Choosing Art When Nobody agrees 😉

Have you come across the common issue of differing tastes and preferences in art to your partner, (or other family members, or your boss (art for the office)?

SCENARIO 1 - a couple have varying tastes in art:
This is a more common issue than most people imagine and quite normal when you think about it. Imagine if we were clones of each other, liking absolutely everything the same (things might feel a bit weird really, or like somebody is always compromising somehow).

We have seen a few solutions work for couples, the most common being to take a room each and hand over the choice to each other, one room each, so nobody ends up compromising on all choice. (We have had partners come back to buy a birthday or anniversary gift for their partner and admit that the painting their partner chose has actually grown on them over time).

It also helps considerably when you each make a list of the other's choices that would bother you the least. eg. You love nude figure paintings (among other things), but your partner's family would not visit if one was hanging in your lounge. So you choose your "possibles" list from the other things you love instead. Of course, for this to work, your partner makes their list of "possibles" in the same way.

SCENARIO 2
Some families try to decide all together (including the kids 😱) on a suitable painting for their newly renovated (or built) space. The more variables, of course, the harder it is to arrive at the Venn diagram where everybody's taste intersects. A Body Corp committee approach may be best here, see below.

SCENARIO 3
Let's say a committee has been formed to select artwork for the foyer of a residential tower. In the end, the chair of this committee needs to work out the Venn diagram with a mathematical approach, by going through the narrowing down process in stages, especially if a custom commission is to be created. The artist needs to work with a pre-determined, agreed-upon set of criteria. (rather than try to accommodate a plethora of variables, every creative's nightmare.)

When there is no consultation at all, statistically, more people are averse to the decision of others.eg. An interior designer chooses the main artwork for the foyer or a residential block Vs a committee that consults with the main viewers (residents), to arrive at a choice that will please more of the people most of the time. (you can never hope to have 100% approval from every stake-holder, not where art is concerned). The best-case scenario would be the Venn diagram approach.