This title was digitized by the Museum of Contemporary Art of Georgia (MOCA GA).
About Contemporary art/southeast. (Atlanta, Ga.) 1977-1980 | View Entire Issue (April 1, 1977)
18 ficallv. making incredible discoveries in the photographic industry. I believe their work is done in associa tion with artists already. EdeK They bought two of my works and employ very sensitive buyers who collect in a very inclusive way; they don't just collect one type of art; they choose work from a very wide range. I think if more and more busi nesses would do this ... and I think it is happening, and I feel very opti mistic about this... JT But you seem very positive about most things ... Edek It's less time-consuming to be an optimist than a pessimist. I don't waste any time worrying ... and I also dislike thinking about obstacles. I like to just push them over and get past them ... But I am not blind to the problems that do exist. And the federal government does have prob lems in funding art: should we simply pay painters to paint? What do we do w'ith the paintings?... JT In the case of the WPA, over 340,000 pieces were produced in the first six years... and they are owned by the people, in the sense that they are part of public buildings. EdeK They could put them in public schools. I feel if the walls of elemen tary schools were full of paintings done by young, unknown artists, it would be very exciting. They're doing it in England. In Leicestershire, I met the director of the elementary schools there and he said that they have the very firm belief that children should be surrounded by the works of young, unknown artists and com posers. It's a great idea, it would be stimulating to the children, it would help the artists, and it is feasible, without turning the funding program into a paint-welfare situation or a direct government subsidy. I do believe in direct government subsidy when it comes to the per forming arts. They absolutely need it. A poet, a painter, or a sculptor, working alone, can somehow manage to get his ideas down. But an actor is not an actor unless he is in a per formance in front of an audience. In Europe, theatre and dance are sub sidized by the government to a much greater extent than in this country. I think opera and concerts and modern dance and theatre and ballet should all have government subsidies. But when it comes to the fine artists, I think it can be done through tax breaks for businesses. JT You're a member of Artists Equity. How successful has this group been with its political goals? EdeK I haven't been an active member. I joined because I feel that if artists would all get together and make themselves felt as a community in Washington, then perhaps something JT EdeK will happen ... When this group of artists came down with their work and spoke in the Georgia Museum (the Jimmy Carter show), I asked them what their attitude was toward Artists Equity, because all of the questions that they raised —the agenda they prepared to be presented with the show as their political state ment—were questions that A.E. has already raised ... and A.E. already has the organization. The trouble is that any three artists that get together have three opinions,and they tend to disagree. But, on the other hand, there are common problems that artists feel could be helped by some kind of government action. So what we need is a more demon strative, cohesive group in Washington—one which is truly representational. In the meantime, all of us are going to just continue doing what we are doing... John Cage once applied for a Guggenheim grant, and he wrote on his application that he needed the money to continue to do what he would do whether or not he got the grant, which reflects, more or less, the attitude of most artists. But, on the other hand, if he has some child ren to support, an artist cannot live hand-to-mouth the way he can as a single person. When survival be comes a matter of full-time activity —that is the point at which many artists begin to not have time to devote to their art. Outside of grants, what alternatives does the artist have? Artists simply have to do something else. They teach, they do electrical work, they do carpentry. But what about the "publish or perish" syndrome in universities? Doesn't acceptance into shows pre suppose an adherence to a certain set of rules? If you are a practicing artist, the chances are great that you will have a certain amount of recognition ... Universities want practitioners, not just people who have studied art or who know how to make it. A univer sity demands nothing of an art _ teacher in terms of changing his way of working. When you take your work to a gallery, you will be dismissed if the gallery has seen the work before. Galleries are looking—exactly—for the new. In fact, there is a whole cult of the new. But, any artist who is at all serious about his work is not affected by criticism. Hopefully this magazine will alle viate some of the problems in the Southeast by establishing a ground work for communication and dia logue among and between artists. EdeK I believe in this—dialogue among and between artists. And this can be a written dialogue between artists in JT EdeK JT EdeK JT different parts of the country. That's why I think the decentralization which is now occurring is extremely healthy. Right here in Athens, there are a lot of good artists—on the faculty, among the graduate students, | young artists coming up through the undergraduate program, and others — there is already a community here, but there needs to be more exchange. | There is a show at the Image Gallery of graduate work, but this is not really | the work of students; this is the work of young artists who are entering the world. It would be exciting if the community would go in and buy these works ... the prices are ridicu lously low. There are large paintings and detailed prints and delicate drawings. Once people have these in their homes they would begin to see, to feel, the excitement that art produces. JT And the young artists wouldn't flock to New York. EdeK I find now that a good number of my students aren't interested in going to New York, or entering the rat race, and they are just going to stay put and work in their own areas. JT In cities like Atlanta, where space and money is being made available to artists, the biggest problem is one of communications. Edek I feel that museums throughout the country are not as sensitive to the artists in their own community. For instance, in Houston, the museum will continually import the same little clique of New York artists to show when there are excellent artists in Houston who are not represented. It's disgraceful that museums don't buy the work of their own communities. JT They build a pedestal on which to present "High Art"... EdeK ... don't have the body to put on the pedestal. There is a phrase which I coined about thirty years ago—now you hear it all over: the "edifice complex!' Communities get together millions of dollars to put up a building—they love the edifice—the "Arts Center"—then there is not one cent left over to purchase any art. So there are things that communities could do... JT But artists need more P.R. men, not just in Washington or the state capitol, but in their own communities. EdeK The artists should jolly well pick up and do their own PR., and take the ball back away from dealers and museum directors. The whole point about art is to amplify consciousness, which is why art has to continually change. It's not that a given kind of art ceases to be valid; we can still be enthralled by impressionist paintings, but we don't want to keep repeating them. We can be influenced by them,
