Like many artists, I would like to understand why John Q. Public isn't interested in, say, purchasing a painting of mine for $800, even if it's for a good cause. I would like to understand why people think I shouldn't have to be paid for singing. I would like to understand why people don't read books anymore, why books and literature aren't appealing.
Why buy a painting when you can rip it off the internet for free, and look at it any time you want? If you have good enough technology, you could just print out the painting at home and hang it on your wall, who cares if the actual paint isn't visible? Who even uses real paint for art these days? Isn't Photoshop enough?
Everything is so easily accessible: music, film, theatre, writing...all of the institutes that supported communities of artists are dying: museums, galleries, newspapers and real-life publishing, concert halls and opera houses, movie theaters and playhouses...so how can an artist make a profit off of their art, when there is no audience, no group of people willing to pay money for it?
Maybe I'll find an answer to this question, but I don't see one right now. People have to make a conscious decision to support the arts, people have to abandon their laziness and make the extra effort to leave the privacy of their homes to see that movie, or hear that performance. It seems that is a lot to ask of the generation wearing iPhone-shaped blinders, who cannot experience anything if it doesn't manifest as a digital image at their fingertips.
Yes, I can admit to using youtube and google to look at art, to watch a movie clip or read a poem. But I am left feeling empty, as if I had no real connection to the art, and it stirs a desire for further interaction. If I see a painting by Frida Kahlo online, I resolve to someday see that painting in real life, to cough up the dinero to squint at the brushstrokes and experience something that I will remember for a long time. I can tell, though, that a lot of people out there are satisfied by simply googling whatever art they fancy and shooting a quick glance at it while their feature film downloads.
To say nothing of the profound expense of human interaction. How are we to relate to one another, to empathise and have compassion, when there is no need for the human touch, the face-to-face experience? How can we call ourselves a community when we rarely commune, when we are content to pile into our giant destructive SUVs and spend our days zooming from cozy garage to cozy garage, plying the children into gaping silent apathy as they stare at the DVD players in the backseat? How are we to enjoy good conversations when every restaurant's wall is covered in television screens (St. Clare, pray for us) and we have every opportunity to abandon our loved ones for the siren song of constant image stimulation? To me, technology is like caffeine or cigarettes, a common drug that keeps us feeling calm and satiated, lest we forget the impending emphysema, heart attack, or lung cancer that looms with each little sin committed. So we indulge in the instant gratification that our internet can provide, again and again, for free, and we take it and all the work that is poured into it daily for granted.
A society loses its identity without arts and culture. And likewise, an economy suffers when the institutions of arts and culture aren't supported by active, engaged, thinking individuals. Can you imagine visiting New York without seeing a Broadway show? Or driving through a Hollywood with no movie stars, with no acting talent to admire? Yet that is what we sacrifice, every time we download a movie for free, or youtube a scene from Wicked. And while Broadway and Hollywood may be safe due to their size, age, and enduring appeal, Denver's arts district may not be so lucky.
Are we going to take ownership of our humanity, our communities, our fellow human beings, or are we going to stay behind the screen, for convenience's sake? I can tell you that it's not very convenient for me to spend months creating art only for it to receive a passing glance, and not a cent for my efforts. When I create art I do it to enrich my community, but I cannot do that without economic support. None of us can. We have to eat, and live, and food, unfortunately, is not something that we can download for free...yet.
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2 comments:
Very well put Katie. I agree with you and it is sad. I am in the process of writing hand written letters because I think that is becoming a lost art. You take care. Love, Linda
Linda Paulsen that is!!
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