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Author Topic: Peter Lik Declares Himself God  (Read 95125 times)

MYB

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #60 on: March 04, 2015, 01:16:14 am »

I own a Lik, which I bought a dozen years ago when he had a shop-front in Port Douglas Queensland.  It was a very, very, slick store; a mini-art gallery complete with works from 'guest' photographers, which were not-quite-as-good as Lik's.  Lik was producing very large prints well before large format inkjet printers.  As I recall, some of the prints at 3 and 4 meters across were quite spectacular - especially his panoramas.  Imagine a 4 m high vertical panorama of the light streaming through Antelope Canyon; that sort of thing.   The images were technically fine, and very appealing in a mass-market way, but it was their size that made them something.  In these days of 60  inch inkjet prints, I'm not sure the impact would be the same.  No doubt, being first to market helps.

I think I paid A$4,000 framed, glassed, and delivered for a 2 1/2 meter x 1 1/2 meter print on lovely glossy Fuji paper - and, yes, the paper really does sparkle(!) - which was less than it would have cost me to do the anything like it to the same quality, which is very high; certainly so at that time, using film.  It arrived in a 50 kg crate shipped directly from Fuji in Japan.   It is an "edition" of 500, but if Lik has sold 500 of my particular print, which is of an almost abstract close-up of a flower, I will eat it. 

It nicely covers a nasty crack in the brickwork of my dining room wall, although I still enjoy it, which is why I bought it.  But a $multi-million artwork, it ain't.

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Justinr

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #61 on: March 04, 2015, 07:54:46 am »

Thank you. There is a stereograph that seems to replicate the viewpoint in the Lik photo on the wikipedia site for the gorge: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Oneonta_Gorge
Gorge first photographed by Carleton Watkins. You want to talk about gutsy - not only wading into the river, but wading into the river with a 16 x 20" camera and glass plates!

Added to bucket list.

Or we have a different perception of risk nowadays.
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pcgpcg

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #62 on: March 04, 2015, 11:39:03 am »

....first photographed by Carleton Watkins. You want to talk about gutsy - not only wading into the river, but wading into the river with a 16 x 20" camera and glass plates!
Or we have a different perception of risk nowadays.
Neither. There was no risk then. Until recently there was no logjam and thousands of people walked back in there in the summer, when the water is low and it's not raining.
When Lik took his photo (2010) there was a logjam and it was raining.

Edit: "Allure" was taken sometime after 2010.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2015, 12:54:40 pm by pcgpcg »
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Justinr

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #63 on: March 04, 2015, 12:21:14 pm »

Neither. There was no risk then. Until recently there was no logjam and thousands of people walked back in there in the summer, when the water is low and it's not raining.
When Lik took his photo (2010) there was a logjam and it was raining.

Have we any photos of this logjam?
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Plateau Light

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #64 on: March 04, 2015, 12:22:53 pm »

Neither. There was no risk then. Until recently there was no logjam and thousands of people walked back in there in the summer, when the water is low and it's not raining.
When Lik took his photo (2010) there was a logjam and it was raining.

2010? Are we sure about that?
I thought he used an IQ180 for that shot.

pcgpcg

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #65 on: March 04, 2015, 12:44:51 pm »

2010? Are we sure about that?
I thought he used an IQ180 for that shot.
Good catch! 2010 was what I recollected, but I can't locate where I got that number, and now you've proved me wrong re. the date as I do find that he states it was shot with an IQ180, which was not available until 2011. His vivid description of how the image was made (handed to me in a stylish black envelope by the sales person at his gallery) is copyrighted 2012.
« Last Edit: March 04, 2015, 12:52:50 pm by pcgpcg »
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Plateau Light

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #66 on: March 04, 2015, 12:57:24 pm »

Good catch! 2010 was what I recollected, but I can't locate where I got that number, and now you've proved me wrong re. the date as I do find that he states it was shot with an IQ180, which was not available until 2011. His vivid description of how the image was made (handed to me in a stylish black envelope by the sales person at his gallery) is copyrighted 2012.
It really doesn't matter. I was wondering if he somehow had a beta version of that back or something.
Probably 2012 as it matches his other Gorge works.

pcgpcg

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #67 on: March 04, 2015, 01:09:27 pm »

Probably 2012 as it matches his other Gorge works.
Yep.
https://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=eaPNr7PU1Vo
I'm surprised he doesn't show the logjam in the video.
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Wayne Fox

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #68 on: March 04, 2015, 04:18:46 pm »

Have we any photos of this logjam?
plenty via google, although the images make it look easier than it is.  When dry it’s probably easier to get over.  It may also be getting larger each year, not sure.  Seems a popular summer swimming location, I’ve only been there in the fall when it rains pretty much every day.
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SeanBK

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #69 on: March 04, 2015, 09:30:59 pm »

I saw his gallery last year. Frankly his prints looked rather chintzy w/super duper saturated colors. The Matt & frames enhanced tackiness, only plastic covers on sofas were missing. If one looks at his Galleries on his website U'll see my POV. The prints r may be 3' to 4' but 16" in height, just look at his Galleries on web, his blk & wht print of Flat Iron Bldg is probably 30"x50" the largest. I find too many people on this Forum posts much better images. IMHO
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Alan Klein

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #70 on: March 05, 2015, 12:01:49 am »

Yeah.  But he gets $4000 a pop!

