Celebrating the Commonty's fourth birthday this week marks a change in the wind for team Commonty, as we look forwards to the future of the blog which has thus far had over 350,000 views and over 2,700 blog posts – thank you to everyone who has contributed over the past wee while! As DG Unlimited continues to grow into the region, weekly news and opps can now be found across on the DGU website available here. But fear not, Commonty reader! It is important to the Commonty and the wider region that there remains a space for unofficial and unclassifiable stuff to be voiced, shared and aired, the collective or independent voices of everyone from the Upland Shepherd and Amy Able, to Ray Gin Pedant, Philipa McSoiree and the very many anonymous lot.
The Commonty continues on in this spirit of debate and discussion.
The Commonty has always been a completely uncensored and free space for debate – we would love to hear from you. You can add your voice in two ways:
a) send an email to thecommonty@gmail.com with something you want to say and we will post it on the blog as a new article
OR
b) comment on any article already on the site (creative alias’ welcome!)
The arts in D&G are what you make it.
In particular, The Commonty will be place where the comings, goings and doings of the Regional Arts Hub are reported and dissected. WTF is the Regional Arts Hub you cry...well thank you for asking, RAH is:
a) every arts organisation in receipt of support from DGUnlimited and/or Dumfries and Galloway Council
b) all arts D+G arts organisations that form part of the Creative Scotland National Arts Portfolio (errr currently that is The Stove Network and Wigtown Festival Company)
c) the four Area Arts Convenors
The RAH Working Group is meeting on Monday 30th March and the agenda for the meeting is:
· Round table discussion of Working Group members working priorities – with particular emphasis on regional working/development
· Working with the DGU Board – strategy for AGM
· Specialist Art-form groups – priorities/process
· Developing a ‘Charter’ for Events regionally (including a Clash Diary?)
· How to approach Scottish ‘Years of..’ and other national/international opportunities as a region
· Regional Focus – Conveners reports (5 bullet points from each convenor about current concerns/needs/themes in their area)
I'm sure other will have thoughts about any/all of these subjects....do your worst in the comments section below this post!
Notes from the meeting will be posted as soon as we have them
ART WITHIN CAPITALISM AND THE COMMON GOOD. We all love to be inspired, by beauty, passions, by art. But within capitalism, art cannot be enjoyed by all, it is exclusive. How many homeless people or foodbank users go to galleries except to sneak a look in the bins.? The primary function of an artist from an economic perspective is to add value with no regard to social oucomes. The artist may wish this not to be the case and may try to raise deeper social issues for the genuine benefit of the common person but the corporate machine is both subtle and powerful in disempowering any such messages for the common good. Is art to benefit one's self or to better the world? I would argue the latter. For if not then it has no value at all.
ReplyDelete'The good we secure for ourselves is precarious and uncertain until it is secured for all of us and incorporated into our
common life'. Jane Addams
There are very real national and global socio economic issues at play currently, ideological austerity for example, the
increasing inequality creating homelessness, underemployment, poverty wages, necessity for food banks, an entire underclass
of poverty to support a comfortable middle class and a ruthless super elite. Jane Addams considerations are about equality
and life's value, pertinent to today. But where is the art shining the light, brandishing the truth to power in the interests of
those that are excluded by those subtle but powerful mechanisms to maintain the inequality? Art devoid of the social
imperative is a poor reflection on society. She goes on to say.
'We have learned to say that the good must be extended to all of society before it can be held secure by any one person or any one class. But we have not yet learned to add to that statement, that unless all [people] and all classes contribute to a good, we cannot even be sure that it is worth having'. Jane Addams
While an artist or any individual sits comfortably in their capitalist success, charging exclusively and perhaps uncomfortably ignoring the inequality that ravages our world, in the very system that brings that success, their art is devoid of meaning or worth to the common good.
I recommend a revolution. But in the mean time, THE ARTIST TAXI DRIVER expresses my anger quite adequately.
Michael Riddle