More Fun Than The K-Foundation
Wednesday, February 28, 2007
Having some mixed feelings over the whole announcement from Cape thing. I respect that the funding has fallen through, massively, and that they are not canceling. It's hard being an arts organisation to get money from corporates or the lotto or whatever. One must always make the best with what one has. Que sera sera. I still have hope that the show will be interesting, and bolstered by the X-Cape might be a good and full show.On the other hand, Cape has had a lack of transparency. What happened to the money, was there ever any? Has it gone to the salaries of the many many people Cape has on it's staff ?(or, god forbid, and I'll stress I heard this from a very unsubstantiated source, on Bonuses?). And where is Gavin Jantjes... isn't he supposed to be here? Why is it called " a fundamental departure from the traditional "biennial model", where artworks are shipped in, displayed then shipped out again, often leaving little lasting cultural impact." When that actually means "Shit, we're fucked. We can't even afford to fly the artists, let alone the work." One of the curators is permanently in Jo'burg. Why is this happening? These questions must be asked, especially when our reputation as a culturally exciting city is at stake, or even just as an arty city. The less reputation, the less interest internationally, the more we sink back into our small fishing village world. Which brings me back to the mixed feelings... the criticism needs to be laid out, but we as artists need to be positive, we need to believe that we can pull ourselves out of the doldrums. So someone please, tell me why I still believe?
posted by Robert Sloon at 7:58 PM
33 Comments:
I'm afraid it's this real and sad, behind all the delusions of making a difference...... that art world is nice because the people are nice and they like to think. Try leaving it behind you and see what's left
huh?
What is the K Foundation? K Who?
Sad as this news is, it comes as no surprise: I knew that Cape was doomed when I saw the logo, pure Pan African Congress. Naive to think that Big Business would support such an image, they only want to align with the Top Dogs.
Then the name: Trans-Cape. Look it up in the Yellow Pages: A trucking company? Trance-Cape, a weekend jol in the Karroo?
What was really very impressive about Cape was the manner in which it appropriated the right to represent all of us. Nice try guys. Now that it is almost over can we- who live and work here - have the name back?
Really, huh, Miss Thandi, just try it. What is the art world for? Do you just take it for granted that it ought to exist because it's all you've ever known? The K-foundation burnt a million pounds as an art statement, and in art terms that is a really cool statement to make. Try explaining that to anyone outside this little microcosm. Try explaining it to the National Arts Council or the lottery, and see how excited they are about art after that.
you know they got arrested for that? sooper cool! charged with treason hahaha! cos it's illegal to set fire to the queen!
Thanks 'I' for clearing that up. Well, sort off. You win an award for lucidity. Related to Ed Young by any chance?
Hi Miss Thandi,
I'll try to explain what my real problem is, and maybe you can give me a good answer cos I'd really like one.
Robert Sloon was asking in this piece for someone to tell him why he still believes. I imagine the thing he believes in that we should have a functioning art world in this country like they do in other places.
My question is, should we? What is the art world really, really for? whom does it serve? And I'm not talking about Mona-style paranoia, I'm talking what is the actual point of it all in a country like this?
The kinds of problems we have here tend to make art world concerns look ridiculously decadent. Even in England, the obscure language of art is only understood by the initiated, despite the art world's desire for popular appeal. Take, for instance, the K-foundation burning a million bucks. I can totally see why they did it, and I think it's hilarious. I can also totally see why they called for art to be abolishes and why they had a prize for the worst artist, that was worth twice the Turner Prize.
But what does all this mean in South Africa? Is it appropriate or even interesting to make those kinds of points here?
So what I'm saying is, the art world, in the end, provides an opportunity for a few priviledged people to connect with first world culture. But how important are they in the greater scheme of things?
So when we think there should be an art world, are we thinking there should be one just because everyone else has one? Are we really thinking about the country we live in and what it needs, or are we just dreaming of being else where?
