Re: Artists and the Recession Survey Results (Keith Hennessy)

Dear Frank & Pow Pow artists

Here is how I responded to the survey

Keith


Keith Hennessy responds to the Artists & the Recession Survey Results
(scroll down for info)

That is, an artist responds to the Survey’s startling revelation that artists are usually low-income and less likely to have health insurance than the general population. Additionally, the survey discovered that if we don’t quit, we tend to thrive in times of crisis. Oh yah and we prefer money to buying stuff and networking.


No personal offense intended to the individual human workers who receive this, but...

The following survey highlights are so ridiculously obvious that the money spent is a rude joke at the expense of art, not in service of art. The consulting fees that paid to find collect this info could have supported my next project, which has been rejected by five granting organizations and is now a dead idea. Probably several projects could have been funded.

Of course artists hold other jobs, have low incomes and don’t all have health insurance! You spent time and money to find this out? Again?

Do you know how insulting it is just to keep filling out these surveys every year or two?And then have the most tired news come back as a highlight.

Of course we think the arts are valuable. That’s why we put up with these conditions.

And yes art thrives in crisis, financial and ethical. Reagan was great for art. An AIDS pandemic during Reagan’s tenure was fucking amazing for art. Calling that an opportunity to collaborate and experiment is just another kind of poke in the eye with a sharp stick.

During the dotcom crash and the artspace crash, many artists lost space and funding streams they’d briefly enjoyed. But the art and non-profit consultants during that time continued to get paid at rates that most artists will never experience. How many art consultants and survey designers don’t have health insurance? You’re not the enemy, but your work could improve if you would hire artists as consultants – not as free survey fillers – to coach you on transitioning to a more activist or criminal pursuit that might end up with more artists getting more money. Yes criminal. I’m imagining Robin Hood. Whether slowly stealing from the organizations you work for doing some spectacular grand thefts, your talents would be much more likely to result in more money going to artists if you stole than if you surveyed.

How many studies do we need to prove that artists and small businesses are better economic stimulants than any government program or corporate appropriation of artist bodies (of work)?

Really. How many?

* * * * *

it took me so long to answer this because of an explosion of performance possibilities, both public and private. And I thought things would slow down when you get old! Maybe blame it on the recession!

Keith, I totally agree with you. Historically we here have done well during recessions on every level. True, some of our sources of money have been cut and cut and cut again just this past year.... And there is no "cost of living increase " because THEY have determined that the cost of living went down this year. [in what reality do they live?] But us artists know how to do things without a lot of money. We here pool our resources together for both living and art making. We are doing reasonably well in both.

Artists have to be adaptable. Most of us live on the edge anyway, so recession is just another thing we have to deal with. On their site, they say artists are underpaid! what are they talking about? A lot of us pay for the doing of the art... Art is an addiction. These people don't understand that. They think art is a moneymaking career that somehow don't make money! They are extremely linear! Most of us have day jobs. Are they saying those jobs are underpaid? True. But most of us don't do those day jobs as ARTISTS, but as art addicts! We get paid not as ARTISTS at Burger King, but as burgers flippers! I think artists should be funded to do whatever art they do. But art is not a moneymaking career! And these crippled yuppies are just spreading distractions!

In Freedom,
Frank Moore