[-empyre-] Art, Funding and Politics

Thu Nov 24 10:26:02 EST 2011

Hello list,

Thank you for such engaging discussion. I'm currently collaborating with
Matt Skomarovsky of LittleSis (http://littlesis.org/org) to creative an
interactive map that tracks the funding of connected constellations of
stakeholders in the "Art World," and it seems that many people on this list
might be interested in collaborating, pointing out similar projects, or
suggesting places for access to data. I've begun placing semi-related
economic mapping projects here: http://moneystudio.tumblr.com/

Best wishes,
Caroline

On Tue, Nov 22, 2011 at 6:38 PM, Bill Balaskas <bill.balaskas at gmail.com>wrote:

> Although the discussion around the case of Greece has produced a very
> interesting range of arguments, I would like to refer in this post not to
> my experiences from Greece, but rather to my experiences from my current
> home, the UK. Despite the fact that the country has been considerably hit
> by the global economic crisis, the situation in the UK is – for now at
> least – in no way comparable to the one in Greece. Nevertheless, I believe
> that for both Greece and the UK profound ideological choices have been
> revealed with regard to art funding through the conditions produced by the
> crisis. In support of this argument, I would like to refer to the specific
> case of a British organization that commissioned me to produce a new video
> project, just over a year ago.
>
>
>
> In July of 2010 I graduated from the Royal College of Art and soon after
> my graduation I made an application for a new series of video commissions
> organized and funded by APEngine. APEngine is the online platform of
> Animate Projects, the leading organization in the UK dedicated to the
> production and promotion of experimental animation. Animate Projects has
> funded over the years numerous experimental films and videos by both
> emerging and established artists, including projects by Palm d’ Or winner
> Apichatpong Weerasethakul, as well as works by artists Ben Rivers, Hiraki
> Sawa and Edwina Ashton, amongst others. The fact that just two months after
> my graduation I was selected as one of the artists that were funded through
> the “Rough Machines” commissions’ scheme was a fact of great significance
> to me. It allowed me to make work that I enjoy making and it gave me a very
> important confidence boost in the first hard period after leaving the
> protective “cocoon” of the Royal College of Art. Also, it was an
> encouraging sign within the economic crisis; a sign that experimental
> practices in art could, after all, survive.
>
>
>
> However, despite the organization’s crucial role in the development of
> animation in the UK, in early 2011 the new British government announced its
> plans to cut all funding that supported Animate Projects. The Arts Council
> assessment of Animate Projects’ application stated that, although Animate
> Projects has had a strong artistic record and had been regarded as a
> strategically important organization, “[…] it would not be fair or
> consistent to fund activity of this nature through Grants for the arts.”
> This is despite the fact that Animate Projects have been funded through
> Grants for the arts since 2007. Since the announcement made by the Arts
> Council, Animate Projects has become a charity, they have been making
> applications to various trusts and they have got a brochure on its way
> for “corporate” approaches. So, what does all that mean for Animate
> Projects? And what does it say about the way that arts are currently funded
> and – probably – will be funded in the foreseeable future in the UK and,
> perhaps, elsewhere?
>
>
>
> In order to provide an answer to those questions, I think that a crucial
> hint might be found within the assessment that the Arts Council made about
> Animate Projects; in particular, I consider truly revealing the report’s
> reference to the *nature* of Animate Projects’ activities. What, exactly,
> is this nature, which makes it impossible for the Arts Council to continue
> funding Animate Projects? Well, first of all, Animate Projects’ films and
> videos are experimental, both in their conception and execution. In short,
> they exemplify artistic freedom in all its aspects. Secondly, Animate
> Projects is, to a significant extent, a “digital” organization, producing
> and disseminating content freely through the web. And last, but not least,
> Animate Projects is a small and flexible organization, which has been
> independent of large-scale corporate funding. Although I believe that quite
> a clear picture is starting to emerge from the realization of those three
> facts, one could claim that it is not, after all, the nature of Animate
> Projects that makes its funding so difficult, but, rather, the harsh
> reality of the global economic recession. Nevertheless, as Gary Thomas, the
> director of Animate Projects has shrewdly pointed out to me, at the same
> time with the decision to cut all support from Animate Projects, other
> London-based organizations secured important increases in their budgets.
> But, then again, the work of those organizations was not of exactly the
> same *nature* or scale. Thus, The Serpentine Gallery gets an increase
> from 11/12 to 12/13 of £302,000, the Whitechapel Gallery goes up £329,000
> and South London Gallery goes up £300,000. And, at the same time, “digital”
> organizations other than Animate Projects, like Picture This and ArtSway,
> receive assessments of their work that reflect “obstacles” to their
> survival similar to the ones described within the Animate Projects’ report…
>
>
>
> What I believe that the case of Animate Projects illuminates, is the fact
> that we now face a very serious danger, both as artists and as members of
> the audience: with the excuse of the economic crisis, governments and
> funding bodies around the world have a unique opportunity to exert more
> control over the channels through which artworks are created and exhibited,
> more control over what is said and what remains unsaid, more control over
> what becomes the norm and what stays in the margins. At a time of crisis,
> the last thing that the people who are responsible for it would like to see
> is people thinking differently and acting differently. Yet, that is exactly
> what we should do in order to truly exit a crisis that is predominantly
> moral, rather than economic.
>
> Bill Balaskas
> --
> www.billbalaskas.com
> --
>
>
> _______________________________________________
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> empyre at lists.cofa.unsw.edu.au
> http://www.subtle.net/empyre
>

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