THE SOCIETY - IN THE ART OF NEO-LIBREALISM - THE COZIER COMMENT

THE SOCIETY - IN THE ART OF 

NEO- LIBERALISM.

 

Neoliberalism is a political philosophy whose advocates support economic liberalizations, free trade and open markets, privatization, deregulation, and enhancing the role of the private sector in modern society

 

It seems that some of us haven't realized how our past actions can and have affected the present manifestation of how people transact and interact with art. Art in this modernity has strong economic portfolios; commanding mad dollars and pushing the visual artists, designer to pop icon celebrity. With that in mind, people seem not to understand that past badly managed projects, presented to popular culture; sets a tone for how we communicate, translate and transact with the product and the artists.

THE OVAL WALL MURAL - did this, placing in stone the future enfolding actions of the state and the private sector involvement with
1. - the Art
and
2. - the Artists

These projects have placed financial gain for one, business and advertising agencies,
not the artists!
REPEAT NOT THE ARTISTS!
SO ALL ARTIST WHO FEEL THEY WILL GET SOMETHING OUT OF THESE ILL CONCIEVED PROJECTS. NO.

so my first quote below. Tell how the middle class can unwittingly end up serving the capitalist agenda

 

 

QUOTES 1

"As an example, Zweig mentions the family doctor, a traditional representative of the middle class. Organized around private practices, doctors have had a great deal of independence and freedom. But as more and more doctors work for large health-care conglomerates, their position has changed dragging the medical profession towards the working class. Conversely, if a doctor's personal practice grows to the point where she is more concerned with administering the labor of others and maximizing the profit of the whole enterprise in the name of competition, then she has ceased to function as a middle-class agent and becomes a full-on representative of capital."

Ben Davis

9.5 Theses on Art and Class

QUOTE 2

 

"Something similar happens when we talk about the "creative industries" in the way the NEA; (National Endowment for the Arts) does, dumping together visual art, which is created relatively autonomously, with the work produced by workers hired by large corporations and media companies. the term "artist" has connotations of freedom and personal satisfaction that can be used to obscure real realtionships of exploitation when it is overgeneralized to apply to any type of labor that is remotely creative. (An infamous example comes from the early days of Hollywood, when executives conciously encouraged actors, cinematographers, directors and writers to identify their work "as skilled artistry rather than labor" in an effort to stave off a wave of unionization hitting their industry.)

Ben Davis

9.5 Theses on Art and Class

 

QUOTE 3

 

 

"This expansion, in turn, give birth to bohemian society and the modern art movement, symbolically inaugurated by the "Salon des Refuses" of 1863, when a number of important artists rejected by the salon demanded to be heard on their own (including heroes of subsequent art history like Edouard Manet and James Abbott McNeil Whistler): "Having prompted many people to turn to art as a career and attracting large numbers of them to Paris, and having vastly expanded the audience for artworks, the French Salon system contributed to its own demise by creating demands it could not satisfy"

Ben Davis

9.5 Theses on Art and Class

 

QUOTE 4

 

from: Christopher Cozier
Date: 2009/2/20
Subject: Re: Hyatt/Waterfront Project
To: Courtenay Williams


Hello Courtney
Thanks for informing me about this project. I have seen the enlargements
outside the oval. I was in fact wondering what was going on. Honestly, as an
artist, I cannot say that I understand the purpose of this project. It felt
like yet another affirmation/assertion of the standards of the local art
market as it currently persists rather than an engagement of the local art
world as it has existed since the early 80s. To me, one is about the
expediency of picture shops and/or picture selling and the other about
visual investigation and ideas in a developmental narrative. The two worlds
drifted very far apart as the 90's unfolded.
The overwhelming imbalance, I find distressing and alienating. I am sure,
however, that the general public would be intrigued and find it  "nice" in
contrast to the usual products and brands like b-mobile or Carib plastered
everywhere else. This must be good and alleviating for them but I have other
concerns.
Maybe one day, for another generation, these polarized worlds will again
intersect or find accommodation.
I also wondered if simply enlarging images - pictures intended initially for
private or corporate purchase would serve the need of artists to connect to
people driving and, to some degree, walking by. I wondered whether artist
projects designed specifically for public view at that scale could have been
requested instead. There seems to be some kind of contradiction around
intent for the artists perhaps ?
Currently I am not confident that it would be in my interest to participate.
Chris

The above quote is most important, as it was copied to me in conversation that was happening at that time, about the Oval Mural and Waterfront project. As it reads, Christopher Cozier, one of the Caribbean respected artist and critical thinker on art; pens a thought to one of the board members of the Artists Society, which was as the future would tell dismissed; as I have seen no retraction, no public statements or conversation placed in the community about the popularity of these projects.

 

The above quote bring up -

 

1. Democracy in art..

 

2. The Art Cabal.

3. The Advocacy for Art.

4. The Socialization of Art.


I have been a member of the artists Society

since the days of Carlisle Chang, I dropped out

due to situations of un-satisfaction. Here it is 

that same feeling...


In this all the Society, our society is at blame

our

Elder artists.

Cultural Organizations.

Art Education. 

 

 history sets tone's and stones for the future to deal with.

Dean - have stones, working on tones....