I guess the commercial connotation is what ruins it for most people. We like to think of art as a pure activity people engage in just for the love of it, and not for the profit. However, history reveals that most renowned artists were at the mercy of the clergy or royalty. That means most of their masterpieces were commissioned works and could also be considered a form of advertising. Whether they were religious or political, they were pushing some form of a message. Even in the 1900s, artists were paid to skillfully render ads for companies and bring their brand to life with their unique style. I invite you to look at some commercial work from artists like Alphonse Mucha, Henri de Tolousse Lautrec, Steve Penley, and Norman Rockwell. They have all created ad-masterpieces in their own right –and today, most of us work with the same objective in mind.
That’s artvertising at its rawest form, but in the more recent past, technology has allowed us to use different mediums beyond paint and sculptures to push our messages. For example, a car company got people around the world to “Think Small,” and fall in love with the Volkswagen Beetle. In 1997, Apple convinced us to “Think different,” and we proceeded to purchase the same model of a personal computer. Similar to the commissioned paintings of the past, the latter campaigns used art in advanced mediums to push a message that changes your mental perception of their product. Aka creativity working for businesses, aka generate more sales.
