{"id":104,"date":"2005-03-25T20:37:00","date_gmt":"2005-03-26T03:37:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/?p=104"},"modified":"2022-10-03T16:13:05","modified_gmt":"2022-10-03T23:13:05","slug":"withered-arts-journalism-in-la","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/2005\/03\/withered-arts-journalism-in-la.html","title":{"rendered":"WITHERED Arts Journalism in LA?"},"content":{"rendered":"

On March 24, 2005, a public forum titled Whither Arts Journalism in LA?<\/em> was held on Olvera street in downtown Los Angeles on the topic of arts journalism in LA. Moderated by Adolfo Guzman Lopez, the panelists included art critics Christopher Knight (LA Times<\/em>), Peter Frank (LA Weekly<\/em>), Malik Gaines (artUS magazine<\/em>), and Caryn Colemen (art.blogging.la<\/em>). The event attracted an audience of nearly 100. In addition to the professional artists and journalists, there were a good number of students, teachers, gallery owners and the just plain curious in attendance. I was present at the forum and have a number of observations to make on the proceedings.<\/p>\n

Ms. Coleman posted a summation of the event on her web log, where she stated: “The panel on Arts Journalism in Los Angeles went really well tonight with only a slight bit of intensity at the end.” That intensity at the end was actually the most revelatory and interesting part of the entire forum.<\/p>\n

The first half of the panel discussion was an examination of current art journalism and where it might be headed, with all panelists generally agreeing that independent art reporting was vital and much needed. Every one concurred that art magazines were beholden to their advertisers, and so no truly impartial voice could be found there. Mr. Knight explained his position plainly enough, \u201cThere\u2019s not a problem with art writing, but with art publishing.\u201d The understated suggestion that culture and art production is controlled or shaped by money warranted further discussion but that wasn\u2019t to be, at least not at this particular forum.<\/p>\n

Things became more interesting when the moderator opened the second half of the event to questions from the audience, and it was here that panelists revealed their bias and the divisions in the crowd were laid bare. This first became evident when a man addressed himself to the full panel and asked \u201cWhat makes good art?\u201d It was an honest question that deserved an intelligent response, but instead the panelists laughed out loud and rolled their eyes, as did a few people in the crowd.<\/p>\n

An evasive response came from Mr. Frank, \u201cIt\u2019s like porn\u2026 I know it when I see it.\u201d While a humorous retort, Frank\u2019s equating art with pornography did nothing to clarify what criteria the panel of art critics uses when judging art. The panel simply refused to consider the question and its implications, with Mr. Knight flatly saying that it\u2019s \u201chard to say what is good or bad.\u201d It seems that in every other sphere of human activity, it\u2019s not difficult to ascertain the difference between superior and substandard work.<\/p>\n

We recognize awful writing, bemoan poorly crafted music, abhor bad science, and make absolutely no excuses for second-rate mechanics, cooks, and doctors. But when it comes to art all things are good and equal. The postmodern ethos of relativism in art prevents condemnation of even the most shoddy and mediocre art works.<\/p>\n

When panel members were asked \u201cWhat artists or art movements do you want to champion?\u201d, Mr. Gaines said \u201cI\u2019ll probably never champion a movement, but I\u2019m interested in the return of craft.\u201d With that I was offered a shred of hope, until I realized Gaines was not talking about skill, talent, or expertise but of \u201ccraft\u201d in the sense of what kindergarten children do when given rudimentary craft materials. Gaines was talking about \u201cconceptual problem solving\u201d using bits of clay, cloth, and found materials.<\/p>\n

At this point Mr. Knight said, \u201cI think we\u2019re in a post-movement world and the critique of institutions is over.\u201d Knight\u2019s statement reminded me of the ridiculous early 1990s axiom that the \u201cThe End of History\u201d had occurred with the demise of the Soviet Union. Former US State Department planner Francis Fukuyama wrote an article in 1989 titled The End of History<\/em>, his contention being that history is directional and its endpoint is \u201ccapitalist democracy.\u201d Fukuyama argued that \u201chistory,\u201d the grand pageant of human political evolution, had come to an end since the big questions had been answered with the fall of the Soviet state. Capitalism had triumphed, constituting the \u201cend point of mankind\u2019s ideological evolution.\u201d<\/p>\n

