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AND I THOUGHT THAT MAKING ART WAS SUPPOSED TO BE DIFFICULT – HOW STUPID AM I? STUPID AS AN ARTIST.
……training, the development of technique and time lead to art and great art. It isn’t the product of accident or indolence or short cuts. S
THE ART OF POLITICS AND THE POLITICS IN ART
As Sir Humphrey Appleby once said in Yes, Minister, the much-acclaimed BBC satire, being in politics and being in government are not the same thing.
LIFE, DEATH, ART AND DECORATION
1722 Europe was characterised by financial shocks and stock market bubbles, a controversial vaccine keeping the barely-recognised smallpox virus at bay, Russia invading a neighbouring nation and the Versailles legacy of Louis XIV bankrupting France. Not much has changed it would seem. Three centuries later inflation, Covid, Putin and the excesses of royalty still dominate the news.
MASHED POTATO AND EXISTENTIAL THREAT – THE UNHOLY EQUATION
I also doubt that prosecuting said art vandals [they were one of the Germanic tribes who sacked Rome by the way – Vandals that is] will do much either as long as the media is intent on turning them into heroes with something to say. The right to free speech may well be enshrined in law in some parts of the world but that doesn’t mean that wilful destruction or desecration of cultural artefacts should be tolerated. After all, the only thing that separates the barbarians from the culturally literate is the Art they leave behind and some artefacts will outlive humankind.
THE NAÏVE ARTIST AND THE PREDATORY GALLERY – REALLY?
While pay for play galleries is the norm where I live, they generally don’t cost an arm and a leg and while there are no guaranteed sales, words like predatory and misleading aren’t part of the vocabulary.
SEX, ADOLESCENT RUMBLINGS AND FATHER PROBLEMS – IS THAT IT?
I’ve gone through life as an artist believing...
THE COMPUTER SCREEN OF ACCEPTABILITY OR HOW I LEARNED TO LIVE IN THE DIGITAL AGE.
Once upon a time I had a conversation...
THE DISTURBED, THE MISUNDERSTOOD AND THE MELANCHOLIC
Federico Garcia-Lorca wrote that ‘at the...
SOUTH AUSTRALIAN LIVING ARTISTS festival
Once a year during August every South...
LIVING AND DYING AS AN ARTIST
The national conversation towards A new National Cultural Policy building upon the initiatives of the Gillard Labour Government in 2011 is a good place to start. The five areas below are currently up for discussion and you could hardly argue with any of them. Let’s hope that the current government isn’t going to be a one term affair saddled with debt from its predecessor and on the skids before its time is up or at least before discussion on a cultural policy can reach some sort of conclusion and pass into law. We can but hope, but don’t hold your breath. No doubt the Gillard government said the same thing.
HERE WE GO AGAIN. THE CRIMINAL ARROGANCE OF BIG ORGANISATIONS NEVER CEASES TO AMAZE ME.
I guess we’ll have to wait and see what the British broadcaster does or doesn’t do but given the history of British arrogance and indifference to the plight of subject nations over the centuries of the Commonwealth, I wouldn’t be holding my breath. After all the Stones, the Beatles, Pink Floyd and Queen are considered to be national treasures and public property so if ‘We are the champions’ rings as a Brit steps up for a gold medal no doubt a case could be made for in ‘the public domain’ as could ‘Start me up’ as sprinters take up their positions at the start of the hundred metres. The Beatles could get in on the act with ‘Twist and Shout’ as general motivation but of course they borrowed the song from the Isley Brothers, so strictly speaking they aren’t eligible but then again the agreement of all four members of the Beatles would be required to give such permission unless everyone dead or alive ceded such decisions to Paul and there is anyone still around who remembers the brothers Isely.
THE LIFE AND DEATH OF PORTRAITURE
Is there a future for the painted portrait? The annual rush to present a work for selection to the NSW Archibald committee never seems to diminish and nor does the disappointment in being passed over yet again. The archies aren’t the only portrait prize either. But just who gets their portrait painted anyway these days when the camera phone can capture every waking moment in perpetuity?