dan’s blog

retail transactions

yesterday i went to the san francisco open studios

there are a truly vast number of artists in the city that all open their doors for the open studios during october weekends. i found a 3-piece tilework that fit in my budget and decided to buy it. shortly after initiating my retail purchase transaction subroutine i noticed that the artist had quite a number of scars on her left wrist, and the right one was bandaged. the general transaction exception was thrown. art is a personal creation, particularly non-reproduceable items like tilework. a piece of the artist’s soul lies within the work! how can the small signed receipt representing an electronic funds transfer possibly compensate? i was reminded of, and expressed to the artist, my happiness with the piece and my good luck at being able to enjoy it in the future! it was immediately clear how much more value this had to her than the small slip of paper.