“FUTURE is in the MARGINS”
Haslam’s lecture was completely and utterly inspirational to me. Having always felt like a bit of an outcast at school or not within the realms of ‘popularity’ it was reassuring to hear Haslam’s argument that all big cultural changes come from the outskirts far away from the dreaded throngs of ‘mass culture.’
Approaching the lecture from a musical standpoint he constantly emphasised the point that “mainstream culture is sadly lacking” and that there is no reason why the masses should buy into it other than the fact that it is ‘popular.’ He completely dismissed the ‘popular’ as homogenous, predictable and most of all in this area the dismay at the fact that “nothing weird ever happens.”
While he said all of this- it was hard to sit there and not think- “Well.. I already know all of this? What more is there to say?!”
I was satisfied when he moved on to talk about the importance of SPACE both geographically and culturally to counteract the popular mainstream culture and to survive. To illustrate this point he used the example of Joy Division who we know now as one of the great British bands but at the time pulled crowds of no more than 300- less than 70 at their first gigs. What I got from the lecture was less about this need to create an alternative culture, but more to stay true to yourself; working out what is personally uncompromising to you because only there in that space will you create ‘good work.’ Is it really worth sacrificing your creative soul to be popular or immediately successful? To earn lots of money?
In this sense it got me thinking about what this idea of space could mean to me- where could I be surrounded by like-minded, weird&wonderfully motivated people, which led me on to thinking about forming a collective that contradicted the norms of the idea.
As an artist you are always told that this is something that naturally occurs after university to help you with your careers, but really if you are passionate about art- whether in high-school, sixth form, college or university- this is something that should be encouraged to build an early social support before you have become a developed artist.
“THE POWER OF THE CELL- How a tiny group of disaffected outsiders can create a sensation, or a movement, or even change the world.”
What’s more, I’m really interested in art outside of the gallery/stereotypical exhibition space and what these experiences should be like or could be like if they were aimed at ”ordinary” people. I see multi-disciplinary as the way forward, which is probably a big change that has occurred since studying interactive arts. So why not form a collective out of the odds and ends from all artistic disciplines- musicians, poets, actors, painters, artists, film-makers- because really I can’t think of anything much more inspirational!
… Just an idea.
Lucy Illingworth Art 