Have you been watching the You tube video’s by Mark McGowan?
I think you should.
http://www.youtube.com/user/chunkymark?feature=wat…
Despite all the terrible things going on i believe there is enough goodness to change things for the better. We’ve all been living lives that exploit the poor and weak and now we have to change.
Rip it up and start again.
As an artist I feel privileged, but with that privilege comes the responsibility to society to enable change. By facilitating a discussion about what we have got now and where we would like to be the artist can ‘reveal mystic truths’ as Nauman declared. Can we?
Can we really help the world? Is this an unachievable aspiration? Should we aim for it anyway?
What if what we reveal is not truth? What if we are lead by riches, fame, power? How do you remain truthful?
On Friday I went to the Artworks Christmas auction. Despite a crowd not a lot of works sold and none for the kind of money that could buy you a decent lunch never mind cover the cost of production. A lot of the artists were disappointed. I wasn’t sure I felt as disappointed as they did. My drive to make anything comes from a personal desire and the reason I share it with others is so that maybe they connect with it and it inspires them. That’s kind of enough for me. I sold 4 framed works, all for less than a tenner. I was glad that someone wanted it in their lives and like me I think they would have paid more if they had the money. I bought 3 pieces for 50quid which was all of my wages from working in the restaurant this week. I wish I could have paid what I felt they were worth, at least ten times that.
Each of the pieces I bought I have a connection with. I’ve seen them in the studio for months and they represent the artist, the time, the place. The narrative is as important as the object. In a way the objects are documents of the narrative and that’s why I am connected with them because they are part of my narrative also. The cash I hand over is just a representation for the appreciation of this and really the art always belongs to the artist. The collector just holds the document.
Back to Mark McGowan. He is uploading videos everyday reminding us about where we are. They are there for everyone to see. The more people who experience them the better, but who is paying for his food? Who buys his kids school uniforms and lunches? If the artist is challenged with revealing mystic truths then these cannot be bought. What does the artist do to feed themselves whilst in pursuit of mystic truths? Work in a restaurant? Make craft pieces to sell? Maybe the collector also needs to change and rather than hold a document of the work appreciate that no object may change hands in the quest for truth.
