I've been hanging back, trying to make my mind up about this.
First I'm all for Art. It can uplift the spirit.
True it's not essential to keeping our bodies alive, but this is where I believe we sometimes get our values the wrong way round.
Do we exist to function or to live?
Functioning here is feeding, surviving, having a home.
Living is feeling good and having a high self esteem. The image of a mouse preening itself , sending the message to the cat four feet away "Catch me if you can", comes to mind.
Materially, 99.9% of us in Britain are well off.
"What?" You reply.
Compared to those in Pakistan that are still suffering the aftermath of the floods we are very well off - even those of us that experienced the floods here.
If we could get out of winging mode, we would realise we have all we really need.
What upsets us is feeling hard done by; in other words we feel that "other people" are having a better deal than ourselves.
Alright, look at it this way:
I know people in Ulverston that are living very fulfilled enjoyable lives with very little money and in cramped homes.
So Art. What place does it have.
It can lift the spirit; make us smile, feel good. This after all is far more important than owning things and having money. Art is something that can make us feel alive - to LIVE.
Does this free book do that.
For me it doesn't - it's a missed opportunity. £30,000 spent on the wrong thing.
For me it's an ego trip for the artists who produced the book and doesn't seek to make Ulverstonians feel good.
Had it been a compilation of pictures of colour that we had taken, painted, chosen then it would have been about us. The claim that it resulted from our input is very tenuous and in my opinion fabricated.
The art is too top down ie:
The Lantern House comes up with some artists that express themselves on our behalf. Art comes to Ulverston and we are supposed to appreciate it. They come down from on high and deliver to the plebeians.
On reflection, I would have preferred people to come to us and help us to express ourselves. The book - and it needed to be something to be proud of could have been about the expressions of art of Ulverston People themselves and we could have all wondered and been encouraged by what was inside the heads of the person next door. We could have been asked "What things do you see that have an amazing colour?" I might have replied "The shades of bluey grey that come out of the early morning mist as I look out of the window on a wet day"
I could have then been asked "Can you capture this in a photo?"
Some would reply "No, but I'll try. " or "Would you try to do this for me"
Then we'd have a collection of what was important to individuals in Ulverston - the time and effort of the Lantern House people would have concentrated in helping us express ourselves in a way we were proud of.
Instead we have a book that few of us will bother looking at. We may find a use for it but it won't be as a book. Why should I spend my time to look at a collection of pictures that someone else has chosen.
They are their ideas not mine.
Once again the Lantern House has done something that few people can identify with.
The activities that I appreciate are those that help me develop and enable me to be able to give something of the art that inside my head to others.
The kind of thing that has succeeded to do this has been the Lantern Procession - well done the originators at the Lantern House.
Some times you get it right, sometimes not.
I have no problem with £30,000 spent on Art especially in these hard times when we need cheering up and made to feel good. It was what it was spent on I didn't like.
What did other people, who were involved with the project, think ?
I know one of the people mentioned in the list at the back - I'll ask her.
5 comments:
Yet more money wasted by them wanna be hippies down at the welfare state,how much money did they get from the lottery what happen to that money,i didn't see any of it been spent in ulverston
I rather like 'hippies'; especially those that think 'out of the box'.
That is more or less what I said in my comment in the on-line local paper. BUT I did not know it cost £30,000
Good heavens, that could have made a huge difference to some of the folk who work their fingers to the bone to help beautify the town, put on splendid displays or run big local events. Even Geoff's workshop provides more artistic expression. As I said in my comment, a book of pictures done by children would have been more appreciated. Or even a book of local photographs — that could be a real cracker. But need in many quarters is too great to give away anything that is not wanted. Who has really benefited from this exercise?
I myself had been wondering about doing a project with children to produce their stories in a book. I would have relied on sales to cover the cost of printing. I certainly would not have imposed it onto every household in the town. Wherever that £30,000 came from surely it boils down to rates and taxes.
How on earth was the project sanctioned? No wonder the Government is cracking down on this sort of thing.
I only hope each household enjoys its £6 worth of coloured paper (some photos are good), although the blind and part-sighted can't do much with it. I think we should have at least been asked if we wanted the book.
Where can we take the book if, now we have looked through the pages, we don't wish to have it hanging around? I hate to see anything wasted. Maybe schools could use the paper for craftwork? Or would it be best to put it in the Lantern House letterbox?
Maybe I am just too old and feeble to appreciate this kind of artistic expression thrust upon us, but I'm sure I am not alone.
This is a case for Anon but I'll give Geoff my name.
Thanks,
Name supplied
I agree that this project raises big questions.
I am beginning to understand it a bit better having talked to several people including those at the Lantern House.
See my subsequent posting.
Posting your books back through the Lantern House letter box seems the appropriate thing to do.
Maybe their creative talent will enable them to come up with an art project that won't cost anything.
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