New day, new interview for Econique: this time with the artist Andrea Crespi.
Your art has a very distinctive style. How would you describe your poetics and what are your main sources of inspiration?
My poetics live in contrast. I unite past and future, visible and invisible, artificial and human. I am inspired by the history of art, pop culture, and the fractures of contemporary society to create works that are mirrors and glitch of our reality.
What role does technology play in your creative process?
Technology is my creative extension. It allows me to transform ideas into reality. It is the tool with which I redefine the concept of art, following my rules.
In your opinion, what distinguishes contemporary art today compared to the past? What are its strengths and weaknesses?
Contemporary art today is accessible, global, hybrid. It mixes media, cultures, and languages like never before, but it often lacks courage and authenticity, becoming sycophantic and bending to market logic, to the point of losing its real meaning.
How do you see the relationship between art and investment? Do you believe that the financial value can influence the artistic value of a work?
Art and investment are inevitably intertwined. In theory, financial value should never dictate artistic value. In practice, however, the reality is different, and too often the public’s perception grows based on economic value, fueling a system that is not always honest from a cultural point of view.
What is your opinion on collectors who purchase works only as an investment and not for passion?
I am for freedom. Everyone must decide to spend their money as they wish. That said, I believe that a collector driven solely by pure investment loses an important part of the essence of art: the experience, the emotion.
Reducing everything to a simple transaction, an asset to capitalize on, is understandable, but profoundly limiting.
What advice would you give to a young artist trying to emerge in an increasingly competitive art market?
Do nothing and declare that art is in the absence: you will become a posthumous legend and the market will go bull for your never-realized works.
What will be the main trends driving the art market in the next 5-10 years?
In the next 5-10 years, the art market will continue with installations that no one understands but everyone pretends to love, works considered genius only because they get many likes on social media, and auctions where the true protagonist is the price.
In short, nothing new compared to today. Perhaps the only real innovation will be the emergence of artists who sell unrealized ideas, declaring that the art lies in the intention.
How important is the dialogue with the public for you? What emotions or reflections would you like to evoke in those who observe your works?
The dialogue with the public is everything. Art does not exist without those who observe it, appreciate it, or criticize it.
Everyone perceives the world differently, and for me, it matters that the works create connections and evoke real emotions, even if only awe or wonder, prompting the observer to read between the lines.
Is there a work in your career that you consider particularly significant or symbolic? If so, which one and why?
I believe that all the works I have created have contributed to shaping who I am today. Even those with less visibility or impact have been fundamental to my journey. Art is made of evolution, and evolution cannot exist without experimentation.
What is your point of view on art as a tool for social change?
There are works that create grandiose revolutions and others that are wonderful decorations. It all depends on the intention.
As expert in digital marketing, Amelia began working in the fintech sector in 2014 after writing her thesis on Bitcoin technology. Previously author for several international crypto-related magazines and CMO at Eidoo. She is now the co-founder and editor-in-chief of The Cryptonomist and Econique.
She is also a marketing teacher at Digital Coach in Milan and she published a book about NFTs for the Italian publishing house Mondadori, while she is also helping artists and company to entering in the sector. As advisor, Amelia is also involved in metaverse-related project such as The Nemesis and OVER.
