On guard duty (in case anyone tries to nick a pen) at the new Tunnel collective show at Waterstones Gallery yesterday it soon became clear that more people are concerned about the call of nature rather than art. When you've got to go you've got to go, right? The gallery happens to be near the toilets, which aren't clearly signposted and so we watched as people wandered in and looked around, not at the spectacular, diverse array of great art on the walls, but for those bloody toilets! It was amusing, the first few times...
...then it got a bit annoying. Why aren't they even pausing when they realise they're in rooms full of art?! The bastards! But nature is calling. Their bladders or (let's be honest and biologically correct) bowels are bursting! So I think about it...
...why should anyone be interested in art, even when it's staring them in the face, the real thing, not photos of art or thumbnails or pictures online...actual 'in the flesh' art? Those of us who are into art find the total refusal to engage with it mystifying, but one could say the same about great music, film or literature. What makes one person ignore, say, a Hitchcock masterpiece, or a Charlie Parker recording? Is it that thing we call 'taste'? I suppose so, yet that one word hardly covers the complexities involved when really analysing cultural preferences...
...education, class, the media, upbringing...aren't they all factors in deciding taste? Is taste related to that other mystery, talent? Why does one child gravitate towards playing the piano or making art whilst others don't? I'm leaving that can of worms firmly closed for now...
...meanwhile, in a London gallery, people are wandering in, peering into the rooms in search of what they really want to see, the sign that says 'Toilets'. The walls may as well be blank as far as they're concerned. They have a 'blind spot' when it comes to art...
...yet, I wondered, if those were Hockneys hanging there, would they be more interested? We know there are 'marquee' names in the art world and he's one of them. The Tate Britain show is doing a roaring trade. It would be an interesting experiment to replace our art with copies of his and watch to see if any one of the toilet-seekers were distracted from their pressing need by the site of work by a famous artist...
...a secret show would be an interesting experiment. Hang original Hockneys somewhere (a place where the public would go for other reasons) but don't advertise it. The problem with that is that the media would get wind of it and direct people to it...
...it's all about advertising, in that respect, even when a big name artist is concerned. The media will naturally advertise an event featuring someone famous. In newspapers or on TV, they're concerned about what they think their readers/viewers will like and have little desire to promote unknowns. So the 'loop' is perpetuated: promote what we know people know, just as we're told what we 'may be interested in' all the time online, the continual feedback loop in the name of product promotion rather than cultural curiosity...
...as with anything us 'unknowns' try to promote online, we know it's more than an uphill struggle to gain attention, it's more like climbing up a mountain...on bare knees...with a boulder on your back...and a giant rubber band tied down at ground level and wrapped around your waste...something like that...
...ultimately...it's only art! It's just images people made and hung on walls! So what? Where's the bloody toilet?! (muttered in several languages under breaths). I'm certainly not one to be precious about art-making in the old-fashioned 'I tore this from my soul' manner of the romantic 'tortured artist' myth and don't know anyone who is. Billie Holiday was just a singer, Godard just made films and William Burroughs didn't even write proper novels..
...people do blather on about how crucial creativity is to the very soul of the planet (whilst staring reverentially at a Van Gogh). Regarding art in schools, those inclined towards the ideal of culture's importance in society say it's essential. The world's accountants know better, of course. The corporate career hive mind of sensible advancement in this materialistic world knows better. It knows that studying the arts with a view being a filmmaker/author/artist will probably get you nowhere and where you really to want to get to is a place in corporate culture. Your ideal then: a position in a corporate company in the Culture Industry...
...guess who's coming to dinner? An artist! Your daughter's in love with one. Unfortunately, he's totally unknown and therefore doesn't make much money. You're all for art, but when your daughter's material future is concerned...
...so perhaps art is important, in theory, but from my experience yesterday, it's not as important for the majority of visitors to Waterstones as finding that bloody toilet...
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