tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post5850764696555919570..comments2023-10-02T08:34:56.200-07:00Comments on zine-it-yourself: Why I hate artists.Michael Ducketthttp://www.blogger.com/profile/13561823552243895213noreply@blogger.comBlogger10125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-24969402439027884852021-01-31T07:33:18.266-08:002021-01-31T07:33:18.266-08:00In my city a while back, a bunch of middle class a...In my city a while back, a bunch of middle class art types made a great deal of fuss about putting on an exhibition of art themed around kindness.<br /><br />Which of course kicked off with a private viewing for the local glitterati.<br /><br />I personally found the art they put online twee and bland. That's just my little opinion. But did they raise any money for charity or make any effort to involve the socially excluded or people from marginalised groups in their clique? Were they in anyway actually being kind?<br /><br />No, of course not. It was all "Look at me, me, me, and how wonderfully talented I am with my creative response. Now kindly donate to my Kickstarter."<br /><br />I've worked professionally as a classically trained musician, and believe me, musos can get just as up themselves about how important they think they are. <br /><br />The reality is, much of the repertoire bores many people to tears. Which is why there is so much reliance on subsidies and so much bitchiness about more popular genres.<br /><br />You don't see Beyonce asking for subsidies. Great quantities of people actually want to pay to hear her. And why not? I would.<br /><br /><br />Clifford Malcolm Willetthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/12185305987624872193noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-34764548330043454552013-07-18T18:27:00.110-07:002013-07-18T18:27:00.110-07:00>> fucked up capitalist, rich-say-what-goes ...>> fucked up capitalist, rich-say-what-goes world, that uses social mechanisms to weed out and train fresh talent to serve it. <br /><br />You mean crony capitalism. I prefer the economic system of capitalism and free markets over anything else. I mean, just because you create art doesn't mean you're entitled to money. Now I believe France is a country who gives out government funds to artists - but we all know how France is doing economically. (Not well.)<br /><br />GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-25900035040799033252013-07-18T18:20:00.004-07:002013-07-18T18:20:00.004-07:00Thank you for this "venting," Michael.
...Thank you for this "venting," Michael. <br /><br />I have found that a certain amount of so called artists are rather, well, full of themselves, and they truly think their work is "so-much-more-meaningful-than-your-normal-job." I am a movie producer and the amount of self congratulatory and "He's brilliant" talk becomes mind numbing. <br /><br />Maybe because the art world can become a bubble - that specific personalities and the naive that pervades such a community creates this type of environment. It's an odd industry, and sometimes not the good kind of odd. <br /><br />Probably because they think their art speaks about the human condition? I think such a belief is rather dangerous. <br /><br />Roger Kimball said "What is it about the word 'art'? Pronounce it, and the IQ of susceptible folk is instantly halved."GoldRush Applehttps://www.blogger.com/profile/04672912751538200761noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-44223021851929938522013-06-06T01:15:20.015-07:002013-06-06T01:15:20.015-07:00I just want to add, "artist" is the word...I just want to add, "artist" is the word used to describe the man who painted the Sistine Chapel, the woman who wrote Pride & Prejudice, and the man who threw elephant crap at a picture of the virgin mary. Now let's think on this one for ten seconds...Vlad Makarovhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/07947024088078243111noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-46459526061201019332012-05-22T03:39:24.657-07:002012-05-22T03:39:24.657-07:00Just re-read this rant, and am relieved that actua...Just re-read this rant, and am relieved that actually, I still agree with it. The list of gallery stuff at the bottom is a bit out of date, with those empty galleries a touch more publicly welcoming this month, but the main gist is still true to me.Michael Ducketthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561823552243895213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-71233547848956969102012-01-24T05:13:37.983-08:002012-01-24T05:13:37.983-08:00I was at a party a few days ago with a couple of &...I was at a party a few days ago with a couple of 'artists' as you describe. They were really nice people. But they really claimed 'art' for themselves - I was patronised when I sat down and doodled subversive stuff on some packaging, "as artists, shouldn't we be doing that for you? Gosh, he's even using smudging".<br /><br />Mike, can I share this round some social media? Don't know how you feel about the Internet being invited here.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-48423819404143619862012-01-11T04:03:38.246-08:002012-01-11T04:03:38.246-08:00While I don't necessarily agree with everythin...While I don't necessarily agree with everything you wrote Mike, I found your rant rather refreshing.<br /><br />So much of what is written about art is either lazy "art is all bollocks isn't it" pub nonsense or pathetic wannabes hyping everything and anything up in the hope of getting invited to a lot of cool parties. I've studied art, contributed to the local art scene, lived with artists and am very good friends with a number of them, and a lot of what you said rang true.<br /><br />It seems to be a natural human desire (for many) to want to be part of a clique - to be a member of a closed-off group with like-minded people in which you can feel superior to others. Be it art, or crafts, or film-making, or writing, or fashion, or music, or even comics, these cliques exist everywhere.