“This is true in almost all aspects of modern life; marketing trumps substance. Successful politicians are not those who are the best at ruling, but the best at getting elected; which often means appealing on some emotional basis to voters without meaningful relationship to facts or issues; the victory of the soundbite and the TV ad. It seems almost inconcieveable now that a mass political phamplet like Thomas Paine’s Common Sense was a bestseller in the days leading to the American Revolution, or that average voters listed for hours at a time, while standing, as Lincoln and Douglas engaged in their famous series of debates. In the world of contemporary art, marketing is everything – appealing to critics, curators and a small number of art investors has far more impact than presenting art which has any positive value to mainstream art viewing audiences. This is the case only recently; in the days before abstract art ruled the world, it did not take any intermediary to judge the value, or lack thereof, of a painting or piece of sculpture. This was the time, as historian and artist Paul Johnson would say, when art was 90% art an 10% fashion, before becoming 10% art and 90% fashion as in the present day. ”
