{"id":428,"date":"2009-04-14T17:23:33","date_gmt":"2009-04-15T00:23:33","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp\/2009\/04\/the_vancouver_problem\/"},"modified":"2009-04-14T17:23:33","modified_gmt":"2009-04-15T00:23:33","slug":"the_vancouver_problem","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/2009\/04\/the_vancouver_problem.html","title":{"rendered":"Our Vancouver problem"},"content":{"rendered":"

Jen Graves thinks Vancouver B.C.’s art scene tops Seattle’s<\/a>, which is a very Seattle thing to maintain. As long as I’ve lived here, Seattle’s been expert at complaining about itself.<\/p>\n

How real is the complaint this time? Are we San Jose to Vancouver’s San Francisco, or San Diego to Vancouver’s LA?<\/p>\n

If cities could slouch down runways (their tallest buildings serving as hats) or duke it out in boxing rings (their criminals ready with sucker punches), then declaring a winner makes sense. I’d rather think about how Portland, Seattle and Vancouver complement each other than crown one queen for a day. <\/p>\n

Since the issue is on the table, however, there are a few things Graves left out.<\/p>\n


\nMuseums:<\/b> Seattle compares to Vancouver only if the Seattle Art Museum<\/a> disappears. Vancouver has no equivalent. The Vancouver Art Gallery<\/a> compares well with the Henry Gallery<\/a>. Since the former is better funded, VAG often tops Henry, but not always.

Alternative spaces:<\/b> Both cities have reason to commend themselves. A draw, with Seattle’s Western Bridge<\/a> giving it a slight edge.<\/p>\n

Galleries:<\/b> Seattle by a mile. The commercial gallery list in Vancouver is non-existent in comparison.<\/p>\n

Critics:<\/b>
\nBecause Vancouver doesn’t have and never had anything like daily arts
\njournalism that covers the arts, Vancouver BC critics tend to be
\nacademics. Seattle’s are more populist. One can imagine almost all of
\nthem chewing gum as they type. <\/p>\n

Patrons<\/b>: Vancouver has the government. Seattle has collectors. <\/p>\n

Artists: <\/b>Vancouver
\nis far better at defining a character for the artists who live there.
\nVancouver artists are known for their own version of photography-based
\nnarratives and installations that could be bizarre science experiments.
\n(Don’t knock it till you tried it. Having a clear identity is an
\nexcellent thing for the artists who fit into it, not so hot for
\nVancouver artists who don’t.)<\/p>\n

Seattle artists cannot be
\ncorralled into a single identity. While that’s not good for marketing
\n(or collective career building), it’s great for diversity, depth and
\nrange of choice. Can anyone say what the artist identity is in New
\nYork? Of course not. <\/p>\n

Identity politics:<\/b> In the middle
\nof the 20th Century, regional critics found core identities that
\nbrought fame to the artists who fit them: Bay Area Figurative, LA Cool,
\nChicago New Image. It worked well then, but why go back? The problem
\nwith these labels is that they distort more than they clarify.<\/p>\n

What’s the alternative? As Joe Hill was led to his execution, he is
\nsaid to have said, “Don’t mourn for America. Organize.” It’s better to
\nwork together than to pick a winner.  <\/p>\n

Seattle could learn a
\nlot from Vancouver on backing the home team. Seattle museums don’t.
\nMichael Darling at the Seattle Art Museum is best, but he’s not enough.<\/p>\n

Last time I looked, Graves’ story attracted 62 comments. I especially enjoyed this one, from G. Wood:<\/p>\n

\nHere is a pathetic list of the people who can spread the word about the arts in (Seattle):<\/p>\n

Jen Graves–Completely neurotic
\n
Matthew Kangas–Batshit crazy
\n
Regina Hackett–Flighty and distracted
\n
Adriana Grant–An inch a week in the Weekly
\n
Suzanne Beall<\/strike> Beal — Great if you wanna get into fiberarts<\/p>\n

This is a huge problem for Seattle artists. Every successful scene has always had good writers…<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n

Emily Pothast response on Translinguistic Other<\/i> to Graves’ essay here<\/a>.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Jen Graves thinks Vancouver B.C.’s art scene tops Seattle’s, which is a very Seattle thing to maintain. As long as I’ve lived here, Seattle’s been expert at complaining about itself. How real is the complaint this time? Are we San Jose to Vancouver’s San Francisco, or San Diego to Vancouver’s LA? If cities could slouch […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":3,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_genesis_hide_title":false,"_genesis_hide_breadcrumbs":false,"_genesis_hide_singular_image":false,"_genesis_hide_footer_widgets":false,"_genesis_custom_body_class":"","_genesis_custom_post_class":"","_genesis_layout":"","footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-428","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","6":"category-uncategorized","7":"entry"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/3"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=428"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/428\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=428"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=428"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.artsjournal.com\/anotherbb\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=428"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}