Thirty thousand years ago, our
distant ancestors descended by torchlight into caves in Lascaux, France, to
render effigies of themselves and their natural world, in personalized form,
scale and color. The residue describes, not what a people saw out in
their world, but how our ancestors saw their world.
Huddled in the dead end passages in those caves, are the skeletons of those who
became lost clambering down into the darkness in search of a canvas. The risks
artists take, and the sacrifices they make for the opportunity to create and
exhibit art, testify to the value they place on the process.
In our society today, guided as we are by the principle of commodity, art is
often measured as a commercial product. But while the products of art might be
marketable, its motivations and essential importance within our community, stand
outside economics. We need them – more than to ornament a niche or hang over a
sofa – to model possibilities, formulate our realities, and experiment with our
moral compass.
Here at our gallery, idspace, for five years we’ve created a small cave for the
artists of Hawaii to explore what might be. Our motivation in creating this
space was to experience the spirit and imagination of those whose processes and
products mark our place and time.
To support our gallery and magazine, those artists have each donated singular
representative works to be auctioned without holding price. For this one month,
you, our community, will determine the monetary value of these pieces, not as
judge of the works nor of the artists’ experiences in making those works, but to
measure and determine the value of art in your lives.
