Not Real Art

“First, do no harm.” Written nearly 2,500 years ago in Greece, the Hippocratic Oath and its principles hold a sacred place in the hearts and minds of doctors to this day. Traditionally sworn by graduating medical-school students, the Oath remains the gold standard for ethical practices in Western Medicine. While codes of ethical conduct are commonplace throughout medicine and science, the art world is sorely lacking a similar system to hold industry professionals accountable for their actions. What would it look like if artists had their own version of this solemn pledge? “I think that artists need to swear an oath as well,” says NOT REAL ART founder and podcast host Scott “Sourdough” Power in today’s episode. “An oath of ethical behaviors, an oath to a certain level of performance that's based on a mutually agreed upon set of ethics and values so that artists, art buyers, and arts professionals [are] confident and comfortable that people are behaving well and not behaving badly.”Picture a code of conduc