![\"artist\"](\"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/wp-content\/uploads\/2009\/11\/artist.jpg\")
<\/p>\n<\/p>\n
There was a time when the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcacademic artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was synomonous with a certain conservatism and use of traditional strophes that reflected the academic virtues of fine handling of paint, drawing of a certain standard and a certain \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcresemblance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to the world of the viewer who would recognise the metaphors and the world that produced the works. A \u00e2\u20ac\u02dchang\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 may be as crowded as the Rowlandson of Somerset House but like the Royal Academy Summer Show one knew what one was getting.<\/p>\n
Now the phrase has more chance of pertaining to an altogether more insubstantial, less skillful and frankly bizarre world\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..for now we have a new breed of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcinstitutional academic artists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. These strange hybrid creatures (neither fish nor fowl) have realised that their \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcpractice\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 ( a cosy word for what they \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 that has jettisoned the need to actually \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 anything) is a fair hothouse flower that could not survive in the cruel harsh winds of UK PLC in a recession. having realised that their slender talents are unbankable in any BRITART fab cash in bank way they are flocking to peddle their wares at the feet of Symposiums and Academic meetings. spitting out acronyms like the funnel of one of Turner\u00e2\u20ac\u2122s Steamships and generally trying to survive by writing as much about themselves and doing as little actual \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcwork\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as in artwork\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 as possible.<\/p>\n
The Botanic Gardens at Kew do not have as rare and flimsy a bunch of Credit Crunch Orchids to maintain as the New Universities (desperate for AHRC money to keep the wolf from the door having spent all the cash the poor students have provided). One cannot turn around these days for collaborative projects, new commissions, artists in residence ( a wide term as will be seen) and lectures by people less able to academicise than actually \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcdo\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 anything. In the past there were often spurious connections to float the poor artist into the academic flow\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
Some artists benefited from a fragile correspondence between their practice and the particular specialism of a department\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6Lace or plastic, car engines, botany..tie-in art flourished and some artists swiftly moved from garrett to academic offices and never left such was the increase in prosperity not to mention the warmth involved.<\/p>\n
Now we are at a fascinating juncture in this process as the wind of time and change starts to blow back on these poor fragile blooms. As the realisation that UK PLC is not only bereft of jobs but the talents to actually do something instead of just talk about doing it University departments are clutching at new straws\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6economic development and regeneration are the key.<\/p>\n
From talking about their practice these hybrid \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcAcademists\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 are now spouting a whole new range of acronym driven homilies\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.again to keep their place in the warm flowerbed\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.it is too cold out in Real Land..too many redundancies too few opportunities.<\/p>\n
So as the recession bites maybe one would expect the chill wind to produce some hardier perennials..maybe a return to some of those traditional practices and skills as mentioned in the old concept of \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcThe Academy\u00e2\u20ac\u2122. No not a jot of it\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
No it appears we will wait in vain for hardy snowdrops to bloom in their stead.<\/p>\n
I have recently trawled through some academic notions of practice and whilst many reduce the brain to a sponge and yet others begger belief both in description and action none so far has matched my latest prize\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..<\/p>\n
An artist who shall remain nameless is speaking at a destination which alack shall also remain anonymous
\non his revalatory practice of\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p>\n
\u00e2\u20ac\u02dcPouring special brew on a station platform and shouting\u00e2\u20ac\u2122<\/p>\n
I wish dear reader that I could be making this up\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6but alas it is true. Said artist manages to not only stupify with the nonsensical act but then to explicate it in almost Johnson like hyperbole\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.Dear friends what looks like the drunken action of a immature less than gifted imposter is in fact art..and not only art but art of a high order..art that bears a direct descendance form the Greek Gods and Hermes himself and yes from a tradition of lay preaching\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p>\n
This is where we are good kind people mouthing platitudes and accommodating gibberish in the name of art\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6.<\/p>\n
I may not know much about art but I do know many kinds of shit when it travails the ear and this is 100% genuine bullshit and some of our academic institutions live and breath this kind of nonsense\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6..so far\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6<\/p>\n
Methinks a little pruning in the gardens of the comfortably well off not amiss\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and soon.<\/p>\n
Maybe then some of those real blooms and real skills can blossom without choking in the avant-garde weed-beds of edification, explication and plain verbose drivel\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6and we can leave that to rot like any good remnant of verdure on the roots of the finer arts.<\/p>\n
And a handy gardening tip if it smells like shit it probably is\u00e2\u20ac\u00a6treat with caution and dig it under whenever possible.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
There was a time when the phrase \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcacademic artist\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 was synomonous with a certain conservatism and use of traditional strophes that reflected the academic virtues of fine handling of paint, drawing of a certain standard and a certain \u00e2\u20ac\u02dcresemblance\u00e2\u20ac\u2122 to the world of the viewer who would recognise the metaphors and the world that produced […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[76,5,6,8,79,11,14,16,19],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-963","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-academia","category-art","category-art-criticism","category-art-review","category-arts-council-england","category-blogging","category-credit-crunch","category-economic-crisis-and-art","category-galleries","post-preview"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=963"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":1156,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/963\/revisions\/1156"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=963"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=963"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/shaunbelcher.com\/criticism\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=963"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}