[lbo-talk] with a whimper, not a bang

[Arthur Maisel]

We can hope that young artists will become fed up with the shit sooner
rather than later, and that they will then want to protest. Given the
pervasiveness of the neoliberal ideology, it's likely that the protest will
have to take deniable forms as was customary in the past when people lived
under various forms of authoritarian rule. It can be argued that such art
actually requires more cleverness than much of what has passed for protest
art under the advent of neoliberalism. A basis for cautious optimism,
perhaps. Meanwhile, the old farts are not expected to be polite---one of
the few advantages of age---and should continue to provide models for the
young to pick up on when they're ready to.

On Tue, Dec 24, 2013 at 7:45 AM, shag carpet bomb <shag at cleandraws.com>wrote:


> At 05:52 PM 12/17/2013, Chuck Grimes wrote:
>
>> My problem with some vague sense of `general outlook' among friends and
>> people I used to work with, and from experience with a brief part time job,
>> is the acceptance of this concept that reform must be a business-government
>> partnership.
>>
>
>
> No shit. This is extremely annoying! It's the default mode for anyone
> under 40, though I think it's changing for the under 20s.
>
> I think, rather than libertarianism, the best way to describe it is as
> left and right neo-liberalism. I've been observing the 'art world' and
> movements around new urbanism. People in their 20s and 30s don't seem to
> care - or can't figure out how to actually fight - a world which
> increasingly demands their free labor - voluntarily donated to "make their
> cities better" or "create a community" through art, craft, handmade, DIY
> efforts. If those efforts are poorly paid, at best, or almost entirely
> volunteer, oh well, it sucks. If anyone criticizes the left/right
> neo-liberalism, they are shunned as being "against community" or an "enemy
> of art". Of course, "art" in this sense is not art that is critical of the
> world. it's art that makes people happy, applauds the status quo or, gag,
> is "interactive". Thus, "public art" while it's no longer about monuments
> to dead white guys, is about bringing "communities" together through
> interactive "engagement". (See BAVO's critique of public art)
>
> If you point out that art and community and craft and artisanship is being
> used to boost the property values of real estate investors and developers -
> that their volunteer labor is being used to line other people's pockets - a
> big ol' *shrug*. Oh well, it sucks, they say, but whatchya gonna do?
>
> Since the only way to support yourself as a small producer is to freelance
> or, if you're lucky, maybe get a grant for some public art or a "hatch"
> investment for a small business, then there is a diminishing likelihood of
> criticism. Reason being: if you rely on potentially anybody to make your
> buck, then everyone is a potential employer. You can't criticize shit for
> fear of alienating a potential client or employer.
>
> I'd be curious if anyone else is paying attention to this stuff? I have
> seen it happening locally and hit the stacks earlier this year to discover
> the phenom is well-understood in Europe and has been under attack by
> intellectuals and artists, there, for awhile. Not so much in the u.s., yet,
> where the influence of that huckster, Richard Florida, is too great and the
> ideology of neo-liberalism far too entrenched.
>
> shag
>
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