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Part 1.
Where did all this Art come from?
Intro.

"Contemporary Art,"(conart) is a term that belongs to the "isms" of art, (contemporaryism) and should not be confused with art per se. I think conart, describes better the colonisation of the arts by business, rather than describing or representing today's art in any meaningful or collective way. Anyway, for the purposes of the following that's how I will look at the term, contemporary art.

I would argue that art in the atrophic, atmosphere of the market, has lost its power to worry, cajole or inspire. In a nutshell, conart, fails to upset the established order Instead artists spend much of their time trying to join the established order, rather than using their expressive tools in the much more usefull and worthy pursuit of subverting it.

Much of the plethora of art we are exposed to today is meaningless and created in the vacuum of the art ghetto. It has no function other than impressing other artists, media fodder, winning prizes and is an art of no social value. The latter being its most concerning failure. Not all artists are involved but almost all artists are affected.

"Where did all this art come from" looks at some aspects of how the visual arts in particular, over the last 30 years or so has developed from a near secret society, to a marketing tool of the business society.

Cultural premise

Culture, permeates throughout our personal and public lives - in our art, politics, education, and throughout the development of our communities, institutions and traditions. Culture supplies us with an identity of who we are. That is, who we all are, from all parts of the community and society. What we contribute personally, develop through association, create through skill, craft and intellect, is all part of our cultural life. I would argue -the by product of the above cultural pursuits, is a definition of what art is.

Governments, artists, teachers and institutions do not create or determine our culture, they are contributors to our collective culture, just like everyone else. My contestation is. When government, or any one group, or agency, starts taking too keen an interest in our culture, and in the interpretation of what it is, means, or should be, you had better believe, culture will suffer.

We will find the same dichotomy in the arts, as elsewhere in the political spectrum. Indigenous culture and creativity is suppressed and the void filled by the artifacts of the market and bureaucratic, art initiatives. In other words the professional art of the careerist.

Noise over content

Much of what we see in art galleries and art literature is the art of the self indulgent, esoteric, arrogant, elitist, career driven artist. It could also be argued, using my definition above, that If our society is war like, arrogant, insular and abstract, is contemporary art not a fair representation of that society. Is the artist not just reflecting what that society is.

To a point yes, But our society is basically good and non corrupt. The problem is, as in all else in market, oppressed societies, the good part of these society do not have the loudspeakers, do not own the media, do not control the wealth, do not place obscene, monitory, values on various individuals produce, to the detriment and suppression of everyone else's - as happens in the art business.

I believe the artist, through helping to amplify this disparity, would find plenty within the argument, to inspire and fulfill his or her artistic ambition, and be driven by the judgement of their peers, rather than be classified, or cater to the whims of the art market.

The dilemma of the young

The dilemma of the artist, particularly the young, is how he or she will spend their energy. Whether to develop their ideas and their craft, or pursue the heady heights of the artist as personality. While the young artist is distracted by the glitter of fame and the spotlight -which very few will attain -down on the ground a world of ideas awaits to be discovered. While the sponsored artist, still attempts to entertain, shock, and impress an insular, un-shockable, bored, elite, the culture of our communities is being wiped out.

So many of our communities have much to offer the artist in terms of challenge, experience and ideas. Here there is plenty room for everyone. Here the artist is free to create and discover, rather than wait in the studio to be called upon as one of the chosen of the art gallery system.

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