<br /><br />If I agree with any one thing you said it would be your anger at these cliques. Subconscious bitterness aside, cliques are incredibly dangerous and self-defeating, especially in terms of Art. I would say that pretty much all art needs to be viewed and engaged with in order to have function, and therefore necessitates access by the wider world.<br /><br />Cliques close themselves off to all but the desired few, and so presumably artwork after artwork fails to reach its intended audience. It makes me wonder how much public-funded money goes into art that is only ever seen at exclusive cooler-than-thou launch parties in badly advertised and organised galleries.<br /><br />I don’t aim these comments at any one group of people and I certainly don’t believe that every arts group or scene is self-serving and closed off, but I’ve observed elements of The Clique everywhere. He sad fact of it is, wherever there is something cool or enjoyable going on, there will always be hangers-on, wannabes and social leeches trying to close it off to the wider populace.thismeanswaughhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/10955357647503583623noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-66910442543196204862012-01-10T04:27:59.821-08:002012-01-10T04:27:59.821-08:00ashamed to say? I really like this - (prefer it to...ashamed to say? I really like this - (prefer it to the baltic one) http://youtu.be/ahv_1IS7SiEMichael Ducketthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561823552243895213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-74387714978491903832012-01-10T03:28:14.119-08:002012-01-10T03:28:14.119-08:00There's been a few more comments on facebook a...There's been a few more comments on facebook and email, and I do seem to have upset some people. Rather than unsaying things that, however gratuitous the swear-words, are genuine perspectives that I've come to from being around - but not part of - that scene for years, I shall instead make sure my next rant is positive to balance out that negative tone (in future). Also I know it's very different to write something like I did knowing what I feel and just enjoying the public admission of it, and the experience of someone linked to a scene or identity who hears themselves called scum. It happened for me when I was linked with environmental protest and direct action, and the negative clever comments then came over as really cocky & lazy, uncaring & unhelpful, and also misrepresentative. <br />If any feedback-ers want their comments stuck here, tell me.Michael Ducketthttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13561823552243895213noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-6073098347943224720.post-13005938493598528022012-01-06T14:24:18.549-08:002012-01-06T14:24:18.549-08:00Wow, that's a lot of anger. It's probably ...Wow, that's a lot of anger. It's probably not healthy for you to chew these ideas over in this manner... and it certainly won't be helpful for me to reply with a repost to what you are saying.<br /><br />Anyway, here goes:<br /><br />When people assume the job title of "artist", what they are saying is that they are a person who is able to be employed creatively. They can achieve worth out of their creativity in a financial sense; of course, today being today, and society being what it is, it is often the case that there isn't a great deal of finance in their creativity. This is an area explored by the artist/economist Hans Abbing in his seminal book, "Why Visual Artists Are Poor" (check out his downloadable texts at http://www.hansabbing.nl/DOCeconomist/Publicaties.htm )<br /><br />Abbing notes that there is a long-tail distribution of success in the arts; at the top, a few people who earn gazillions, trailing down to a much larger multitude who call themselves artists but produce very little. These are probably being supported by rich spouses or parents, and fit clearly into the "clique" that you mention in your post. <br /><br />I would say that what the long tail of artists don't have - and what you, Mr Duckett, have in spades - is an open-minded attitude to creation. Not everybody can make things for a variety of reasons, including the fact that they choose not to, having told they were "crap at art". The actual act of seeing a project all the way through and turning it into a created, finished thing is as difficult as any other job.<br /><br />In the North, I've noticed a much stronger attitude towards saying "yes, we can do it" where "it" is some form of creativity. It's one of the reasons that I enjoyed living in Newcastle. The Byker Wall was built with community rooms to do such a thing, and it's only in recent times that art has begun to be hived away in single-use buildings like the galleries you mention above. In fact, some artists and performers are working hard to move arts back into the community spaces - and that means high-arts, arts with cliquey people, such as Hannah Nicklin's http://performanceinthepub.co.uk/<br /><br />Your main problem, I think, is the idea of the artist as a gifted champion, when you are one of the people most gifted in making creativity happen. However, because of your talents, you are probably quite isolated from the world where people are never creative - in particular, where people don't want to be original, or stand out from a crowd, such as a lot of people in the commuter-belt area where I find myself in. <br /><br />It's an unsolvable dichotomy between wellbeing and economics for some; money must be earned at the cost of creativity. Even the very act of grating your own cheese can be traded for a more regulated life (not just any grated cheese, but M&S grated cheese). The cliquey types whom you wish to anoint with your globule of spit have merely traded one form of creativity-sapping job for another. Real artists, like yourself, must ignore those people in order to keep working.Anonymousnoreply@blogger.com