It seems to me that there is an unfortunate coming together of events that seriously threaten our notion of art, culture and aesthetics. The Bush administration’s eight year pillaging of middle class assets, the proliferation of computer based artistic tools, the demotion of arts within schooling, the media’s shrinking of vocabulary and the corporations’ crocodile awareness that it is easier to sell to a consumer whose attention span is limited to a few seconds, has lead us to the brink of an unparalleled second-rateness.
If this was merely a temporary hiccup in taste, I’d be less worried, but I am afeared that we are looking at the extinction of not just the arts but artists themselves.
Whichever way I look and whomever I talk to within the arts I hear the same story. Our livelihood and income has gone, we no longer know how to make a living. The electronic environment changes so rapidly that creating work for platforms that are here today and gone tomorrow becomes pointless. Photography has become so diluted by the digital snapshot that beautiful well- composed photos are indistinguishable from the mountain of indiscriminate images produced by infinite clicking. Art, which was already suffering from the tyrannies of twentieth century doublespeak and gallery cynicism has split into two—the crafters and the blue chip traders, with gifted artists unable to find a market amongst the new order of polarized wealth and poverty. Musicians have been undercut by the internet and authors have seen the hard copy book lose its market hold as publishers stumble bum into the e-book universe not knowing how best to organize themselves.
Make no mistake, both art and artists are under a devastating assault. It is not a conspiracy or a temporary aberration. Historically we are looking at a vision that has been the precursor and signpost to the crumbling of all great empires.
Can we about-face, will the phoenix slowly arise of its own volition or is this an unstoppable headlong dash? I have no idea, I merely wish to play agent provocateur and point out that if we do not take this demise of culture seriously we will pass on to our children a world that is devoid of the capacity to exercise taste. All that is exquisite and wise will be replaced by a flat playing field of trivial distraction and bland repetition. The signs are scratched large, we can choose to acknowledge them or we can bury our heads in the sands and prey to the great god Mediocrity.
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Dice © Nick Bantock – All Rights Reserved
First posted at Nick Bantock’s Blog
Guest Author Bio
Nick Bantock
Nick was schooled in England and has a BA in Fine Art (painting). He has authored 25 books, 11 of which have appeared on the best seller lists, including 3 books on the New York Times top ten at one time. ‘Griffin and Sabine’ stayed on that list for over two years. His works have been translated into 13 languages and over 5 million have been sold worldwide. Once named by the classic SF magazine Weird Tales as one of the best 85 storytellers of the century. His paintings, drawings, sculptures, collages and prints have been exhibited in shows in UK, France and North America. In 2010 Nick’s major retrospective exhibition opened at the MOA in Denver. His works are in private collections throughout the world. Nick has a lifetime BAFTA (British Oscar) for CD Rom ‘Ceremony of Innocence’, created with Peter Gabriel’s Real World.
Produced artwork for over 300 book covers (including works by Roth and Updike), illustrated Viking Penguin’s new translation of Chaucer’s ‘Canterbury Tales’.
For 20 years he’s spoken and read to audiences throughout North America, Europe and Australia. He’s also given keynote and motivational speeches to corporations and teachers state conferences.
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Blog / Website: www.nickbantock.com
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Wonderful piece that needed to be said. Thank you.
As I am an Australian I can only comment on the state of art here. I believe that technology can enhance our access to art. In galleries here you can listen to commentaries on exhibitions on your phone and flick through complementary data on computers for example at the latest Matisse exhibition in Brisbane you could view the photos of the models he used and it was very interesting to view the real person and compare it to the painted/drawn version. There were also historical pictures of the man himself and his family. There are also wonderful sites like weburbanist.com that expose people to art they wouldn’t otherwise get to see and these can be shared on facebook ( exposing an even greater audience who may previously not been interested in art at all).
Thanks Nick. It truly is unfortunate that we are plagued with the side effect of deluded and ignorant politicians (to many of whom are in power these days) mixed with new technology that has watered down people’s appreciation of art.
Thanks, Nick, for bringing your brilliant commentary on the sorry state of art and artists into the light. As you point out so well, one of the first steps in the demise of any society is the loss of art and culture. Without funding, both private and public, we are doomed to groveling in mindless subservience to the droning deity, Mediocrity.
Earlier this year Margie Gillis, an iconic figure in the world of dance and a national treasure, was lambasted on national television (http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LrUfKrQpQbg) for, are you ready, receiving grants to fund her work. Imagine that. The horror of it all! The public uproar in support of Ms. Gillis was magnificent to witness yet it’s just a thimble of water trying to douse the fanning flames of ignorance and apathy pervading North America today.
Thank you for your passionate call to action. Kudos and bravo!