Money Changes
Everything.
Written as part
of Bloc discourse for the exhibition A42D. June
2009
It
has
been quiet at Bloc these past few months; a lack of funding
has left us worrying about the future of our exhibition
space. The usual programme of an exhibition every month or
so has been replaced by intermittent bursts of student
activity and, apart from Delia Derbyshire
(i)
and
the flare wielding Moth-man (ii),
an empty gallery. While the Hallam students have injected
the empty space with brief bursts of optimism, the funding
issues seem to have had a noticeable effect. It would be
fair to say that these regular openings provided us, and I
mean studio holders in particular, with social
opportunities that helped us bond as a community. As well
as being a space to share gossip, we’d share ideas and
sometimes talk seriously about the work on show. It’s
tempting to get sentimental about it but I won’t because
Bloc is re-starting its programme with a group show A42D,
and there are lots of Bloc artists involved which is good
news.
The show is described as ‘a reflection on the effects and
potential limitations on creative output within the context
of a recession’, or, ‘can you still make art if you’re
skint?’ A42D will take the form of an auction as well as an
exhibition and some people have felt uneasy about this for
a number of reasons. To some people selling their work in
this way involves some compromise of status, and some of us
might just want to show our work without the pressures that
come with selling. The reserve price for each drawing will
be £20 and it is possible that this has influenced the
quality of the submissions, did artists submit works
representative of their practice or did they just give £20
worth? This exposes a possible curatorial conflict. Is the
aim of the show to explore creative responses within
certain confines and limitations or is the A4 drawing just
an easy format to sell? How will all this affect the way
the work is presented? Why not really play up the auction
idea by having lot numbers and a catalogue and with the
work displayed according to a strict strategy and not an
aesthetic order? I know it isn't just about the money but I
can't help thinking that if it wasn't an auction it might
be a very different show. I would probably be writing about
the value of drawing as a creative practice or the beauty
of limiting the surface of production to an A4 page, and
might have researched into why it is known as the silver
rectangle. I ought to bypass the subject of money and
concentrate on the work, but it is quite difficult not to
get hung-up about it.
When asked in an interview 'Do you believe that an
aesthetic practice that critiques and subverts the
becoming- merchandise of art is still possible?’ the
philosopher Jacques Ranciere replied,
'Money is
necessary to make art; to make a living you have to sell
the fruits of your labor. For me the fundamental question
is to explore the possibility of maintaining spaces of
play. To discover how to produce forms for the presentation
of objects; forms for the organization of spaces that
thwart expectations. The main enemy of artistic creativity
as well as political creativity is consensus.'
(iii)
It is a lack of consensus that has led to me being invited
to contribute this text so I guess we’re off to a good
start, (and yes, I am being paid). Ranciere’s statement is
relevant here because although it absolves us from the
guilt of being business-like it does imply a greater
professional responsibility on all our parts, and that is a
responsibility to the work itself.
The artists in this show despite the confines have not
neglected their duty. Limitations very often open up
creative practice, and can provide opportunities for
struggle and discussion within your own work. Drawing is
the original aesthetic practice (sculptors may disagree);
this could be an opportunity to think about what it really
means to put a group of drawings on a wall. The Jerwood
drawing prize, explicitly sets out to challenge our ideas
about what drawing is or could be and entrants have pushed
the boundaries by producing work using paper cups, light
sensitive materials and video. It’s always exciting but
when you get behind the novelty, the nature of Drawing is
what drives the show. A42D shares this sentiment, without
the novelty, without the pressure of progress and presents
pencil and paper in a language we can all relate to. The
idea of recession isn’t really apparent in the work,
(unless you count those with images of figures on the edge
of cliffs), however it does seem as though, when faced with
the inability to go forward the instinct to look back kicks
in. Progress got us into this mess, why not regress? Some
of the drawings look like attempts on the part of the
artists to explore mark making in a child-like way. Others
have tried to objectify their ideas, and make sense of
images more directly, as if looking and translating might
help them understand. I’m strangely relieved to see that
the drawings in A42D don’t directly set out to subvert the
idea of their being merchandise and I’m not really sure how
they could. Artists could always bid for their own work but
it begs the question, why subvert something that you’ve
entered into under your own free will? Well, why not? It
sounds like a pretty interesting way to thwart
expectations.
I’m looking forward to the opening. I’m looking forward to
seeing the work properly displayed and lit. More
importantly, I’m looking forward to seeing everyone
huddling up with rollies and cheap wine. We’ll get tipsy,
disagree about the quality of the drawings and the
curatorial criteria, we’ll blame the Olympics and probably
enjoy the auction more than we wanted to. And we’ll take
all this with us back into the studio, either consciously
or unconsciously, and let it feed into what we do. I can’t
think of a better response to hard times than coming
together in this way.
i.
The
Delia Derbyshire screening was part of the Sensoria
festival.
ii. Liverpool based
artist Tony Knox.
iii.
‘Art of the
possible’ Fulvia Carnevale and John Kelsey in conversation
with Jacques Ranciere. Artforum, March
2007.