Nick Steel Research into Practice - Dissertation Proposal

BA (Hons) Fine Art & Professional Practice

Figures

1. M-Magazine. (2017) Funding Chart [Online image].Available from: https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/focus-funding/[Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

2. The Guardian Online. (2016) Britain Class Privilege [Online image]. Available from: https://www.theguardian.com/film/2016/may/08/working-class-actors-disappearing-britain-class-privilege-access-posh/[Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

3. Neighborhood Postcard Project. (2017) Antofangasta, Chile [Online image]. Available from: http://www.neighborhoodpostcardproject.com/[Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

4. The Laundromat Project. (2015) Aisha Bell, Sushu [Online image]. Available from: http://laundromatproject.org/[Accessed 4 Apr. 2018].

5. Re-modern Review. (2015) Downing Street Emin [Online image]. Available from: https://remodernreview.wordpress.com/2015/08/12/commentary-the-doublethink-strategy-of-the-cultural-elitists/

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An exploration of the real life effects of government cuts to creative arts funding and the obligations of contemporary artists to inspire and

engage a failed and forgotten generation of young creative mindsfacing a bleak and uninspiring future.

It feels to me that if you pick up any Tory newspaper and flick to the arts

section there will at some point be a reference to the scrounging corduroyed luvvies

who rely on government hand-outs to produce talentless artwork that anyone could

make and nobody wants to see. “The great writers and painters and composers of

past centuries had to do without an Arts Council. Did Shakespeare have to apply to

an Alan Davey figure for funds? He did not.” (Mail Online, 2018) But should the arts

conform to market forces and mainstream appeal? I believe most within the creative

industries would give a resounding ‘No’.

But the government cuts ARE necessary in a time of austerity (if the right wing

press is to be believed); although obviously given the choice we would rather spend

our taxes on something nice to look at rather than waste it on the ‘unemployed and

non-deserving poor.’ (Mail Online, 2018) - So that’s something I suppose.

Conversely, Nicci Gerrard (writer and board member of the Poetry Book

Society) argues that the creative arts industry has always punched above its weight.

For example although art funding represents just 0.7% of GDP the arts actually

contribute 7% to our Gross Domestic Profit (Artscouncil.org.uk, 2018). She also

argues that the real life impact of the arts is impossible to quantify. ‘You create art

schools and you end up with rock musicians, artists and designers. You create a

government broadcaster to educate the nation and you end up with The Goon Show,

Monty Python and Doctor Who.’ (Gerrard, 2018) Regardless, the culture sector pays

£2.6bn in taxes, £5 for every £1 of public funding. (Artscouncil.org.uk, 2018).

With the arts performing as a net contributor to the economy and with the cuts

the equivalent of a handful of city banker bonuses it feels clear to me that these are

ideological attacks orchestrated yet again by a Conservative government.

It’s not all bad news though. At least we have the Arts Council fighting our

corner. Or do we? Chief Executive, David Henley, told the Independent he was

grateful to be working with a government that understands the arts (seriously?). “In

the last parliament we saw arts and culture get a favourable grant in aid settlement.

We’ve also seen an £18 million increase in the money going to Music Education

hubs.” (Battersby, 2018) So I suppose we are expected to give a big thanks to Ed

Vaizey and Karen Bradley - or maybe not.

As with much of modern life the more I read and the more I research the more

convinced I am that this is just a great big boys club. When presented with an

opportunity to provide resources to the grass roots and offer a platform for

expression and creativity to our forgotten young people, we instead see the majority

of resources directed to the middle classes with a disproportionate percentage

heading back to the London elite.

If the argument for having an Arts Council is to encourage diversity, originality

and bravery and not to pander to market forces then why are such large sums

handed over to the oldest and safest forms of expression. For example even after

suffering some of the largest cuts to funding, Opera still commands nearly 60% of all

the cash that is spent on music. (M magazine: PRS for Music online magazine,

2018) It is a similar story with the visual arts with white cube cosmopolitan galleries

and high end conceptual installation receiving the lion’s share.

