself and trying to make it an art ???

I don't think you need a degree in art to be an artist... it's just proof that we've studied art. It true of any field, there is no proof of talent or skill... it's a ticket stub from the slide shows. But there are enough people who put stock in the process to make it worth mentioning.

Personally I put more stock in the juried shows, solo shows and artist catalogs my own work has been in. I'm sure many would agree. Even the show cards don't act as proof of quality, value or importance... just that you have showing experience in the field.
There is no way to define what makes someone an artist just as it's impossible to fully describe an image itself. If we could do that we would be writers. But we all know this stuff... Art is a question... post modernism is a question of questions... and that damn Socratic method doesn't have answers built in to the equation.

Trust me, going through an art program is the quickest way to see how many hacks are getting art degrees... I'd say within my 6 years in college I knew maybe 30 total and a few of those were guest speakers, professors and janitors.
-Mike