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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?
STICKING YOUR NECK OUT AND THE PERILS OF PROGNOSTICATION
So, it all comes back to whether you accept the prognostications of others or not. The ‘next big thing’ of the music industry often comes down to a ‘one hit wonder’ heavily promoted and quickly forgotten. Is it any different with art? In one respect it isn’t. An art book lives a very long time and its digest of its time lives with it. Books, after all, are precious symbols of culture and civilisation to be preserved at all costs in spite of the remainder bins filling faster than they can be emptied and their contents pulped. Any predictive art compendium will no doubt follow suit as it its premise is overtaken by reality.
NOTHING IF NOT CRITICAL [to quote Robert Hughes]
Promoting locally made products in any arts field is a necessity and whether that is down to critics, radio hosts or the press, there is little being said or heard other than on an artist-to-artist level. Surely, we can do better. Or is even that question irrelevant when mind-numbing screen-time experience swamps all others?
THE RADICAL ELITE AND THE ART OF LEADING HORSES TO WATER
Even a cursory glance at the history of art in the last century or so suggests radical change occurred with great frequency – at least that is how the history is written.
IN IT FOR THE MONEY
So, according to a shocked pundit, people are into NFTs for the money. Wasn’t that the point? Any pretentions towards promoting the work of artists went out of the window when every man and his dog jumped on the bandwagon in the thrall of the investment property syndrome and the potential of making a killing, as they say in stocks trading.
THE PRECIOUS HAND
There is a reality to being an artist today that seems to be at odds with public perception.
THE BLIND LEADING THE BLIND
In the Divine Comedy, Dante entered the Inferno of hell looking for Beatrice. He was in a dark place, literally and emotionally. A dead Beatrice couldn’t help and sent the Roman poet Virgil to act as guide. Art was to show the way to redemption. In many respects the society we now live in resembles the hell that Dante created. Moral and ethical questions go unanswered in that traditional sureties offered by religion, government and monarchs have been substantially eroded through news media platforms.
ONLY DOCTOR WHO RECOGNISED A MASTER. FOR THE REST OF US ITS MERELY AN ACT OF FAITH.
As an artist I find myself increasingly unsure of what is art, what is not, and how to define or even recognise a ‘masterpiece’
DRAWING A LINE AROUND THE NAKED FORM. HOW BIZARRE.
The life drawing class I attended last week had a sign on the door telling anyone that entered that there was a nude model inside should anyone be offended. If the entire class had been naked [a bunch of elderly, misshapen bodies ravaged by life], I could understand the warning, but an attractive blonde perched on a stool – hardly.
THE COLOUR OF SUCCESS AND THE PRISMATIC QUANDARY
How do I know what the audience is actually seeing in terms of the colour I use? Do they even give the same names to the colours as I do? Are they seeing colour at all?
I HAD LITTLE TIME FOR STAFF MEETINGS AND THEY FOR ME. A WASTED OPPORTUNITY.
While art as a profession certainly wasn’t taken seriously, there was the belief that any student need train only once and could be in the same job with yearly promotion for life.