One year of the Zero Sum Art Project

Today is the one year anniversary of the Zero Sum Art Project. On November 19 of last year, the first Zero Sum Art auction started with this piece:


Zero Sum #1
The project started with whatever free materials I could find to make and package the first piece. This little drawing was made on Anti-Defamation League notepad paper with a Heart of Georgia Technical Institute pencil and a Radisson Hotel pen. The opening bid was $1.77, which was the initial amount that the project went in the hole for the eBay fees and postage. It ended at $22.72, which gave me my first opportunity to spend the profits and add to the studio.

When I first started the project I was imagining that it would be more an exercise of trying to make something out of nothing - I didn't expect that spending the money back to zero would be a large part of the process. Adding still life objects and more exotic materials, a growing exploration of photographic processes, and now an exhibition in a commercial gallery space have all grown from the challenge of juggling the cycle of surplus and deficit.

As of today, after 22 sales, the balance is $51.49. I've got two weeks to spend that back to as close to zero as I can get. I'm looking at adding a new kind of litho plate to the mix. . . That balance comes from an income total of $1912.65, with costs of $1861.16. If you want to see how it all breaks down, you can see the day to day account here.