Seven Days in the Art World

I was roaming the Brotherton Library, picking up some books that I needed for my essay and wondering why all the others that I didn’t have to read looked so much more interesting, when I made (yet another) New Year’s Resolution. So as well as doing more interesting and unusual things with my friends, swimming more often, and eating less crisps, I’m going to try and make the most of having access to the university libraries and actually take home and read some of the random books that catch my eye.

I’ve made a good start, with Seven Days in the Art World by Sarah Thornton. I’d seen this book before in gallery gift shops and thought it looked interesting, so when I spotted it in the library I thought I’d give it a go. Thornton describes it as an ethnological survey into the world of art – which almost put me off having spent the last goodness knows how long working on an essay all about ethnology in museums. Ethnographers traditionally study geopraphically distant, exotic cultures, so I was interested to see how a study of a specific section of western society would work.

Basically, the book is a fascinating insight into the lives of collectors, dealers, curators and artists. Thornton has chosen seven aspects of the Art World and dedicated a chapter to each. It’s like getting the chance to follow these people around, a host of unusual characters from the mega-rich collectors at a Christie’s auction, to the artists nominated for the 2006 Turner Prize, unsure about what the prize will do for their career. Basically, through Thornton’s research, interviews and ‘participant observation’ – getting involved with the art world herself, writing for Artforum and attending auctions, ‘crits’, prizegivings and the Venice Biennale, you as the reader get to enter into the slightly bizarre world of art. Whether you have a strong interest in art or not, it is the people who are really interesting in this book and the insight into the contrasting cultures of those who buy, sell and display art, and that of the artists themselves.