Hi,
Most of you received the email designating programs that the new Congressional House members have proposed cutting. It's a pretty long and primarily unnecessary list of services with PORK CHOP written all over it. In the past PORK CHOP or PORK BARREL were the phrases for BILLS THAT EMANATED FROM GOVERNMENT with GREASY, GREEDY FINGERMARKS ALL OVER THEM.
Since this blogger is primarily a writer and an artist, you might think rage would be rampant over the loss of 167.5 MILLION for the ARTS and $167.5 MILLION for the HUMANITIES. This blogger would WELCOME THE GOVERNMENT REMOVING ITS INTERFERING BODY FROM BOTH. You might ask why???????????
My articles opposing these grants appeared in Art Magazines before they were passed by Congress. Of course, no one paid attention. The Art World saw Museum grants. The local governments saw a chance to dip into the fund and many minor artists and Art groups saw opportunities to get funding. The article stated GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE IN THE ARTS PROLIFERATES A LOT OF BAD ART!!!!!!!!!!! The GOVERNMENT HAS PROVEN THAT STATEMENT CORRECT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It has most certainly done its job of proving my articles right.
Ever drive by A HUGE LEAPING FISH ORNAMENT OR A CHEESE WEDGE 5 FEET HIGH OR A COILED HOSE TWENTY FEET HIGH RESEMBLING A PHALLIC SYMBOL GONE ASKEW OR A HUGE WALL MURAL DONE BY AMATEUR "ARTISTS"???????????? DID YOU WONDER WHAT IT WAS DOING THERE???????????Be sure to thank your FEDERAL GOVERNMENT AS WELL AS YOUR LOCAL GOVERNMENT. The latter got most of the money for this SUPPOSED ART WORK????????from the former. These ORNAMENTS ARE ABUNDANT NOW IN AMERICA since the Federal Government took over the responsibility of DECIDING WHAT IS ART AND WHAT IS NOT!!!!!!!!
PLU.......EEEEEZE!!!!!!!! FISH AND LENGTHS OF HOSE are TOTALLY ART WORTHY!!!!!!!! The question is whether the CREATOR CREATED ART OR A SALABLE OBJECT MEANT TO ADVERTISE A GIVEN ATTRIBUTE. There's nothing wrong with doing that as long as we DO NOT CALL IT ART. SCULPTURE has a long history OF BEING MISUSED so one shouldn't be surprised. Sometimes, the artists play through with zeal and zest and convince WHATEVER RULING BODY that ART IS worthy as MICHELANGELO did in Rome and made them ACCEPT HIS FINISHED WORKS. We've not been quite as fortunate in America although a few commissions for GREAT Sculpture sneaked through, many of the funded pieces are extremely unnoteworthy. There are great MODERN sculptures done by great sculptors but not many on the government dole. ARTISTS DO NOT COMMAND RESPECT WHEN GOVERNMENT INTERFERES.
The problem: Simple. ART IS SOMETHING BEYOND most practical thinking. IT IS A DISCUSSION BETWEEN THE ARTIST AND THE ARTIST AND MAYBE A FEW VIEWERS. IT DOES NOT FIT INTO NEAT CATEGORIES like computer files. IT CARRIES ITSELF INTO REALMS UNTRAVELED by the AVERAGE BLOKE and stares back BALEFULLY--without a label, an excuse, or an explanation. IT'S IN YOUR FACE AND IT TELLS THE ARTIST'S TRUTH ABOUT WHATEVER: SOCIETY AND PEOPLE, POLITICS AND GOVERNMENT, NATURE-GOOD AND BAD AD INFINITUM. Yes, fish do fit there---so does A HOSE but in a way you may never have dreamed. PAINTERS AND SCULPTORS (ALL ARTISTS) NEED ARTISTIC FREEDOM FOR THIS TO BECOME A REALITY!!!!!!!! unfortunately this comes at a price. DOESN'T EVERYTHING?????????
