The Biz v. The Art

At the Culture Future Blog, there was a response to a post I did last week.  In that post I offered a quote from Anthony Bourdain.  Here again is the quote and the response from Culture Future.  The response is in bold

If there's a new and lasting credo from the Big Shakeout (the economic crisis) it's this: People will continue to pay for quality. They will be less and less inclined, however, to pay for bullshit.

- Anthony Bourdain: "Medium Raw"

"Really? It seems to me that Mr. Bourdain is placing faith in the rational consumer, that beast whose existence is getting increasingly disproved in this decade. Will people continue to pay for quality? Or does it put more pressure on them to favor the McDonald's dollar menu over cooking at home?

It's true that people will be less and less inclined to pay for what they consider to be bullshit, but is what they think bullshit actually bullshit? My fear is that to the average American, the arts are bullshit. It appears that for state governments, for instance, the arts are bullshit."

 

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Couple of things.

 

First, I'm not sure who exactly an average American is, but I'll use the term anyway.  Also, pointing out what the average American does or doesn't do ignores the fact that millions of people attend live theatre, museums, concerts, etc. each and every year.

 

I know we wish that number was higher.  I know many of us also wish those people came to see/buy our stuff more instead of that crap the other guy makes.  But we shouldn't let the fact that we are an complex industry, with complex challenges mask the fact that people do come to see what we do.

 

We should also consider that the level of participation in the arts is still pretty decent.  People paint, sculpt, produce and edit their own films, form community choirs, produce their own plays, etc.  I'm certainly not the first one to note that technology has liberated the tools necessary to create and distribute art.

 

So I think art in general is in good shape.  There is a lot of really fantastic stuff out there.  Yes, there is also a lot of bad stuff but that's unavoidable.

 

But the "business" of art . . . well that is not so great.  Getting a film made is easier than ever.  Creating a film that is distinct enough to attract a sizeable audience without the backing of "Big Hollywood", well that is hard.

 

Starting a theatre, easy.  Finding competent to good actors, scripts, etc, that can be done.  Bringing in enough revenue so that people can make theatre a living . . . much harder.

 

So often we equate "I can't make a living doing my art" to "the arts are in crisis".  One thing can be true without the other being true.

 

 

 

 

 

 

Comments

[Mazarine]

What art is can be so subjective. Can we really say, "This is bullshit" and "This is art" in a room of 10 different people and have everyone agree?

I think the arts in good shape since people can find art more and more easily these days. People are getting to be savvier searchers and community builders. How do you build your arts brand? I've got a free 17 page ebook that details how to build your brand, build customers for your art, and build a community around what you do. Here. http://www.wildwomanfundraising.com/nonprofit-knowledge-brand-free-ebook

Sincerely,

Mazarine