Plateau Light

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #71 on: March 05, 2015, 12:04:59 am »

Yeah.  But he gets $4000 a pop!
That's no big deal. It's the $50k he gets for editions that are 70% full!

Justinr

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #72 on: March 05, 2015, 06:00:46 pm »

plenty via google, although the images make it look easier than it is.  When dry it’s probably easier to get over.  It may also be getting larger each year, not sure.  Seems a popular summer swimming location, I’ve only been there in the fall when it rains pretty much every day.

Aye, it seems a popular enough spot with plenty of people taking photos and climbing over it.
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pcgpcg

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #73 on: March 29, 2015, 11:07:45 am »

I noticed this structure a hundred feet off the road in Death Valley Junction last week. The building is unattended, door is permanently locked, and the interior contains nothing but four large mounted photos. For those who haven't passed through this bump on the map, it's on the way to Death Valley from Las Vegas and all the tour buses pass by here. I imagine he's cut a deal with the tour bus operators... "and on your left". Best billboard ever?
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Rainer SLP

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #74 on: May 17, 2015, 01:18:29 pm »

... there will be always a victim ...

 ;D
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Geoff Wittig

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #75 on: May 25, 2015, 12:10:47 pm »

The obvious model here, of course, is Thomas Kinkade. Kinkade parlayed a modest talent for cranking out schmaltzy paintings of gardens and cottages into a massive marketing empire that brilliantly exploited middlebrow consumer aspirations. Like Mr. Lik, Kinkade was also profiled by the New York Times at the peak of his popularity in a remarkably similar article. I seem to recall the title as something like "art by the boxcar load", and the writer expressed a grudging admiration for Kinkade's marketing skills while pointing out the widespread disdain for his work among art critics. Even if his sales model implies investment value that's highly improbable, Lik at least appears to be running an honest business. Kinkade by contrast used an explicitly Christian sales pitch to suck in mom 'n pop investors who bought franchises to sell his prints and paintings, and many of them lost big when he finally saturated his own market and the bottom fell out.

One has to wonder what'll happen to Mr. Lik's Red Bull-fueled empire when (not if!) he saturates his target market. The collapse of Kinkade's wasn't pretty.
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Alan Klein

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #76 on: May 25, 2015, 02:15:59 pm »

Kinkade's work is still being mrketed.  There's loads of greeting cards, mugs, etc. that are still being sold. 

jjj

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #77 on: May 25, 2015, 02:22:11 pm »

Kinkade's work is still being mrketed.  There's loads of greeting cards, mugs, etc. that are still being sold. 
I thought his dying was the main issue. Not that it stopped new work being produced.
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Plateau Light

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #78 on: May 25, 2015, 03:58:05 pm »

The obvious model here, of course, is Thomas Kinkade. Kinkade parlayed a modest talent for cranking out schmaltzy paintings of gardens and cottages into a massive marketing empire that brilliantly exploited middlebrow consumer aspirations. Like Mr. Lik, Kinkade was also profiled by the New York Times at the peak of his popularity in a remarkably similar article. I seem to recall the title as something like "art by the boxcar load", and the writer expressed a grudging admiration for Kinkade's marketing skills while pointing out the widespread disdain for his work among art critics. Even if his sales model implies investment value that's highly improbable, Lik at least appears to be running an honest business. Kinkade by contrast used an explicitly Christian sales pitch to suck in mom 'n pop investors who bought franchises to sell his prints and paintings, and many of them lost big when he finally saturated his own market and the bottom fell out.

One has to wonder what'll happen to Mr. Lik's Red Bull-fueled empire when (not if!) he saturates his target market. The collapse of Kinkade's wasn't pretty.

Actually Lik pursues the investment value model far more aggressively than Kinkade. Walk into a store and pay some attention to a particular piece. Suddenly the salesperson is on you noting that that is an incredibly popular piece and it is about to go up a tier this weekend. If you wait the new value will be several thousand dollars more in just a few days. You need to collect this piece now!
Hah.



Geoff Wittig

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Re: Peter Lik Declares Himself God
« Reply #79 on: May 25, 2015, 06:09:35 pm »

By all accounts the Kinkade empire was disintegrating at the time of the painter's demise. Sales of original paintings and 'enhanced' prints, i.e. inkjet prints with a few added brushstrokes, had collapsed. More than half of the franchise storefront 'galleries' had closed. The parent company had declared bankruptcy and stopped paying legal judgements awarded to defrauded franchisees.

Yes, sales of Kinkade images on calendars and coffee mugs continue. The zombie company stumbles forward, as long as there is money to be made.

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