Why art/culture subsidy cuts could be a Good Thing part II

So why, then, could the destruction of cultural bodies like orchestras and libraries ultimately be good? Well the artists getting up in arms now are right, of course at one level this is all a disaster.  But I want to look deeper.

Art just isn’t thriving. It isn’t reaching a broad audience, it subsists in the margins, it is generally trivialized and undervalued. I heard recently that only 1% of the of the visual artists in Holland can live from the income generated by their work. The establishment then tries to redress this by trying to make entrepreneurs out of artists which, as you know, I feel is not even close to being a solution.

There are no short-term solutions to this crisis, but there is hope.  Just suppose the worst scenarios come true and many main artistic and cultural institutions here crumble because of lack of government support.

Why this could be positive is that first, the issue of art’s worth will be much more visible, it already is. Artists and cultural supporters are already planning public actions. One recent commentator said, though,  that the whole existence of art is being questioned and that the art world is not providing any good arguments. Well, obviously, those are going to have to start to come. People are going to have to start thinking more deeply and go beyond economic arguments. They will have to come up with impassioned arguments for art’s intrinsic value to a society.

Another good thing, is because the dependence on heavy subsidising has not made the arts healthy, other more grass-roots ways will have to be found to create and maintain a rich and varied cultural life. 

A reason for hope is that these movements are already widespread and growing. Like a mat of roots under the earth, they are thriving and the delicate looking grass blades poking up onto the surface are strong and resistant to damage.  People everywhere are reclaiming their right to be creative. Creativity and inspiration is no longer the exclusive domain of ‘artists’. Just look on the web at the huge popularity of journaling, crafting ,and drawing sites to name a few.

This indicates a tendency to the major shift that I see needed to once again have a cultural heritage and tradition that is central to life, every person’s life, and not somewhere removed from it (in museums, auction houses, and concert halls).

Little by little as Art loses the capital A it will become a natural part of every home, school and hospital. The healing and bridge building qualities of all the arts will be recognised and used to promote understanding between individuals, groups and cultures. Small neighborhood orchestras and art exhibits will spring up. And even large cultural bodies will thrive, but they will have a solid base in the community, and will therefore be self sustaining.

Money will not have to be a central need to maintain culture. Many of the best moments of connection catalysed by art are free.

Granted, our present society has strong roots in the ground and the beliefs and institutions which dominate our lives will not be dismantled easily, but the new values are already present. There is a huge ground swell of people choosing for more humane society. Art will be part of this quiet revolution, creativity is an enormous and irresistible force for growth, and it will break apart old rigid structures so that new, more flexible and alive ones can take their place.

This is what I think is happening now. And that is why I think that the collapse of subsidised art may be a good thing.

Water stained and painted tissue papers

Page of decorated tissue papers

I discovered this technique by accident. I came across some old deep turquoise colored tissue paper stored in the back of the attic. The roof had leaked and the tissue paper had been stained in a most beautiful way. The reason for this is that the dyes used in tissue paper are non-permanent and water-soluble.
I tried water staining some myself and one thing led to another. I use them primarily in collage, as wrapping papers and to give as gifts.

Here is the procedure:

Materials
various colours of tissue paper
water jar
brushes
comb or twigs etc.
designers colours (gouache)

I do this outside on a calm day, it spatters too much to do in my studio. 
Lay down plastic first. Have your other materials ready. Lay out full or half sheets of tissue paper on the plastic. From standing or kneeling position, spatter and drip water on the sheets. Puddles are fine. At this stage you can let them dry,apply designers colour or go on to dyeing paper with paper. I also use a comb with some missing teeth or twigs etc to draw patterns with the water on the paper.

Dyeing paper with paper
On the just spattered sheets of paper on the ground,lay over a dry sheet of a contrasting colour and let dry. When they are completely dry separate them and you will have splotches of purple paper, say on a blue background. And bits of the blue will have bled into the purple sheet as well.

Further treatment with designers colour
When the sheets are still wet, I mix up several little pots of designer colour, it should be quite fluid. I prefer working with metallics like silver gold and bronze, they sparkle on the finished papers. Spatter, paint or apply the colour any way you want. And let all dry.

