Page 15 - Studio International - February 1968

These are the anxieties of all artists in a its two Sotheby's auctions to raise a sum sound of cheques showering on to board­
highly technological society, and cannot which, with the help of the Arts Council, room table ....
be dismissed as reflexes based on an out­ and donations from the other art and But to launch and develop, this policy
moded idea of what constitutes an artist. design societies with which the ICA is needs an injection of capital, first to
But (and this is my second point) both associated at Carlton House Terrace, equip the new place uniquely, then to
writers have to refer to concrete covers the structural conversion costs. make enough people realize it's there-the
experiences outside this country. Cohen The ICA now has a magnificent 6,000- Mall hitherto has been associated with
speaks of Montreal; Lynton lists San square-foot space, ready to become a new State processions rather than with the
Francisco, Cracow, Kyoto. In Britain, kind of artistic crucible. An Arts Council arts. I write these lines the week before
most explorations into this area have had grant covers rent and basic running costs. the Government announces its expendi­
to take place in very unfavourable condi­ The policy of the new ICA involve ture cuts. The Arts Council is fighting
tions. The Homsey Light/Sound Workshop running at least a four-ring circus. An simply to maintain its grant at the present
has been hampered by lack of cash, Mark art-house cinema, showing major first-run subsistence level. One million pounds cut
Boyle has often had to set up and start features. A gallery, equipped both for from the arts would scarcely help the
with little or no rehearsal. Yet both have exciting 'conventional' exhibitions, as balance of payments, but its effect could
produced interesting and exciting work. well as highly unconventional shows. A be catastrophic on a field of activity in
At this time, however, what is holding performance area, for experimental which this country excels. This is nof a
back further development in this area of theatre, dance, music. A sustained propitious time to go to industry for gifts.
exploration, allowing only sporadic hit­ symposium about our society, exploring Maybe the young lions of pop music and
and-run experiments or sideline our pains and joys in continuity and the cinema are our new patrons ....
speculation, is the lack of a centre with depth. Such inquiry rarely happens in the Voices start breaking into my thoughts
the means of production, which, once forums of editorials or television, despite at these crossroads. Like Herzog, I begin
beyond a certain level of sophistication, . all our current self-dissection; the sym- composing imaginary letters in my head.
are too expensive for any single artist to posium could touch precisely those Dear Mr Healey, I imagine you've got a few
own. (Even the underground centres perplexities which are also slipping Buccaneer bombers on your hands now that
which fostered the growth of these through the grid of our educational the South African arms deal is off. We've
experiments have gone: UFO succumbed system. This policy not only responds to got a 6,000-square-foot exhibition space in
to gangsterism, the promoters moved in.) the present dissolving of boundaries the Mall. Until you find a new customer for
In such a centre, which would combine .between the arts: it also representsen the Buccaneers, why don't you lend us one
the equipment of a gallery, theatre and imaginative response to the specific space for a month? We'll put it on show with a
sound studio, it would be possible for at Nash House, and a maximum utilization placard saying THIS IS A BUCCANEER
artists regularly to step off the sidelines of what industrialists would call the plant. BOMBER. IT COST£ ? , A SUM
if they wished, and find out whether they (Now I begin to talk, no longer to Studio WHICH WOULD KEEP THIS ARTS CENTRE
could in fact keep their personal grasp on International, but to The Economist. My RUNNING FOR ? YEARS. More voices in
this audio-visual/happening/public art. voice alters.) 'Such a policy, gentlemen, my ears, voices saying Back Britain, me
This is one of the things the new ICA is the one chance the new ICA has to answering which Britain? whose Britain?
plans to provide. Then we shall be able reach out to a new membership, create a The traffic whips past at the crossroads
to see whether the visual artists' present dramatically increased membership, and avoiding accidents by a hairsbreadth.
fascination with performance is path­ enjoy greater income from a diversified Another voice in my ear, William Blake's:
ological-the result of loneliness; just number of activities. Such a policy, 'Let it no more be said that States
flirtation; or a real love-affair. There gentlemen, can put the new ICA on the Encourage Arts, for it is Arts That
might even be a marriage or two, with the map for a substantial audience (thus Encourage States. Art and Artists are
other arts: my whole point is that at justifying State subsidy) and also, in a Spiritual and Laugh at Mortal Contingen­
present no place exists for such wedding matter of two or three years, reduce the cies. It is in the power of the State to
ceremonies. operating deficit to a manageable size. hinder Instruction, but not to Instruct,
Put it another way. I want the ICA at This four-ring circus policy not only just as it is in their power to Murder a
Nash House to give new meanings to the makes artistic and intellectual sense, it Man but not to make a Man'. Thank you,
word 'show'. Such a 'show-place', such a makes financial sense too. There is no Blake. You're a good guide on this
programme, costs money. The ICA, thanks way on but forwards.' Applause from journey. My head bursts with itineraries.
to the incredible generosity of artists, financial angels and gnomes. Fade out The traffic whips past. The lights are
coll_ectors, and dealers has been able in wishful dream sequence to the deafening permanently green. January 7, 1968

Mark Glazebrook read history at Cambridge, painted Kenneth Martin has been engaged in the field of Corrections
under Kokoschka and at the Slade, and worked at the abstract, constructed and Kinetic art since the late We apologize for the mis-spelling in our January
Arts Council for three years. He is at present the '40s. issue of the names of Herbert Ferber (p. 11) and of
regular art critic of London Magazine. Tony Smith (p. 12) and for the omission of a caption to
Cyril Barrett is Senior Lecturer in Philosophy at George Rickey's sculpture (p. 9).
Eddie Wolfram is a practising painter, and also Warwick University and a frequent contributor to art
works extensively in TV and films as director and magazines.
art director. He has written art criticism for Art and
Artists and Arts Review.

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