I have 3 pieces in the artWorksOpen inaugural Exhibition (see What’s on)
Ian Maslen has work there also. Possibly other subscribers to a-n? The show is restricted to two-dimensional work no larger than 12 inches in its longest dimension. The show is in a relaxed way, competitive. It is a very lively mixture of images. The vibrancy of the show was a surprise to me. It is not often that such variety is exhibited together. The uninhibited nature of much of it shocked me into looking closer at my own work. I shall approach what I do with this experience in mind from now on.
The winners each receive a solo exhibition. The competitive element is at odds with the spirit of the work.
Competition seems to go to the core of our lives. Competition and bidding. But do we celebrate competition and winning not for the truth they reveal, but to sustain an ideology? As a teacher I was set against competition. So much can be lost through the bruising of talent by rejection. Particularly with children, to lose is to be judged insufficient, to be un-recognised. It is here that the damage begins, and lessons are learned about self and others, hierarchies and pecking orders. I felt that to give a child a prize for whatever they achieved was to devalue the achievement that should be celebrated for its own sake. Children learn their place in and through the competitive world. The competitive blows that we take are said to make us stronger, fitter, better. Losing develops good grace. And competition becomes a vice misrecognised as a virtue. Competition has an essentially viral message. The ideology of competition is promoted through the machinations of meritocracy. No merit, no prize. But the delicate, the modest, the quiet, the nascent, strain to be recognised. In this, competition is essentially destructive and corrupting. It exists to cement the rules. Prizes are valued for their scarcity, and control is in the hands of judges. The interface between the making of art (or mathematics, or poetry) and the social arena does not need competition. Sound judgement and thoughtful debate are what are necessary. Competition is a device of the status quo. I entered this competitive show and have entered others. I shall enter more; apart from being a bad loser, I cannot help feeling that we should concentrate upon what really matters?
