Re: [microsound] Re: NEED FOR MORAL SUPPORT

[Derek Holzer <derek@xxxxxx>]

John,

I think more artists, curators and critics than just in Sweden are outraged. 
This call for support has gone out on at least three lists that I am a member 
of, and who knows how many more... In the States, it was "incidents" like these 
which were created and then manipulated by certain very conservative 
politicians which led to the absolute evisceration of the National Endowment 
for the Arts. You are correct, completely and utterly, in your correction 
that "Blind Date" is hardly the issue. Cowardly art institutions are, and this 
is one thing that still gives transgressive works such a strong mandate, even 
after the glut of "shock-art" which emerged in the 90's (and which "Blind Date" 
preceeds by many years). 

I wish you the best of luck,
Derek


Quoting jduncan@xxxxxxxxxxxxxx:

--> >in the interest of keeping this a fully informed discussion, here is an
--> >excerpt from a lecture at the Kapelica Gallery in Ljubljana, Slovenia,
--> in
--> >1997, on the subject of Duncan's "controversial" work, "BLIND DATE".
--> 
--> To this I'd like to add that a fully informed discussion would have to
--> include the actual issue involved.
--> 
--> BLIND DATE is simply a catalyst that's exposed one organisation's
--> cowardice
--> toward the possibility of adverse publicity, dictating what is and is not
--> 'acceptable' according to imagined scenarios that may or may not actually
--> happen.  Organisations that demand conformity from the artists they
--> support
--> are actually shaping the artists' work, stifling it.  Artists who adapt
--> their work to conform to such demands are accepting this, permitting
--> others
--> to tell them what to do and think, allowing themselves to be stifled.
--> 
--> In legal terms, the IASPIS board has arbitrarily and arrogantly violated
--> their contract, based on their own negligence in researching the artists
--> they choose to support.  They actually admit this, in the subsequent
--> press
--> coverage that they tried to desperately to avoid, that their actions have
--> in fact guaranteed.  In practical terms they've caused me to suffer for
--> their acts, including the press coverage, and now appear intent on
--> continuing to do so in order to establish some sort of ethical or moral
--> 'foundation' to justify them.
--> 
--> In a single phrase the issue is this:
--> 	This can happen to you, if it hasn't already, more easily than you
--> may like to think.
--> 
--> Artists, curators and critics in Sweden confirm daily that they are
--> outraged by this episode, shocked at what their flagship art support
--> institution has evolved into.  They're continuing to coordinate actions
--> to
--> defy IASPIS' actions as publicly as possible, with a sense of restrained
--> focus and dignity that is frankly humbling.
--> 
--> Whether or not this topic is worth further discussion is up to you to
--> decide.
--> 
--> For your information, the compete documentation on BLIND DATE, including
--> a
--> link to the text by Kristine Stiles for the 'Out of Actions' catalogue,
--> is
--> available at http://www.johnduncan.org/blind_date.html.  Documentation on
--> all events including recent work is available at
--> http://www.johnduncan.org/eventmenu.html
--> 
--> John Duncan
-->