Time Step

In response to Saul Davis, quote:

"That is why I think New York City is dead as a capital for the arts. One cannot be productive if you have to live an hour or more away from where you need to be or go to participate in the community of your field, and spend two or three hours a day commuting."

I'm incredibly tired of hearing artists blame economics on the fact that they're not making art. It's always been hard to make art in this country and it always will be. Yes, "tough times" are defined differently depending on the era you're living in, but so what? There's no comparing.

If you enjoy NYC in its entirety, live here. If you like making art AND living in NYC, then do both. Make it happen. Sure, tons of art is presented/produced here, but no one is in the dark about the fact that there are thriving, fascinating and, in some ways, superior art scenes happening in other places in the country and the world.

If NYC is dead as a "capital for the arts" the artists who have and currently live here are just as responsible for the de-capitation as anyone else. Truly creative and visionary people find a way to make what they make no matter where they are. End of story. Becoming and remaining an artist requires resiliency and constant reinvention of HOW you get your work done. Have we forgotten that fact in our largely technically-assisted lives? Or have Americans become so expert at making things "look" easy that we just gloss over the definition of hard work and end up feeling that everyone else in "the other" industries has it easier than we do?

Have we forgotten that adaptation is required for survival? Maybe that means you nix touring and only perform in your home studio, working on building community and support right where you live. Or maybe it means your work becomes virtual. Maybe it means you switch to a cheaper or more easily accessed medium for a while. Maybe you get some other skills and then parlay your art into a full-time "sell-out" job (only those unwilling to reinvent would even use the term sell-out)where you get to spread your gospel to those who you've never dreamed of talking to before. If you've got something to say you'll find a way to say it and a way to get your word out.

Bottom line: I'd like to see more artists taking a time out for revolutionary reinvention rather than bitching about "unjust" policies or how everyone needs more funding. I vote for funders to start giving artists grants to STOP making art. With that money you have to go do something COMPLETELY different for a year. Anything. Grow broccoli. Learn html and make websites. Pick up garbage by the river. Be a nanny. Bike across the country. Whatever. Just bring something new to the table when you're done.

That is why I think New York City is dead as a capital for the arts. One cannot be productive if you have to live an hour or more away from where you need to be or go to participate in the community of your field, and spend two or three hours a day commuting. It makes more sense to move to Philadelphia, New Haven, Scranton or some other city around the country where the arts can thrive, albeit on a smaller scale. The point comes where it is just not worth it to live in New York, and for me that point came in 1994, when I moved to Philadelphia.
It is already changing here, to the point that an artist cannot live in Center City, but the cheaper neighborhoods are still very close, in some directions, and there is ample post-industrial space for lofting. What Manhattan should do is set aside a corner as an arts district, such as a corner of Harlem or Morningside Valley, and fill it with living/working space for accomplished artists of all types. But it is probably already too late for that.

And now we have all these fabulous blogs to keep up with too!