A study in England about ten years ago found that more people participate in some kind of 'art' activity than play sport. As I remember it the survey covered the entire adult age group. Now maybe many of these were doing pottery or flower arranging or 'print-making' night classes - let's not get too judgemental about this. The point is that when one glibly writes off contemporary art as having no meaningful functiion for the average human being, one is really exposing one's own peculiar assumptions about the current nature (or culture) of -not art-but humanity.
I thought that Robert was saying that now that it seems that Cape hasn't worked, or "gone wrong", we are surely entitled to a full scabs and all expose of what went wrong, or "didn't work". They spoke for us, we believed in them. Lets have more speach and perhaps less belief...
So try getting Michaelis to run crochet workshops. The fine art world separates itself from ordinary peoples activity. To think that a Biennale is the logical extension of mass creativity is being presumptious indeed about the accessibility and relevance of a biennale for ordinary people. But enough of that.
Cape Town's major hospitals are currently undergoing a budget cut totalling R30 million. Transcape's major funder was the City of Cape Town, which was to donate R6 million, but pulled out.
If you were managing the province's finance, what would you fund first? Hospitals or a biennale? Hospitals or Michaelis art school, for that matter?
Statistics can be so boring. Did you know that at the height of the Zimbawean Chimurenga, there were more unemployed people in New York City than white people in Rhodesia.
Six million Rand sounds really cheap. Like buying four rugby stars. Basically, half a K sterling?
is it true that Gavin Jantjes was signed on at R60,000.00 per month? Cool!
Interesting conversation. Not sure that I am cool with "I's" moralising though. The point that you are missing "I", is that we are complex beings, that hospitals only address some deficiancies (we are fragile, sans exoskeleton and badly plumbed). Hospitals do not address some of our other attributes such as the urge to create, to practice and participate in culture, converse, connect etc.
So, you simply cannot equate Michaelis with Groote Schuur. The one does not take the money from the other, sweety.
I am afraid to say "I", your thinking is typically that of a pseudo lefty with a guilt complex the size of your beloved mountain.
Tip of the day (and a logical conclusion to your argument): Why don't you stop waisting your time leaving inane comments on this blog, and do something usefull like start a soup kitchen for starving artists, or better still, throw yourself of a building.
Just to be clear - in no way is the above intended as an argument for the survival of Michaelis. I merely used it as an example. I don't think anyone will really care if Michaelis gets wiped of the face of the earth.
THE SENSE OF SLOON’S POST IS BEING LOST. HE ASKS GOOD QUESTIONS ABOUT MONEY: WAS THERE EVER ANY? ARE THE MINI-CURATORS OVER PAID? ARE THEY PAYING THEMSELVES “PERFORMANCE BONUSES”? WHAT ARE THEIR CAR HIRE COSTS, HOTEL COSTS AND ENTERTAINMENT COSTS? WHERE IS DREARY DRY HUMOURLESS OVER PAID UBER-CURATOR JANTJES? WHAT DOES SPIN-DOCTOR, DAMAGE CONTROLLER PAR EXCELLANCE MS. DIK MEAN WITH HER BRAVE NEW WORDS? ARE WE STUPID, SHE MEANS CAPE IS KAPUT. WHAT ABOUT THIS REGIONS REPUTATION? AND SO ON. WHAT ABOUT TRANSPARENCY? ARE THE BOOKS OF A NON-PROFIT ORGANISATION OPEN TO SCRUTINY? DOES THE RECEIVER OF REVENUE RECEIVE TAX RETURNS? DOES THE PETTY CASH BOX BALANCE? HAVE ANY PERSONAL LOANS BEEN ISSUED? WHAT ARE THE FACTS IN OTHER WORDS, IF ONLY FOR A LAUGH?
