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STARVING ARTIST. Have you ever heard the expression? It has almost become
lost in antiquity.
In days gone by an artist had a passion so strong that the art was more
important than life itself, and many artists did indeed starve, or the passion
subsided to the point that reality came into the picture, the artist got
a day job and thereby survived. Many enjoyed the largesse of Patrons who
commissioned art for their personal enjoyment. Time has brought much of
that product to the eyes of the world via museums. The rest earned their
bread by selling to the Public either through dealers or directly. In either
case, the income tended to be minuscule because there was very little money
available in society for the support of the arts.
Then governments began to collect money from the Public in the form of taxes.
They collected from Patrons too but it really didn't bother them. The governments
also had to spend the taxes. They also believed (correctly) that the arts
tended to sooth the beast in the nature of Man (read Paternalism) and that
they would fund the arts on behalf of the Public; the Patrons continued
as before. Wow! The art community stopped starving. They had their own support
programs just like the unemployed, the unemployable, those who lived where
there was not any work and those who wanted to earn a living by doing that
of which they were incapable. Life was good.
Time marched on. History continued to repeat itself. Governments pretended
to pay attention to the wants and wishes of the Public as they continued
to do their own thing. They lost their perspective of where the Public was
at and where it wanted to go.
Economists can tell you, with some certainty, anything that you want to
know about the past. So can historians, anthropologists and archaeologists.
Nobody can tell you, with certainty, anything about the future. (Read "The
Third Wave" by Alvin Toffler). However, it is not too difficult to
speculate on tomorrow; next week is foolish.
Let us contemplate a few of the more notorious statements of our times:
Governments carry out the wishes of the public.
In a democracy, the public decides the issues.
A duly elected government is a dictatorship until the next election.
Governments raise taxes and spend them for the good of the public, not special interest groups, and certainly not for their own political benefit.
Accountants and lawyers labour for the benefit of the public to whom they have a moral responsibility, not just for their personal benefit.
Do not worry, the government will look after you.
Our income tax system is structured so that both the Patrons and the Public
can obtain some relief from taxation on the money spent to support the arts.
The more one spends, the more the relief. There are limits. The Patrons
really don't need the relief for they spend for reasons different to those
of the Public. The system is used primarily for social engineering and money
reallocation and has lost its original objectivity.
During our difficult financial times in Canada brought about by our governments,
at every level, spending tomorrow's income today, vote-getting expenditures
will not be curtailed while those of little political merit will be decreased.
It is important to realise that the vast majority of the tax revenue comes
from the pockets of the Public, not the Patrons. There is little complaint
from the Public when cutbacks occur in areas in which they are not inconvenienced.
The time of the STARVING ARTIST is once again upon us. There are three alternatives:
find a Patron; operate as a businessperson; or starve.
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