Unknown financial territories

Dear K,

Fantastic last post, my dear friend. I was a little intimidated for a week or so, plus caught up in things down here. Much has been going on and I have been thinking alot about money, (Who doesn't think about money?) and becoming financially savvy. In my quest to really stick to a budget, I was going back to a former life when I saw a Danica Phleps lecture in San Francisco a couple years ago. I have always loved Danica's witty works, but hearing her speak was so inspiring. Her work is often about public vs. private relationships and money - how we spend it, what we spend it on and how to get more of it. I remember her saying "Money is only money for a short amount of time.." I've always remembered this for some reason. Above are some of her drawings of her spending habits. I believe each green bar = $1. I love this because I always think that if we could literally visualize an amount of money in little rows, lines, piles, then maybe we would be less hasty to spend. I personally cannot conceptualize $200,000 for instance... How much space would it take up? Plus, I like her idea of "generational drawings." She makes tracings of her original works and sells them for less, indicating "2nd generation," "3rd generation," etc. Find out more about Danica Phelps here: www.zachfeuer.com




This website is hysterical and ironic: www.we-make-money-not-art.com

Another fun one: www.instructables.com/ id/Dollar-Bill-Shirt/

My students are always asking "How much is this worth?" "Can I make a lot of money as an artist?" I always feel annoyed at the entire topic, thinking that obviously you shouldn't go into the art world wanting to be rich, but on the other hand, plenty of people make a living on their work, and an extremely small percentage make an insane amount of money.

How much money is enough?? - For an artist, for a person of the world, for a life? With the economy the way it is right now many people are changing the way that they think about money, and I think that it is about time. How do people walk around with so much debt, aren't they heavy?

All this money talk stems from S and I lusting after an adorable spanish style house. Cross your fingers. . . our money is flying out the door in rent every month. Another quote that rings in my head from the Danica lecture, "Buying a house is the best thing that an artist can do." Hope so...

With love,
K.

p.s. I came across a young artist recently who makes drawings of her receipts. I know she works in a university in the south, and yet I can't remember her name to bring her into this conversation. If you know her, let me know, I'd love to rediscover her website. (I'd know it if I saw it)