in this article, i argue that art and business need to be balanced in favour of business in order for a private art business to function healthily in singapore. i use art as an encompassing term to cover culture, performance, galleries, and so on.

expression

as much as tertiary schools like to portray businesses as a science or recipe to be copied and applied, the truth is every business is anecdotal. the successes and failures can only be viewed within that specific context. i'm not saying that it's not impossible to copy a business model and be successful. i'm saying that copying any business model as a recipe, down to each step, will gain you less failures — learning lessons — and successes than its original model.

this is the same for art. every art piece is unique in its way the artist express his or her interpretation about something. copies can be made but after the audience knows of its artifice, the copies inspire less.

as such, i would argue that both authentic art and legitimate business are expressions of an individual or a collective expression of an organisation — 2 or more individuals.

culture

this point is to argue whether art should be private or public. whether it should be inculcate in the lives of the public or only for the rich or knowledgeable. realistically, the current available art spaces in singapore vary. the old rich for investment and/or enjoyment; the new rich or nouveau riche for the same reasons but mostly lack personal taste; the middle class of art hippies who rants about institutional change but simply signs petitions and ride the vibes; the middle and working class who sincerely appreciates art quietly and make changes within their power. yes, i may be oversimplify but this is only my experience with art in my country.

most artworks are available at galleries and museums around singapore. i agree that the government's role should be to preserve history but innovation should be driven by the private sector. eventually as the latest becomes the old aka history, then the government should take over for preservation. of course the government should consider the economic costs involved as well because of taxes.

profit

for any business to succeed, potential or profit should be present. for public invested companies, even with failing profits but potential earnings in the near or distant future, people would be interested in acquiring its shares and contribute to its growth. these companies are usually necessities or conveniences that enable the users' life to improve one way or another. in singapore, the best example would be grab.

i agree that money isn't everything but money isn't nothing as well. and most people seem to forget that poverty begets nothing, literally. but this is not ubiquitous in singapore because we seldom see poverty here. the truth is poverty is a terrible disease itself that just drags every party involved down an unfortunate drain of fathomable but limited imaginations. the only acceptable business model to not make any profit is the health sector, specifically hospitals, which requires massive amount of investment but that is a writing for another time.

to be continued...