The Venice Biennale has been compromised and ruined by politics, suggests Laura Cumming. “Fifty festivals, a golden year, but no birthday celebrations. The Biennale has become so worried about its inflated status as the Grandest Show on Earth that it wouldn’t dream of congratulating itself in these desperate modern times. It is still a multinational market, of course, where droves of dealers tout their artists to rich collectors and curators on the look-out. But the real world presses in, and the director, Francesco Bonami, wrings his hands.”
Tag: 06.22.03
When Marketing Overruns Creativity
The Harry Potter books are deserving of attention. But the assault of marketing we’ve seen is way over the top. “When this level of marketing is applied to books or to sport, then it soon becomes impossible to distinguish between artistic considerations and financial ones. Rowling may say that she is secretive out of concern for her readers, but it is hard to separate this question of ‘intellectual property’ from concern for the ‘marketing campaign’. Then there is the squeeze effect on other books, other authors, other types of story, some of whom might merit a fraction of the Potter treatment, but who cannot get any place in that over-Pottered shop window. Small bookshops already look set to lose out because of the huge discounts being offered by major stores. Worse, hype like this sows the seeds of its own creative destruction.”
Harry By The Numbers
So how popular is the new Harry Potter book? One major bookselling chain has already declared it to be ‘the fastest-selling book ever,’ outpacing even the frenzied buying that accompanied the release of the previous installment of the Potter series. At W.H. Smith, another chain, managers estimated that they were selling eight copies per second. Amazon has taken orders for 1.3 million copies. The first printing run of the book was for an astounding 13 million copies, and author J.K. Rowling is expected to net £30 million from book sales alone.