Whenever I go to an art or craft fair, I’m struck by the feeling that in a different world there would be a market for ‘artisanal software’ - with varying ratios of utility vs. aesthetics as the other arts and crafts have - and with independent software craftspeople selling interesting apps.<p>I think I would enjoy being a software craftsperson.
I was at a university print fair recently. The numbering, edition numbering, etc. was all over the place. There was no standard. It was confusing for me, as a buyer who really isn't a collector and connected to this stuff. It didn't stop me (or others) from buying a few things though. Prices weren't tied to edition size, and I didn't overhear any buyers asking about this stuff anyway. Yeah, this was the low end of the market, but great art still speaks for itself and will sell regardless of if there's a couple hundred or an (effectively) unlimited amount of them in the world.<p>As an aside, I get annoyed when I try to buy something limited online & it sells out instantly and shows up on ebay. Stuff like that makes no sense to set a hard limit for since artists are probably leaving money on the table (they could either raise their prices or produce more). A timed release would be nice in these cases, but quality printing is a skill and I get that an artist can't always leave the number they're committed to make to chance like that...
Some people want to create. Some people want to consume. Some people want to collect. Sometimes consumables become collectible (Baseball cards). Sometimes collectibles become consumable (Mona Lisa postcards). Creators are allowed to decide who their market is and adjust as they see fit.
> When people in other fields try tricks like this, they are castigated by society, and perhaps even find themselves in trouble with the law.<p>What would be examples for those fields? I'm kind of stuck with thinking about collectibles.
Interesting that several of the works I have collected that mean the most to me are monoprints. With this form the material for printing is assembled only once and may include items that may be transformed by the printing process. Sounds like this person is not familiar with monoprints as a format.
Meh. Each to their own. There is some "value" in knowing that you own something that is not mass produced. In some aspects, each additional print doesn't affect the utility of any of the others. After all, it looks the same hanging on your wall.<p>But there is a difference. Using an extreme example, what if the print you hang on your wall is also hanging in every single Starbucks? It will detract from your experience because you'll think of Starbucks when you look at it. No one will marvel at your good taste, or ask where you found it. People might even look at you strangely.<p>I'm not saying all unnumbered prints are going to be this extreme, and the "value" described is logical. But hopefully this contrived example can demonstrate that there is an loss of value when each additional print is made (at least for a large percentage of the population).<p>If you're the sort of person that this doesn't make sense to, you needn't be swayed by this thinking. More power to you. But let's not pretend the practice is dishonest or perversive. And if your selling one print of an unlimited run, don't be surprised if people don't want to spend as much.