Art Auction

[Axle]

One final thing: why the censorship of the pictures on the screens during the auction? There are no minors at CF, and this is the 21st century: so why the throwback to the Victorian era? (Personally, I thought this was really offensive; and since most of the artwork I had in the artshow was of a mature nature, I would have been exceptionally peeved if my work had been treated in this way.)

This did surprise me somewhat, especially as I'm assuming the actual piece that was being shown around to bidders was uncensored? With it being an 18+ event I did find that a little odd, but I believe this was to avoid having to split the auction in two halves and to avoid people who didn't want to view the mature artworks being offended when they were mixed in.

[Cosmo]

We have censored the projected images since last year due to the number of complaints received in years when we haven't done so. It's also worth remembering that the hotel staff are also in the room, and they might not want to see it.

On another point, we did attempt a count back system back in 2011, and we received a large number of complaints from people who thought they'd won in the silent auction, only to then find the same pieces in the live auction.

[Rorschfox]

We have censored the projected images since last year due to the number of complaints received in years when we haven't done so. It's also worth remembering that the hotel staff are also in the room, and they might not want to see it.

That may be so: but by doing so, you also make it impossible for me to bid on any piece like that.

(Why? I can't easily lift my arms above my head, thanks to long-standing injuries to both shoulders - so getting the piece over to me to see it just isn't an option.)

I'll ask now: will you be censoring the pieces next year? Only if you are, I won't be putting any pieces into the adult artshow, since I'm not willing to have them censored like that.

[Cosmo]

I don't actually run the auction anymore, but I believe the current plan is to continue to censor the adult images in the live auction, yes. (Just to clarify for other people who might be wondering, we don't censor the silent auction, just the images that are shown on the projectors during the live auction)

[Tailen]

We have censored the projected images since last year due to the number of complaints received in years when we haven't done so. It's also worth remembering that the hotel staff are also in the room, and they might not want to see it.

That may be so: but by doing so, you also make it impossible for me to bid on any piece like that.

(Why? I can't easily lift my arms above my head, thanks to long-standing injuries to both shoulders - so getting the piece over to me to see it just isn't an option.)

I'll ask now: will you be censoring the pieces next year? Only if you are, I won't be putting any pieces into the adult artshow, since I'm not willing to have them censored like that.

Due to the complaints we've received in the past for showing adult images on the projector during the live auction, our plan at the moment is to continue to censor pictures next year. We have been censoring pictures in the live auction for the past 2 years, so this is not a change from previous practice.

We will not censor the physical images being carried around at the live auction, nor will the artshow be censored either since we have a separate section for adult artwork and people can choose not to enter it. People don't have that choice in the live auction.

To help you at the live auction, I would suggest you bring a friend or ask the person seated next to you to raise their hand for you when you want to look at a piece close up.

Also, moving the dealers' den opening times so it's open for another day AFTER THE AUCTIONS CLOSE could only be a good thing, both for dealers and artists. (Going by the fact CF is running from Friday to Tuesday next year, maybe have the auction on Sunday evening, and re-open the den on Monday?) It's just a suggestion.

As long as the Dealer's Den is the only place large enough for us to do art pickup, it will need to close before the auction starts. We have been doing the live auction on the last day of the con to maximize the time the Dealer's Den can be open.