What KIND OF WORK called art will the average man buy??????? SORRY, YOU WON'T LIKE THE ANSWER. THE "SCHLOCK". And there's lots of it. Pretty little scenes and carefully copied nature studies done at art groups or where ever. Pretty damn good draftsmanship in a lot of it. BUT ART????????? NOPE!!!!!!!!!! Attempts at art. MAYBE. CERTAINLY, LOTS OF REALLY GOOD GRAPHICS THAT TRANSLATE INTO BEAUTIFUL PRINTS. IS there some REALLY GOOD ART?????????? YOU BET!!!!!!!! Can Mr. Average Man identify it?????? Highly unlikely. WHY???????
A few important factors inhibit understanding. Artists are seldom vocal teachers. They teach through art. It's silent. SOMEONE HAS TO TALK FOR THEM. That's how CRITICS WERE BORN. IF GOVERNMENT HAD TAKEN THAT YEARLY $350M spent on ART AND THE HUMANITIES and done its IMPORTANT JOB, the public would have received a quality ART EDUCATION FROM the GOVERNMENT'S choice of projects IN painting,sculpture, drawing AND the minor arts.
They'd have explored the art, explained the process, and glorified the artists and all this would have been done by TRULY KNOWLEDGEABLE ARTISTS, ART HISTORIANS, AND MUSEUM CURATORS IN ROTATING POSITIONS WITHIN THE STRUCTURE. Videos, films,and visual computer histories would have helped provide the real cultural advantages Americans deserve.
Instead these jobs did not go to people with KNOWLEDGE such as qualified artists or Professors but to folks who know how to dole out money where it will create the most help for the politicians. ART AND ARTISTS were NOT SELECTED BECAUSE THEY LACKED THE talent OF PURSUING GRANTS and ARTISTS WERE SELECTED because they glorified SOME political cause. The Government provided money to people who were good at filling out papers for money grants and that too often was their only real talent. Home town folks, again good at filing money grants with little more than a secondary interest in art, became the real procurers of local community art projects. They used their money to glorify the HACKNEYED, produce the TRITE, AND WORST OF ALL MAKE THE PUBLIC BELIEVE THAT EVERYTHING IS ART. BULLLLLLLLLLLLLLLONEY!!!!!
ARTISTS USED TO SAY: DON'T BUY IT because it looks good over the SOFA. JUST BECAUSE YOU LIKE IT DOESN'T MAKE IT GOOD ART!!!!!!!!!!
That's still true. Odds are individual judgement is based on the same factors that the Government's judgement is based on. FRANKLY--NONE. Even when an individual has been TAUGHT THE ESSENTIAL BASICS OF GOOD ART IN COLLEGE, that judgement is often suspended. The surprising element has always been that consumers will choose almost anything with more knowledge and foresight than a work of art.
SO WILL THE GOVERNMENT!!!!!!!!!!!!! Although looking at their record of reckless spending, the same type of judgement may apply.
Of course, purchase of ART IS very personal-and should be-although "LIKE" is not key. Good ART has to be UNIVERSAL. It should elicit CALM, JOY, EXCITEMENT, INSIGHT, PASSION, RENEWAL,OR REVULSION etc. DOZENS of words that express an EMOTION beyond the ORDINARY "LIKE". Maybe many times, viewers may mean this. Too often, however, the fact that it is an addition rather than a compulsion is the reason for buying the work.
The GOVERNMENT made MAGNANIMOUS DONATIONS OF MONEY to Museums and cultural centers, who should have known better. But AN ART AFICIONADO ON THE TAKE IS LIKE A MAN ON THE MAKE. TOO IMPASSIONED to show an iota of concern. So those erstwhile institutions contributed to the demise. All in all the use of Government funds has created a more NEGATIVE EFFECT ON FINE ARTS THAN A BENEFICIAL ONE. THE HUMANITIES AND THE CULTURE as a whole have benefited only in ways that the Government deemed necessary.
Therefore, although it will take 100 years to restore what the Government has "rent asunder", the sooner it gets out of the ARTS and HUMANITIES the BETTER for all concerned but especially the ARTISTS !!!!!!!!!! SO, HOORAY FOR CUTTING 2.5 TRILLION OVER THE NEXT TEN YEARS FROM THE NATIONAL BUDGET INCLUDING THE ARTS AND HUMANITIES ENDOWMENTS.
CHEERS, CONNIE
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