Watching the Audience
From my view, sheltered in Moncks Corner, Spoleto is an interesting spectacle. The dichotomy of reactions are fascinating. There are those who mutter, “Art is boring and for snobs,” those who attempt to hide their smugness in eloquent phrases but generally mean, “The great unwashed masses could not appreciate art of this caliber,” and of course there are some who revel in the access the festival gives many residents. They plan, they party, they eat, drink, and breathe the arts for the duration of Spoleto and are dismayed by the exclusionary attitudes of the others.
Dan Conover recently interviewed Laurie Anderson
whose musical piece Homeland has its Spoleto USA opening Wednesday night. Not an easy story to write, I told editor Stephanie Harvin, because interviewing an artist like Anderson doesn’t make you want to go write prose — it makes you want to respond to her enigmas with enigmas of your own.
What follows is a muse on who defines art and the change or portent of such as it relates to the freedom of access:
Journalism is going through a difficult transition as it adapts to a new world in which our gatekeeping function has been exploded and our ability to dictate “newsworthiness” and taste from behind closed doors has been called to account. As “amateurs” (many of whom have much greater specific knowledge of individual subjects) begin to challenge the professionals in areas we once took for granted, journalism is being driven toward a future that is far more transparent. Its salvation likely rests in open standards that can be clearly communicated and applied by anyone across any medium.
The world of fine art hasn’t been hit by this wave yet, but it’s coming. So while it’s still possible today for a serious artist or arts administrator to say that there are no rules in art but still use words like “good” and “bad” to describe the art they encounter, there’s an expiration date on that pose.
Why care? Because so long as “experts” determine who gets funding, exposure, prestige and access, the “because I said so” rationale is going to run afoul of people who are creating and participating in art and want to know why they’ve been shut out.
Heather @ June 5, 2008
As interesting as the posts are the comments. There is a lot to think about, and maybe learn from, in the spirited debates that some posts generate.