Of course one can only visit a few of them. And even with such a limitation, a visit used to be short, flimsy and superficial. On various occasions, the artist did not even take the trouble to communicate with the visitor, too occupied with socially chatting with his or her friends. Also the presentation and the quality of the presented works varied considerably. Apparently the expectations were low; the general idea was not to sell, rather to get the artist’s name better known or acquainted, so some kind of public relations.
I was tempted to participate in this ‘Art Route’, in an informal manner (because not yet formally recognised or registered as an artist) but finally did not for very practical reasons. It requires a considerable effort, 12 hours keeping the door open and controlling the inflow and outflow of people. And I have seen now what a limited result will be achieved in this manner.
The idea of an ‘Art Route’ appears OK as a social event, but when it is means as a thorough encounter with art or with the artist, some conditions have to be met. Questions have to be answered like: how do you communicate your vision? How to expose and explain your work? How to excite or provoke the visitor? And so forth, let’s see next year….