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Figure 1: M-Magazine, Funding Chart, 2017

With the middle classes being thrust to the forefront of popular culture and

public school kids taking the majority of opportunities I wonder can this all just be a

coincidence? Or are our talented working class children being left out in the cold?

Have the current crop of ‘posh’ British movie stars really all made it to the top by

outperforming their working class contemporaries? And if their success is based on

talent alone, how do we explain Tom Hiddlestone?

Figure 2: The Guardian Online, Britain Class Privilege, 2016

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Hadrian Garrard, the director of Create, said: “What’s most alarming is how

things are going to get harder for young people in the arts that haven’t got family

support. The last 50 and 60 years has been a golden era for British culture and I

think potentially that is coming to an end. It is not far-fetched to think that culturally

we could become a lot less interesting than we have been over the past six decades”

(University, 2018)

So my question is: Would modern day Britain permit the success of a 1970’s

Liverpool Everyman Theatre? What would happen to a Pete Postlethwaite or a Julie

Walters of today? Would they be invited to audition beside a Benedict Cumberbatch

or an Emma Watson?

This issue with young actors mirrors perfectly the difficulties the rest of the

artistic community faces; for example ‘The Word’ magazine noted that 60% of top

10 hits in 2010 where created by musicians/artists who had attended a private

school. This is compared to just 1% in 1990 (Hagan, 2018). My research will

consider when and why creativity became an exclusive pursuit of the middle classes

and a hobby of the elite?

So what has happened to our working class fine artists? Gregory Sholette

begins his study of artistic ‘Dark matter’ with a riddle. ‘What is invisible, has great

mass, with an impact on the world that is everywhere in plain sight?’ (Sholette,

2010). I find this summary of the role of the many unrecognised artists to be an

interesting one and I certainly expect the marginalised artistic community to influence

my research. I will discuss the obstacles designed to keep us down and identify a

clear pathway for an emerging artist to create art that (hopefully) inspires and

engages with the young people of a deprived town like Blackpool without endorsing

the people who are charged with elevating them to the West-End but instead choose

to lead them down blind alleys. I will also look into the role of a contemporary artist

in a gallery setting. All too often the work of an artist is sold into a private collection;

bought as an investment by the tory donors who contribute to the problem. We

attend private viewings with the political and business elite who line their pockets by

day and appear at evening soirees by night. Are we simply court jesters invited

along for a photo opportunity so someone in a suit can tweet about a hollow

philanthropic gesture?

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These are the issues that I am grappling with at the moment and to be honest

I don’t really know the answers to most of my questions. What I do know is that I am

a little disillusioned by the hypocrisy that seems to infect each and every limb of the

creative industries. I also feel that we are letting down our artistic youth and the

invisible creative minds that seem destined to spend their lives watching the artistic

community from the side-lines. As an aspiring artist I plan on addressing these

imbalances and discussing the obligations we have to each other and to the next

generation of artists.

At the moment I see my research taking three forms. The first will be by

speaking to the grass roots groups and organisations that rely on financial aid. I

think it is important to listen to their experiences, grievances and general attitude

towards the distribution and access to funding. I have worked with a small number

of community groups in the past and I hope to build on this network of contacts.

I have already heard vague murmurings of discontent with the allocation of funds and

am aware of at least one grass roots project that has had to withdraw some of its

services due to a funding shortfall. I wonder which other projects were being funded

locally while this one struggled to survive.

Secondly I plan on researching the professionals involved. Who are the

decision makers? What are their views of the art establishment and funding

streams? Do the few artists in the elite inner circle feel a responsibility to speak up

for the children who have had their artistic opportunities taken away from them? Or

have they simply made it to the top and pulled the ladder up behind them? I have

noted that again opinion seems to be divided. For every Dinos Chapman there is a

Tracey Emin. ‘All these Tories who advocate plans to make education harder for

poorer people – they are all ****s. Tracey may say she’s not a Tory, but, by

associating herself with them, she’s advocating what they say. She came from a

poor family, and so did I, so I don’t know how she can do that. Tracey just wants to

be made a baroness, that’s the only reason she’s doing this.’ (Walker, 2018) Sadly,

perhaps Dinos is right.

