Hugh MacLeod wrote about art, myth, and marketing yesterday.
He says people buy art for the myth, the backstory, the explanation of why it’s awesome to own the art.
And, in Hugh’s words:
We don’t just do this for $40K works of art, we use the some mythological techniques when we buy computers, breakfast cereal, or bars of soap. Our lives are only as meaningful as the myths we can create for ourselves. And we like to create myths around the objects that fill up our lives. That’s what “Branding” is all about.
Right. But. The myths behind the soap and computers are incomplete.
The stories exist. They’re long and complicated and often partly secret. But I bet they’re all fascinating: hundred-year, thousand-character, billion-dollar versions of the stories that define and distinguish every bike mechanic in Beijing.
Someone needs to collect those stories, learn them well, and make them available to everyone. Both abbreviated versions and directors’ cuts.
We’re trying to do it one expert opinion at a time.