NEXT, WHY IS THIS STRING MIGRATING TO MICHAELIS, MS THANDI? DOES IT MEAN DEEP DOWN YOU RESENT THIS BLOG, FOR AS NOT LIKE YOURS, ITS ACTIVE, GETS OPINION, REGULAR INTERVENTION, AND YES IT’S A MICHAELIS FRONT. DARE I SAY MICHAELIS CONSTITUTES THE VERY CENTRE OF ART IN ALL ITS GUISES IN THE CAPE, AND FAR BEYOND. SO WAKE UP!
LASTLY, GIVEN MR. DOKOLO AND MR. ALVIM’S PROBLEMS WITH THE VENICE BIENNALE AFRICA PAVILLION WOULDN’T IT BE A GOOD IDEA FOR CAPE KAPUT TO BEG A FEW RAND, A FEW DIAMONDS OR A COUPLE OF BARRELS OF OIL FROM THEM TO GET THE SHOW ON THE ROAD?
(SEE: http://www.artnet.com/magazineus/news/artnetnews/artnetnews2-13-07.asp )
God bless
Dear sister bench, you sit in your hole and I'll sit in mine.
Dear Ms. Thandi, I am sure your hole is big enough for both of us.
god bless
Dear Sister Bench - not enough space in this hole for you and your Michaelis baggage. Time to cut the umbilical cord dear. Refigure the centre of your universe and get on with your life!
Michaelis grew out of an institution called The Continental School of Art. A temperate climate colonial 'hole' where washed up artists of the School of Paris juiced up on red wine . Co-incidently Dashiell Hammett used (at pretty much the same time) the name Continental Detective Agency for his fictional Pinkerton's, hence the Continental Op. Aka Robert Sloon.
If Michaelis is to be considered as an institution rather than a cluster of buildings, or a pre-retirement employment scheme for pumped-up under-achievers with time on their hands (let's not get into the 'hole' story, o.k?), it could be seen as having some kind of past and some kind of future, as well its current moment which we all take SO seriously. If any one event promised to invigorate, transform, inspire and generally lubricate the stale old frusty it had to be alumni Gavin Jantjes’ Trans Cape, as originally conceived. An opportunity has now been lost for students and lecturers to be exposed to some of the greats of contemporary 3rd ( or Majority) World Art, and to meet the artists themselves. Instead : a couple of hundred million spent on a football stadium, while we slouch along between Orange Street and Jo'burg (the Bar).
See you at an opening…
Our vestal Sister Bench is very busy with her well attended Saturday night art lectures. She covers quite some ground. Tonight she is presenting an interesting analysis of biennales, curators and corruption, with slides. Being as busy as she is and not wanting to be seen to be ignoring all he fans on Artheat she has instructed me (Sister Sam Spade) to say the following in response to monate's quasi historical sycophantic interlude for Cape/Kaput, and a little about his/her a plug for dreary dry, over enumerated humourless Mr. Jantjes and his ex-vision for Cape/ Dik/ Kaput.
She says: Never mind my dear, dear Michaelis students. Don’t feel denied. Don’t feel all is lost. Don’t feel your world has collapsed because a few thirdy “contemporary greats” will not be around in March to meet and talk with you. Cape/Kaput wasn’t for you anyway. Your future lies in Venice with real artists who drink Chianti with Michaelis lecturers. See you in Venice, and remember Mr Dokolo loves you all.
God Bless
Ok, everyone's been very helpful and thankyou very much for the advice Ms Thandi. You must admit this has been a welcome break from discussing Ed Young. And I take your point about money for hospitals not being the same money that may have been set aside for Cape.
But I still think money is a very central issue. I've heard so much talk and banging on about this issue and that conspiracy about how and why the art world doesn't get funded. It's because it doesn't make money! Is it really that hard to understand? The city is going after building stadiums (which may be why they withdrew from funding Cape, who knows) because soccer makes money. So does advertising, and dumb tourist craft. Art does not. There may be some around, but it can never be spread around all the artist who need it, cos it's not enough. And Michaelis is the centre of the art world in Cape Town because it has the most resources and the most people who are being paid by their moms and dads to do nothing but make art.
