🔴 NEW DIRECTION Ed. No. 12 / ENCOURAGING THE SUBSTANCE OF ART
[ RESPONSE 31/05/24 TO THE CITY OF SYDNEY'S INVITATION
TO COMMENT ON THEIR PROGRAMME OF ARTS GRANTS ]
Dear City of Sydney Grants people,
ENCOURAGING THE SUBSTANCE OF ART
Thank you for providing the space here for comment and having these grants available in the first place. No doubt many have benefitted from this Local Government support over many years now.
I’m sure too that it is difficult to make the “rightest” decisions (whatever that means?) when assessing one artist’s work over another. It can be all so subjective.
It is understood that with Government organisations any fund allocations need to be accountable.
But I’m finding that we seem to be making a more complex world by the day.
Truly a person needs to do a University Degree to understand any particular area of expertise in our world today…including Grant Applications where I believe Council now offers the help of City staff with these applications. Just too much!
I filled out a Medicare Claim for a $50 reimbursement the other day and wouldn’t have been surprised if they had asked the colour of my underwear!
How complicated can we make life for ourselves? Creativity needs the space to generate itself.
As an artist I find the whole process of the present set up of the grants system alone too weighty and burdensome. Not to mention the frustration of dealing with all levels of a society determined to economically rationalise everything down to crossing every “T” and dotting every " i ". I’m used to getting on with it rather than dealing with all the bureaucracy.
I know that leaves me open to the response that maybe I need more a framework of discipline in my life. And I’d agree that a framework of some discipline can be actually helpful to artists. But is it all getting out of balance presently? i.e. Is there too much focus on the administration and not enough space for the creativity.
May I cite ‘Cloud Arch’. From what I can see too much entangled complexity strangled this project causing it to be shelved (for the time being). Have we made a world that is stifling its own creativity? Are our priorities as a society skewed towards bureaucracy and a dollar focus?
Having worked for both Private and Government Organisations I am only too well aware of the pressures on being creative. In my case running reasonably large exhibition projects.
I’m wondering if the ever increasing administrative bureacracy that we all contribute to creating is actually squashing the possibility of more creative things happening not only in the City of Sydney but generally everywhere. Do our values need to change?
The upcoming City Talk “Making Space For Culture - The Future of Sydney's Creative Economy” certainly is prescient.
At the age of 70 I reckon I’ll keep what energy I have for being creative on my own personally geared artwork projects rather than face the wall of bureaucracy filling out forms ad infinitum.
Form filling has become an art form in itself. It shouldn’t be. Simplicity is divine.
Are our artists who really do have something to offer being forced underground?
Who knows that in itself may well be the grist that produces some impacting statements?
Artists can bring clarity but who’s listening when too many are lost in the fantasy of the “Married at First Sight Brigade”?
Kind regards,
Neville Williams
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Your constructive comments and feedback are welcome here or yoo can write direct to: n.b.williams@optusnet.com.au