CAUTION: when using designers colour, don’t sandwich papers on top of one another, because when the designers colour dries it will stick them together. You won’t be able to get the sheets apart without tearing them.

You may need to handle the sheets before they are completely dry, this is a delicate operation but possible if you are careful. It takes some practice.  Good luck.

Martha Marshall has a blog with more about treating papers for collage and other uses.

London part 2

And of course, besides the cultural richness of London there were the shops!

I think each person has his own personal ‘map’of a city. My London has several pilgrimage points which I always visit, and some of them are shops.  But wait a second, I am going to go off on a tangent here. I recently heard of Jan Rothuizen’s Soft Atlas of Amsterdam. He mapped out Amsterdam this way, very personally, drawing his vision of the city. Unfortunately most of the sites for the book are in Dutch, but still, you can get an idea from the pictures. 

I kept a sketchbook a bit a la Keri Smith, while in London, but when I came back and heard about the Soft Atlas, I realize I’d done something similar.

So back to my regular consumer haunts in London:

Muji, I always go there for their gel pens, cheap origami paper and irresistable plastic containers of every size, from crate to pillbox. Plus it is one of the coolest stores I  know.

The Bead Shop in Covent Garden has long been my favorite destination to restock my rocailles. They have shelves  of them arranged by colour! I also bought 4 perfect ovals of African turquoise, dusky and mottled like a jungle river.

Just around the corner near the Seven Dials, is London Graphics Centre. This time I got silver and gold water based block print ink (Speedball) which I haven’t been able to find anywhere else.

Every day I passed by Hotel Chocolat, the kind of place where chocoholics like me think they’ve died and gone to Heaven. I only succumbed on the last day, I bought a slab of orange chilli bitter chocolate. But you could also have all sorts of ‘liquid chocolate’, and too many other exotic and gorgeous treats to mention. Go have a drool at the site.

And finally, good old Waterstones, the perfect place to browse  on a cold and rainy Sunday. I saw a book about Banksey there as well as one on Slinkachu’s Little People. And I had a nostalgic time leafing through a coffee table book about the heyday of Biba.

Also, the V&A’s shops are to die for.  I treated myself to some adorable ceramic buttons shaped in hearts, flowers, rounds, ovals and squares- I’m going to make jewelry out of them.  I held back from the beaded bracelets, little bags, necklaces, books, stunning fabrics, scarves, art supplies, and just plain Things-to-buy-just-to-have.

X-factor vent

I stayed at a Youth Hostel while in London. In the evenings some of us would watch the X factor. It is good entertainment, but I grew to dislike it intensely.

One young guy, waiting to be eliminated(or kept on) was asked what it meant to him to stay.  He said,

‘Everything, this is the most important thing in my life’.

And later,

‘What I want more than anything is to be a pop star’. 

Ah, that’s it, the word ‘star’;  here is the crux of what is wrong with this whole concept- his ambition isn’t to be as good a singer and performer as he can, but to be a Star. It is fame that calls these children. Did you know that they actually live at the X-factor quarters for weeks on end, getting coached in how to present themselves?  That’s how involved they get, that is how dedicated they are to this goal, which when they achieve it, most will find empty and excruciatingly lonely.

Lately, I’ve been enjoying the music of John Mayer. I like him because he is intelligent, he has something to say which matters to him, he’s an ace guitar player, and let’s face it he’s sexy as hell.

He is, 1 a human being with depth and character. 2 A skilled musician on a number of levels. 3 An interesting person with independent views, and 4. A talented poet and songwriter.

Compare this to your average X-factor finalist who maybe can sing, and has learned how to ape the moves of more succcessful stars.  What else is there?

What a dumb goal our society encourages these easily influenced teenagers to quest after. How many of the winners have anything inside themselves to sustain them for more than the first half year of hype?  Don’t they know you have to be a whole and at least somewhat developed person first before you can express something worth listening to?

John Mayer, for example, already has the X-factor- but it in him it is a combination of talent, intelligence, skill, dedication, luck and inborn charisma. 

 He, at least, will be around for a lot more years, maturing and deepening, and just getting better. I look forward to it.