I also aim to make a link between my research and my fine art practice. My

work currently exists in the liminal spaces of town. I am creating oddities; small

scale interventions that jar with their habitat. My current project is a series of

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reclaimed broken objects. I photograph each item in situ, cast the fragments in

plaster and fix all the pieces back together using gold pigment and resin. Essentially

I aim to fix Blackpool a single piece at a time. Ensuring each found object celebrates

it’s broken past whilst revelling in its newly realised potential.

In a perfect world I would like for a child to be aware of a broken bottle that

they have seen each morning on the way to school until one day finding it fixed,

polished and of gallery quality. Hopefully they will not have time to stop and consider

the object during the morning rush but will actively look to revisit it on the journey

home. I hope to develop my work over the next year and am aiming to use social

media to gather and monitor any public feedback. Ultimately my plan is to build on

this to create an online following that encourages community engagement. I hope

that my research will feed into my fine art practice but I also hope my practical work

will offer me some insight that enriches my dissertation.

At the moment I feel I need to really consider the role of an artist within an

urban environment. I have been quite heavily influenced by Richard Wentworth’s

‘Making Do and Getting By’ (Obrist, 2015) and Michel de Certeau’s study of the

human compulsion to exhibit individuality within strict regimes and structures in ‘The

Practice of Everyday Life’ (De Certeau, 2011).

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Figure 3: Neighborhood Postcard Project, Antofangasta, Chile, 2017

There are a number of contemporary artists who are pushing in a similar

direction. The concept of trying to improve the perception of a town through artistic

expression is tackled by Hunter Franks and his ‘Neighbourhood Postcard Project’

which became a vehicle for local people to share positive experiences and happy

memories of their home town (Neighborhood Postcard Project, 2018). I feel this

attempt to show a place in a positive light is especially pertinent to a battered and

bruised town like Blackpool. There is a lot for me to take away from enterprises like

this.

Another community initiative that I absolutely love is New York’s ‘Laundromat

Project’ (Laundromatproject.org, 2018). The core principles of the initiative is to

educate and inspire the relatively poor local community by offering English classes,

lessons in sign language and many other courses to develop a variety of skill sets.

Local launderettes are used as a classroom. Curated exhibitions from local and

guest artists adorn the walls. I can’t think of a better place to engage with normal,

people than in the hour or so that they sit and wait for their laundry; producing

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artwork for ordinary people who live their lives outside of the fine art bubble - this

really appeals to me.

Figure 4: The Laundromat Project, Aisha Bell, Sushu, 2015

In summary, I feel my combined research plan will offer me the opportunity to

find the real life impact of arts funding. The mainstream media seems to fall into two

camps; those that demand that we scrap art subsidies and force creative minds to be

inventive and find a new way - in the belief that this would ultimately breed better art.

Then there are the (supposed) left wing journalists who wax lyrical about the

originality of British art and praise the diversity of the projects supported by the arts

council, yet gladly participate in egotistical photo opportunities with tax dodging

elitists and Tory donors. My concern is that the world I see fits into neither category.

I will explore the way established artists often turn to champagne socialism and

forget what art actually is.

I aim to use my dissertation research to navigate my fine art practice through

the minefield of hypocrisy and find a meandering path that allows me to grow as an

artist, engage with the public and show our town and the wonderfully weird people

who live or pass through it in a positive light.

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I feel that in the current climate although our art may have a price our soul

mustn’t be for sale.

Figure 5: Re-modern Review, Downing Street Emin, 2015

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Key Points

Research Funding StreamsHow are Art Council funds distributed?

Are their policies fair, ethical and transparent?

Are grass roots initiatives in the local area receiving funding and opportunities

that they feel are fair/adequate?