I\u2019m not certain what type of art world utopia Knight thinks we have reached, where questions of artistic movements and their critiques have become irrelevant, but I profoundly disagree with his line of reasoning. All historic epochs have cynics who pontificate that everything under the sun has been accomplished, and that there are \u201cno more movements\u201d on the horizon. Such proclamations are the clearest sign that all hell is about to break loose.<\/p>\n

Artists have always reacted to the world around them. To declare that we are in a \u201cpost-movement\u201d period while the world is burning is nothing short of delusional. To proclaim that \u201cthe critique of institutions is over\u201d at a time when nearly all institutions are corrupted and crumbling, is to dance with the devil. It is the greatest irony that on Olvera street, just outside the venue that hosted the forum, stands Am\u00e9rica Tropical<\/em>, the now whitewashed revolutionary mural by David Alfaro Siqueiros.<\/p>\n

The panelists became annoyed when a young man in the audience stood to say that \u201cArtists and art critics speak in a specialized language that is not understood by the general public.\u201d He spoke clearly about how contemporary art has alienated people, and that it\u2019s a societal crisis when \u201cmost Americans don\u2019t go to galleries and museums.\u201d Rather than take some responsibility for this admittedly dreadful situation, the panelists preferred instead to morph into the three monkeys\u2014Hear no evil, see no evil, speak no evil<\/em>.<\/p>\n

Colemen declared \u201cI don\u2019t think the general public is interested in art,\u201d Frank quipped \u201cor ever has been,\u201d and Knight cracked \u201c\u2026 or ever will be.\u201d The young man snapped back with, \u201cThat\u2019s a cop-out, it\u2019s your duty to educate people concerning art,\u201d to which the panelists showed unanimous displeasure. Mr. Knight expressed the panel\u2019s obvious consensus, \u201cArt isn\u2019t for everyone, it\u2019s for anyone, and there\u2019s a difference.\u201d<\/p>\n

Again, I take exception to the opinions of Knight and his cohorts on the panel. I believe that art is<\/em> for everyone, and its appreciation is more a matter of acculturation and education than of anything else.<\/p>\n

Cultural literacy is low in the US, not because Americans are uncultured dim-wits, but because there is little in our society that supports the arts. If the corporate press gave as much emphasis to art as they do to sports, you can rest assure that the US would be a very different place. One is not born with the innate skills of reading and writing, these are things that must be taught, so too with the skill of appreciating and understanding art. I believe that the artist, and yes, the art critic as well, must in part help educate people when it comes to aesthetic matters. Who else is there to do this?<\/p>\n

It is a thoroughly elitist world view that sees people as too stupid to enjoy the arts. People have not abandoned art because they are stupid\u2026 they have abandoned it because art<\/em> has become stupid.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

On March 24, 2005, a public forum titled Whither Arts Journalism in LA? was held on Olvera street in downtown Los Angeles on the topic of arts journalism in LA. Moderated by Adolfo Guzman Lopez, the panelists included art critics Christopher Knight (LA Times), Peter Frank (LA Weekly), Malik Gaines (artUS magazine), and Caryn Colemen (art.blogging.la). The event attracted an…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"_kadence_starter_templates_imported_post":false,"_kad_post_transparent":"","_kad_post_title":"","_kad_post_layout":"","_kad_post_sidebar_id":"","_kad_post_content_style":"","_kad_post_vertical_padding":"","_kad_post_feature":"","_kad_post_feature_position":"","_kad_post_header":false,"_kad_post_footer":false,"_kad_post_classname":"","wds_primary_category":0,"footnotes":""},"categories":[22],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-104","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-general"],"acf":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=104"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/104\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=104"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=104"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/art-for-a-change.com\/blog\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=104"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}