Another parallel
I walked through the streets full of fiveoclock Madrid seething with twilight in shivered cubes of aguardiente redwine gaslamp-green sunset pink tileochre eyes lips red cheeks brown pillar of the throat climbed on the night train at the Norte station without knowing why
I’m so tired of violets
Take them all away
the shattered iridescent bellglass the carefully copied busts the architectural details of the grammar of styles
Now this is a weird one.
I’ve been well aware of an author for a while, but haven’t felt ready.
Queue weeks of madness driving weekends of exhaustion and suddenly the time was right.
Oh. My. Fucking. God.
Dos Passos.
Apart from that, I’ve been roped into having input on cultural policy. Sure, I know my yakult from my tzatziki, but what the fuck do I know about creativity. Ten or more years in commercially creative environments (read as: dealing with complete fuckwits with absolutely no clue who feel their best input can be given via negating the majority of proposals in front of them) has jaded me, for I can’t see the point in dolling out funding to potential artists.
Infrastructure, to support and encourage development, of anything - winner.
Funding that reinvents existing wheels and supports services available more cost effectively, efficiently and with better return to the wider community - Fuck. Off.
Protectionist policy has never worked outside a vacuum - so why on earth would it work for potential artists. Why would it work for potential businesses. Get out there. Create your thing. Make your piece. Fuck it up entirely but learn as you’re doing any of them.
But that’s me. What’s yours though - can creativity be created?
posted by Dollop at 8:27 AM
22 Comments:
Ah, now...let's talk.
Yes, there is definitely a place for arts funding, just as there is a place for research funding. It should NOT be linked to 'outcomes', or 'commercial viability' or any such shite. (Don't get me started on this or you won't hear the end of it and being the science trained git that I am, I have plenty of concrete examples to support my argument. Lasers, electricity and post-it note adhesive to name three)
"Artists" who believe that the world owes them something? Who think that creating means having a lifestyle supported by someone else? Who think the world owes them something? They're generally second or third rate. Creativity comes from one's engagement with one's environment NOT from hand-outs from others.
If one has an idea, funding can help make it reality but the funding does not create the ideas.
...I did say I could go on about this for a long time...
9:16 AM
Creativity can't be created. It's either in ya or it ain't.
In history, artists struggled and then hit the jackpot on death. Why should our generation have it any different?
11:24 AM
PS...If I went the mezze platter and was given a dish of yakult I would be sorely, sorely disappointed.
11:25 AM
Completely and utterly Pirate - but take music for a second. There's never been a better time to create (always realtively easy) and distribute (traditionally fucking hard), so why fund it the way it always has been?
Hence my focus on infrastucture. Foundations are built before the house, so why not do the same for funding?
Russ - Maybe. But you're tummy would feel good and your burps would be sweeter.
2:35 PM
I wasn't entering into aguing specific funding strucures and I do agree that the way things are funded at present isn't great. That the best guarantee to get arts funding or an ARC grant in this country is to have already been in receipt of funding, that's crap.
What sort of infrastructure funding are you thinking about? How would artists gain access to it and why do you think that specific infrastructure will enable artists?
And I was also not thinkin' about music. With the advent of such internerd entities as MySpazz music is currently a bit different to the other arts. Please note that I'm NOT calling myself expert or knowledgable. Especially when it comes to the music industry.
3:55 PM
Like so many other things in life, you either got it or you aint.
It's one time where the saying 'fake it till you make it' just doesn't apply.
Although a lot of people seem to struggle with that...
6:36 PM
I sugggested MySpazz to them and they paused for a second before going back to how they needed funding for their - wait for it - street mag. With no distribution. Or readers. Made me think of the 15 fame filled minutes of the fanzine writer.
We're still not entirely sure, but I'm leaning towards funding should fall under Infrastructure (schooling, peer exposure, mentoring) and Forums (exhibitions, prizes, exposure) both of the artists and to the artists.
We'll see.
8:38 AM
I'll create you in a minute if you're not careful. Pommie bastard indeed.
12:37 AM
Really Kieran?
Well.
That gets you the award for random response from people you've got absoufuckinglutely no clue about.
You get a paperclip.
9:25 AM
Your funding plan sounds a good way to go Dollop.
But are there any artists in Queensland? ;)
5:24 PM
There might be after they start a'listenin to me.
5:44 PM
I think the Pommie Bastard reference is your links...meaning me. Watch out, he'll turn that paperclip into a house if you're not careful.
As for the no artists in QLD comment I'm actually quite hurt by that and so should you be Dolly. If we ain't artists then who the fuck is. We're like cunting Van Gogh and Picasso carvin it up, in a 2006 SE-QLD stylee
6:22 PM
Russell Allen hurt? Nah, no way.
I'd say you're more like Tracy Emin RA. Making the sordid details of your life into an ongoing installation called The Brisbane Window.
As for you Dolly - you've made an artform out of being a freakin' man of mystery. I still know sweet FA about you. You need to post more, or emote more, or something. (yeah, cos I said so)
10:58 PM
You'll get what you get Ro.
There's a surprisingly strong creative scene actually, it's probably more that there isn't the formal recognition of a lot of it.
Admittedly, there is a lot of crap (think ladies who lunch that decide to explore their artistic abilities, nekkid) but the good stuff, whether electronica, art, rock and even theatre, tends to be quite alright. Just not much of it.
10:23 AM
I believe ya! One of the greatest ever bands is from Qld. That being the Go-Bs.
10:44 AM
I was hurt in the 'thank you sir, please may I have another' sense. And even though it's technically the Tweed, all the great tribute bands find their feet at Twin Towns.
2:15 PM
Jeez Ro, you're slipping off your punk roots - what about The Saints?
I'd rate The Church myself too.
Russ, ind thee a dominatrix. Can't be that hard.
3:14 PM
I like many types of music/musical movements. The story of the beginning of hip hop gets me just as amped as the story of punk.
Anyway, The Go-B's were getting up to all sorts of "punk" behaviour right alongside The Birthday Party, trust me.
Now, your comment about the Miss Nude state final on my blog has given me a great idea for where you could channel some of that 'arts' funding - how about staging a MR NUDE GOLD COAST BUSINESSMAN COMPETITION!
You and RA will sign up immediately, of course.
7:50 PM
been a while...
if enough money is thrown at it, creativity can definitely be created. But the sort that is generated without that kind of motivation is creativity at its purest. Or some shit anyway.
9:38 PM
Damn ! I missed this.
I agree with Elaine's first comment, but I also invented Blog for the Dole, my unofficial arts grant.
A lot of great artists during the 70s and 80s survived and produced through the dole.
I don't like the current arts funding, requiring as it does pages and pages of abstract pomo fucking theory which does produce some really wanky art.
The Australian Modernists had a hard time of it financially, and it did them both good and bad. Look at their power game reliance on the wealthy Reeds, for example, and what it did to them. Yet they were incredibly 'pro-active' as we would say now, and did more in one year then most artists now do in ten.
Oh, and btw, Queensland has an amazing arts scene/artists and quite an amazing state gallery too...there's an interesting chapter on it in Reid's Guide to Australian Galleries.
(but that could just be cause I heart Doug Hall).
12:26 PM
I want to wear a sash and if I do then I wont be nude will I Ro. Can you see the conundrum?
6:53 PM
well, you can't create creativity for sure but you can create *opportunities* to support creative ventures.
But who are we kidding? In the end there's nothing altruistic about this enterprise I suspect. A thriving arts and cultural scene attracts people to your city and creates revenue in other ways.
7:27 AM
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