So if we get with this fact, maybe we can start to do something about it. Even just accepting it would be better than barking up the wrong tree.
By the way, Robert Sloon, does this conversation make a record for the longest exchange on Artheat so far?
No "I", you are wrong, me must say. Actually ART not only makes money, it IS money. This is not new thinking. Am not going to bother explaining it either. look it up. Talk to your pals. Somebody will be in the know.
One of the reasons why Cape (now that only XCape -'scape- is left, should we call it SKAAP?) failed to raise money, dear Anon is that it was a Quixotic Venture. This is what was so cool about it. It is also what was so WRONG about it. CAPE was itself an Outsider Artwork. Ms. Susan Glanville/Wayne Barker/Gavin Janjes: cast your own Sancho Panza, Don Quixote. The real hallmark of The Outsider in Art is that they project themselves as a New Establishment. Its a now you see it now you dont con - while the real superuberluminaries like R.S. are making like The Happy Shoemaker, The True Outsider is working The Emporer's New Clothes.
Trouble is the control of the flow of Money is part of a bigger hegemony: those who have the power can place it where they will. Justified, Rationalised as seed money, as promotional spend, as trickle down investment, whatever. It is obvious that the people in Cape were not These People.
A load of indecipherable bollocks like that just has to have come from Mona. I think you should write scipts for an artworld Startrek series, if you can get it to make a modicum of sense
Fresh coming from you, "I".
It may interest you to know, Miss Thandi, that I spoke to someone who has been working within the Transcape organisation, and this is what has happened with the funding: The main funder, the City of Cape Town, backed out and avoided contact, to such a degree that Miriam Asmal eventually tracked the relevant person down at a function and forced a response. And what was the response? That the City of Cape Town has to worry about people who are homeless, starving and the rest, and they do not have money for non-urgent things like a biennale.
So, you who is so sure you know exactly how the world works, wake up and smell the coffee, and start being a little less delusional yourself in the future, I hope.
For God's sake "I", don't you know what the City of Cape Town has been doing with the homeless for the past six months, have you not eyes? Their Black Shirt MetroPolice harrass the shit out of anyone sleeping "rough'.
Why was there no other funding?
That doesn't lead to the conclusion that they want to spend their money on art. I imagine harrassing people is an expensive business.
That is a really excellent summation. I cede. You win.
thank the lord jesus.
Good. Thanks. It's nice that you all agree that we live in a place where money is needed for things other than art (no matter how ineptly it's being spent) and so when something like Cape goes horribly wrong it might be worth considering that they are simply broke, rather than getting into a load of conspiracy theories about what they did with the money.
For God's sake "I" you are being obtuse. Of course money is needed for things other than art. This does not mean that of the spread of money being spent in areas arbitrarilly deemed important some should not be diverted to art. From Tourism, from SAFMARINE, from SAA. The Voda MTM Cell C oligarches for example are awash with swank-spend.
It doesn't follow either that public ( we are the public?) concern about how Cape spent the money they did raise is somehow a paranoid conspiracy theory... Ask the people owed money by them-for months - what they think of your conclusions.
Finally watch what Spier do, and you will see , I am sure, my ideas about the arbitrary choices major hoarders of capital choose to make when they have only themselves, that is only their Egos & the egos of their brother's wives, to answer to. Of course Spier aims (for bizarre reasons I am sure)to impress the world out there as much as it does to "connect us with the african continent", which was one of Jantjes' stated aims. Instead opf argueing about money why don't we talk about what what kind of Cape we would find appropriate or are we all bored with that discussion. Bored enough to leave the center of descision making to a amongst others a gallerist whose own space is "open by appointment". God save us from Mass Hysteria...
Not only is "I" stupid, "I" is also as thick as a brick wall.
And for the record, I do not agree with you one bit. Ever heard of irony and sarcasm?
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