Economies: How does creative practice sit within systems of power and exchange?

“If the art world shared one principle, it would be that nothing is more important than the art itself. Some people really believe this; others know it’s de rigueur.” (Thornton xiii)

In curator Gerald Matt’s conversation with Cairo-born artists Amal Kenawy, Kenawy attempts to distance herself from what she calls the “fashionable/trendy” topics of Middle Eastern and Muslim art. (Kenawy 138) Rather than positioning herself in the broader Arab world, Kenawy prefers to define herself as an Egyptian artist, whose art “reflects Egyptian society, as a product of its social-cultural, political, and economic climate as well as of its cultural heritage and history.” (Kenawy 135)

Trends and fashion in art indicate what Kenawy refers to as “ideas that produce artwork made with a purpose in mind.” (Kenawy 137) When the art world in seen to promote certain themes or topics through patronage, exhibition curation, and the selection of award candidates, it seems impossible to ignore the systems of power and exchange which are at work.

Sociologist Sarah Thornton’s book Seven Days in the Art World examines these systems, describing the contemporary art world as “a loose network of overlapping subcultures held together by a belief in art.” (Thornton xi) Thornton places creative practice as just one facet of the “diverse, opaque and downright secretive” art world, made up of hierarchies of dealers, collectors, auction houses and curators. Thornton writes to expose, but there is accuracy in her observations of the control in contemporary art market. Artists begin to appear insignificant in a global machine that is susceptible to changes in fashion and politics.

The rise of the ‘super star’ artist (i.e. Damien Hurst) clearly exposes the existence of these structures within the art world. Artists like Hurst and Takashi Murakami make the market work for them by bypassing the gallery and dealer system and going straight to the auction. Thornton has said of Murakami, “it is hard to tell where the art ends and the commerce begins.” (McGlone)

This is certainly one means to acknowledge and work within the systems of power that exist within the art market. Kenawy opts for a more low-key approach: she shows her work in the exhibitions she feels are making “generalisations and geographic standardisations that have resulted from [the Middle East/Arab art] fad,” but exerts back her own control by making a point of “presenting something contrary to what is expected, contrary to clichés.” (Kenawy 138)

The most important consideration for artists might be the acknowledgement of the system, which can help to create more transparency within its structures.

References:
Matt, Gerald. “Amal Kenawy” Interviews 2 Kunstalle Wein, Vienna (2008) pp. 134 – 141
McGlone, Jackie. “Sarah Thornton: Swimming with Sharks” The Scotsman (30 September 2008)
Thornton, Sarah. Seven Days in the Art World Granta, London (2008)

Place: What does it mean to have a creative practice here in Aotearoa New Zealand?

In his article “Taranaki Gothic and the Political Economy of New Zealand Narrative and Sensibility” sociologist David Craig creates a discourse between New Zealand’s economic history and our national identity, as presented in our art, literature and film.  Craig describes “gothic” as our primary national narrative, a direct result of our semi-peripheral economy.

The notion of “gothic” applies comfortably to writers like Ronald Hugh Morrieson and Bill Pearson, and can be used to describe some of New Zealand’s most notable films, as depicted in the 1995 documentary, Cinema of Unease.  Craig emphasises the presence of psychological discomfort in the ideas about ourselves that we like to sell to others, offering a pigeonhole for New Zealand artists to exist within. 

Craig refers to the “provincialism problem,” a term first coined by Australian art-historian Terry Smith in 1974.  Closely associated with cultural cringe and concepts of colonial mentality, the provincialism problem presents a choice between two poor alternatives for artists: by following the aesthetic fashions of the mature cultures, artists are dubbed “provincial imitators,” but by showing freshness and originality, artists in peripheral cultures appear naïve and unaware of global norms. (Craig 26)

The conversation about this idea exists in many societies, not just in New Zealand, which suggests a global contextualisation of the search for national identity that Craig’s article ignores.  Australia, particularly, has been a active in examining their own cultural cringe, with exhibitions like 1984’s An Australian Accent at The Art Gallery of New South Wales.  New Zealand traditionally positions itself against Australia when attempting to describe and define its identity - ""the little country that couldn't" myth that stands in doubtful relief to "the little country that could."" (Craig 20)  Despite this, it is likely artists working within both countries face similar hurdles in establishing their creative practice.

In Smith’s 1974 article he described a model for contemporary art where all art has to “funnel through” the world’s artistic centres before it has a chance to signify “cultural change” – even of the culture back home. (Smith 56)  New Zealand requires some acceptance from the dominant culture before it can accept its own worth – Craig describes this with the image of "hobbits" waiting for  a "plausible visiting guru," probably a wizard. (Craig 24)

Smith states, "far from encouraging innocent art of naïve purity, untainted by “too much history and too much thinking,” provincialism, in fact, produces highly self-conscious art, “obsessed with the problem of what its identity ought to be.”" (Smith 56)  

Thus, he suggests, the real issue that exists for provincial artists is finding a way to allow their art to escape this “relentless entrapment” that “the provincial artist cannot chose not to be provincial.”  (Smith 59)  

Craig makes little reference to contemporary art - only noting that "yes it can still be dark here" in relation to the work of Peter Robinson, Jacqueline Fraser and Mike Stevenson for recent Venice Biennales (Craig 36).  Much of his rhetoric is concerned with earlier work - the aesthetic of Landfall in the 1970s and the work of Colin McCahon, which Craig uses to tidily explain his ideas.  The hope is here that the pigeonhole exists less as the global art scene and ideas of national identity change.

References:

Craig, David.  “Taranaki Gothic and the Political Economy of New Zealand Narrative and Sensibility” New Zealand Sociology volume 20 number 2 (2005) pp. 18-40

Hughes, Robert.  The Art of Australia Harmondsworth, England (1970) p. 31

Smith, Terry.  “The Provincialism Problem” Art Forum volume 13 number 1 (September 1974) pp. 54-59

http://www.nzonscreen.com/title/cinema-of-unease-1995

http://www.artgallery.nsw.gov.au/exhibitions/archived/2010/kaldor_projects/projects/1984_an_australian_accent