Can working class kids ever break through?Is the funding skewed unfairly towards the middle classes?

Who is actually on the side of kids in deprived areas and who is just

pretending to be?

How do contemporary practitioners inspire and engage with the next generation of artists?Do established artists feel a responsibility to rally against the cuts to arts?

Do they feel obliged to ensure opportunities for young people?

Can anyone really keep their art and politics separate?

How can I produce art that engages with the public and shows Blackpool in a positive manner?How can I retain my political and social ideals but still engage with the broader

artistic community (i.e. The Art Council) whilst working and exhibiting in the

liminality?

What methods will I develop to encourage public engagement/feedback?

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Research Schedule

Present – May 2018

I plan on using my current fine art project as a research assignment into artistic public engagement. I intend to use this as a way of informing my practice and feel any findings will help to shape my dissertation.

Summer Break 2018

During the summer I will be volunteering my services to a local youth urban arts initiative. I plan on gaining some real hands on experience and want to learn about the funding mechanisms and the reality of providing community projects. I aim to identify the issues that they face and the obstacles that make their life difficult.

I intend to gather information about the social backgrounds of contemporary artists. I will also attempt to contact a number of contemporary practitioners and try to develop a picture of the perceived social obligations of the artistic inner circle. Do they allow their political views to affect how they operate as an artist?

September 2018

I believe at this point I should be in a position to develop my public engagement project. Hopefully my research will inform me of a process and delivery method that will be interesting culturally and theoretically.

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Bibliography

Mail Online. (2018). QUENTIN LETTS: Squealing luvvies, rich whiteys and why the arts CAN take a haircut without civilisation falling. [online] Available at: http://www.dailymail.co.uk/debate/article-1371388/Arts-funding-cuts-Why-arts-CAN-haircut-civilisation-falling.html [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Gerrard, N. (2018). Will funding cuts be good for the arts?. [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2011/apr/03/arts-funding-cuts-debate [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Artscouncil.org.uk. (2018). Economic contribution of arts and culture | Arts Council England. [online] Available at: http://www.artscouncil.org.uk/economic-contribution [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Battersby, M. (2018). What will happen to the arts under another Tory government?. [online] The Independent. Available at: https://www.independent.co.uk/arts-entertainment/art/features/what-will-happen-to-the-arts-under-another-tory-government-10237076.html [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

M magazine: PRS for Music online magazine. (2018). Arts Council England renews funding focus on music education - M Magazine. [online] Available at: https://www.m-magazine.co.uk/news/focus-funding/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

University, L. (2018). Hadrian Garrard and Katherine McNeil. [online] London Metropolitan University. Available at: http://www.londonmet.ac.uk/projects/listing/public-lectures-and-talks/2016-17/who-cares-talks/hadrian-garrard-and-katherine-mcneil/ [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Hagan, S. (2018). A working-class hero is something to be [online] the Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/culture/2014/jan/26/working-class-hero-posh-britain-public-school [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Sholette, G. (2010). Dark Matter: Art and Politics in the Age of Enterprise Culture (Marxism and culture). Pluto Press.

Walker, T. (2018). Ed Vaizey is given a bloody nose by Dinos Chapman. [online] Telegraph.co.uk. Available at:

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https://www.telegraph.co.uk/culture/art/art-news/8858410/Ed-Vaizey-is-given-a-bloody-nose-by-Dinos-Chapman.html [Accessed 8 Apr. 2018].

Obrist, H. (2015). Richard Wentworth, making do and getting by. London: Verlag Der Buchhandlung W.

De Certeau, M. (2011). Practice of Everyday Life. University of California Press.

Neighborhood Postcard Project. (2018). Home. [online] Available at: http://www.neighborhoodpostcardproject.com/ [Accessed 11 Apr. 2018].

Laundromatproject.org. (2018). The Laundromat Project. [online] Available at: http://laundromatproject.org [Accessed 11 Apr. 2018].

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