 

 

 

Chocolate for the Soul

At work during yesterday’s Personal Creativity Workshop

We had 17 enthusiastic women who came with open hearts and minds, you couldn’t have wished for a better group.

The main concepts were Exploration, Creating and Reflection. Most exciting for me was to see people take risks and really move.

The simplest exercise surprised me the most. We took one material to explore, in this case, crêpe paper. The assignment was not to ‘make’ a product, but to see what the material could do. First it was torn, folded, twisted into threads, knotted, cupped, stretched. From there we worked with connection methods like sewing, glueing, tying, taping etc. And finally the brief was to combine two elements into one object, say a twisted rope with a bunched up wad.

Each table then got to choose the best objects and combine them into an exhibition for the rest of us. They were to find a uniting theme in the objects, name the exhibition and make an invitation for everyone. 

 

This group’s exhibit was mounted on the wall and called, ‘Freedom’.

Like me, many of the participants were moved by the cooperation and exchange of ideas and inspiration such a simple concept could lead to.

We happily went to enjoy the delicious lunch cooked and catered by the organisers Aafke and Martine.

Afterwards, we made leporello( accordion) books and simple pamphlet bound books. Here are some of the results.

I had a wonderful day watching people get inspired by the materials and each other.

In designing this day, I drew a lot of inspiration from Keri Smith’s approach to playing with materials without having expectations or valuing the outcome. For many, the underpinnings of this approach; valuing mistakes and surprises, starting with what you have, paying attention to details in the environment, using the imagination and documenting your findings, were very different to the usual art class approach, ie, learn how to do something then make an aesthetically pleasing ‘good’ product with that technique.

Thanks to everyone, Baukje for your beautiful studio to work in, and the organisers and participants for making it a rewarding and fun day!

What are you?

Recently I read an article about a young mother raising two children while working on her dissertation. As an aside she said, ‘Yes I still work 2 days a week  so I have something to say when people ask me what I do’.

That got me thinking about how deeply identified this society is with roles and status. The next day, someone asked me quite innocently at an artist’s gathering, ‘What are you?’  Meaning: artist, poet, musician, etc.  In the context of the above, I resented having to put myself in a box in order to be able to have a discussion with someone. Anyway, I don’t know ‘what’ I am yet, I’m only 59 and haven’t decided what I’m going to be when I grow up.

I told him that I didn’t want to answer the question and asked him instead,’What are you really excited about at this point in your life?’ And lo and behold we had a perfectly pleasant and inspiring discussion about the ‘new art’, basically all the things I”m also interested in, edgy art being made in homes on the streets and in the margins.

And all this without ever once mentioning ‘what we do’.

My heart often falls when people ask me to respond to ‘What do you do’?’. It limits the discussion right away.  And it makes me wonder why we feel so insecure  when we don’t have a conventionally accepted answer to that question. Have we accepted so completely that our sole value is in what we do? Is that our only basis for establishing a context to talk with new people?

I think I’d rather be asked what excites me, what inspires me, what issue am I wrestling with at the moment, what progress have I made in realizing some of my goals, what  are some of the nicest moments I’ve had with friends lately, in what areas of my life  do I feel connected and passionate, etc.

Eric Maisel’s ‘The van Gogh Blues’ 1

Maisel’s book is based on the premise that people who have chosen a creative life- artist, innovators in science and other fields,  are creating the path as they go. Since they rarely accept authority’s explanations,  they have to find their own ways to create  meaning. Failure to do this can lead to depression.

The most helpful thing I found about this book was the acknowledgement of how hard it can be to be a creative person.  Not only are we faced with our inner demons, the ones who tell us we are worthless, our work is irrelevant, our lives are meaningless, but also the hard facts of existence: that society doesn’t particularly value art or artists. And that to lead a meaningful creative life full of heart, engagement and meaning, you often have to work at something less meaningful to pay the bills.

Helpful on a practical level, Maisel helps creative people confront the hard parts, but also suggests ways to counteract our meaning crises. Here is an example of a meaning crisis: An artist spends 7 years on a screenplay he is passionately commmited to, and it is rejected everywhere he submits it. He sees lesser work produced for great amounts of money.  His crisis is, ‘Can my life be meaningful if I spend it producing work that no one wants?’

