Sitting Quietly, Observing Keenly, Considering Cautiously
By now it is well known that in a declining/failing economy, the first areas to be affected and/or eliminated are usually in the category of disposable income. Sadly in our capitalistic culture, that list includes all forms of art and music and related miscellany.
The arts are largely funded by endowments, grants and donations form both corporate and government sources. When both corporate and governmental sectors are severely strapped, as both are in this moment, the arts are not considered a necessity.
Griffonage Studios sits quietly as the financial and political arenas continue to storm, crash and hemorrhage. Our current posture is that of a patient cat, waiting and watching as a myriad of frenetic activity surrounds us. What’s next? At this point we honestly cannot say.
While we love both California and Arizona, we fear for the deteriorating government in the United States and the emergent repercussions of such. If November 4 brings more of the appalling federal incompetence which has paralyzed our nation over the past eight years, Griffonage Studios will most likely choose to take up residence in another country.
On the other hand, misfortune often brings opportunity and if a new page is turned in the office of the United States presidency, we may seek to examine whatever new prospects would become available to us, as artists and as citizens.
At the moment, although moving ever closer to a definitive conclusion, the future remains to be seen.
And so we wait.
Sensitively.
Attentively.
posted by griff at 9:36 AM
1 Comments:
It's so sad that with all the research going on and studies showing that the arts are biologically necessary to good functioning, the arts are still considered in the category of "disposable" and "not a necessity."
Those of us in the arts industry must band together and do our best to educate others in the benefits of the arts in our lives. Although my own specialty is music, I love other arts as well and my home is filled with painting, sculpture, functional art, weaving, books, and many other beautiful things, as all our homes should be.
The desire to move to another country is tempting, and certainly France, my most recent home before moving back to the US, calls me with an unceasing siren song.
But this is, as you point out, a time of great opportunity. It's up to us, in the months between the election and the inauguration, to seize power in the vacuum. Bloggers, plurkers, twitterers are changing society; interactive social media and websites allow us to begin to use our power to fill the vacuum with higher-quality content than the mindless drivel forced upon us by corporate-controlled media.
We must inform people how they are being shortchanged by the government, by the corporate-controlled media, by the drivel that passes for entertainment or art. We must take up the reins where the schools and the other sources of information leave off. We must show people that this is not just about feeling good (although feeling good is beneficial to us), but it's about bettering ourselves. The arts are, in fact, the highest form of the American dream, and we must propagate the facts to everyone who will listen.
This holiday season, let's think before we give. Let us all give gifts, according to our means, whether it's a watercolour set, a lump of hand-dug clay and a book on pottery, music lessons, whatever we can, to help those around us understand that art, in whatever form, is vital to us as biological beings, as humans striving for self-fulfillment, as a culture, as a civilization. Let us help set others on the path.
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