Maisel helps artists create a sense of worthiness inside themselves that is independent of outside recognition,though he doesn’t shy away from the grittiness of this dilemma.  By following his advice and doing the tasks set forth in the book, an artist can keep creating no matter what. And that is the most important thing.

Continued in Eric Maisel’s,  ‘The van Gogh Blues’ 2.

Ending exhibition ritual

Encounter, Oil pastel on charcoal paper

There should be some kind of ritual to accompany the act of breaking down a show and bringing most of your old friends back home again.

I sold enough to cover costs, just. But still I brought home most of the work I had first departed with two months ago. 170 people visited the gallery, several left nice comments behind in the guest book.

The gallery owner said she’d rarely had a show where people spent so much time enthusing and so little buying. Well, there was a really nice energy around the whole show, and while I would have loved to have sold more, I’m pleased with the overall reception of the work.

There are several pieces I didn’t photograph which I am happy I didn’t have to let go of without a record.

Soon I’m going to have a ‘Featured Artwork’ page on my blog or site where one piece will be showcased every month or so.

Meanwhile, I will hang up some of my returned 17 framed artworks and put the rest gently into storage.  I’ll consciously appreciate how happy they look in their mattes and frames and let them rest with us here for awhile before exposing them to the public again.

That is as much of a ritual I can come up with at the moment.

Kyteman, on stage with a bag of potatoes

I read an interview (in Dutch) about a young  Dutch musician called Colin Benders, alias Kyteman.
He’s causing a sensation with a Hip Hop band he’s put together, it has violins, rappers and brass players all on the same stage.  The music is a moot point for me,  though I love the hit, Sorry.

No, its about something he said when the interviewer asked where he got the idea for the band. His first album was made alone in his room with his trumpet, his laptop, and a couple of flat mates who were rappers. Kyteman:

I could go up on stage with a couple of rappers and my laptop and every once in awhile press PLAY, but then I’d feel like a farmer with a bag of potatoes. He planted the seed potatoes, worked on his land, harvested the crop and there he stands, ‘Yep guys, I made these’.

I didn’t want to make music this way. I wanted the same musical kick performing that I  got from making the record. And then I thought, well all the sounds I’d made on the computer, I could have done by an orchestra.

This is EXACTLY how I feel about exhibiting my work.  Somehow putting it all under glass and hanging it up in a gallery seems so unrelated to the kick of creating it in the first place.  Making the work was filled with adventure, risk, movement and discovery. And there it is hanging there, so static, somehow. Though admitedly from time to time people come there and relate to it.

What is the alternative? I heard of a neat project initiated by michael nobbs for his birthday. He asked his Twitter followers to draw him a cup of tea. He made a great slide show of all the drawings, this has nothing directly to do with buying or selling, but it is so dynamic. And so is much of what is happening on the internet related to showing and distributing art.

Exciting.

 

 

 

 

Frida Kahlo portrait chair

Woodwork and photo Rende Zoutewelle, painting,  by me

Making this chair was our first official commission and we got burned on it.

A smooth talking entrepreneur had been to Mexico where he saw so-called, ‘Portrait Chairs’.  They were big in the American Southwest at the time and he thought he would begin a trend here in Holland. Via a mutual acquaintance, he found his way to us and we made two chairs for him- a Frida Kahlo one and one portraying Pancho Villa.  Eventually we were paid for Pancho, who was also featured in the European version of ‘Elle’ ,(with no mention of the makers, by the way), but the guy skipped town and left us sitting with Frida.

We have entered her in different exhibitions and had her in our show window for years.  Cars used to screech to a halt and back up for another look as they passed by, because she was so life like. A friend in the US was serious about buying her, but the shipping proved to be impossible.  I thought she would sell for sure when the movie about Frida Kahlo’s life came out, but the timing ust didn’t seem to be right.

I feel that she will eventually find the right home, but meanwhile we like having her around.

Incidentally, despite the fact that  we were never paid for this chair, we were paid for Pancho Villa, and it was this commission that launched Rende’s wordworking business and our eventual financial independence.