The title phrase was coined during a heated improvisational discussion about the value of Black Art versus the value attached to Black Creative products in the age of commodification.
And this has been a
nagging dilemma for many thinkers I believe.
But, when we truly
face the music, what are the lyrics to this hymn of libertarian arts and
cultural dilution?
One is often tempted
to quote from a plethora of texts that have tackled the subject in the past,
but in this opinion piece, I would beg to venture into the topic from a purely
synthetic point of view.
A synthesis perhaps of
all the information amassed through reading, be it antithetic or otherwise.
The first question I ask
myself is: “What effect has commodification actually had on creative minds within
the black community?”
Did the free market
system of globalization prepare our artists to be apt assailants of palatable
norms and commercially viable trends, thus allowing them a chance to navigate
within the broader economics of art?
Did the demands of commercialization
mean art had to be marinated for plebeian tastes of the masses, or did the
demands of the masses commercialize and commodify art?
I haven’t any
eloquently outlined answers to these questions, but I acquiesce that I am of
the impression that the scenarios posed above are congruent to how the wave of
capitalist imperialism has been advancing globally.
The privatization of
an entire people’s way of life by a few proprietors is a phenomenon that now
affects all spheres of life, be it from water to shelter and the abandonment of
freedom for security.
But such consistent
violations of human rights can also signify an assault on free expression,
which could eventually become translated into expressions of dissent by the
masses which are not completely free but designed to seem free.
Perhaps a phrase such
as “Freedom-Bound Expressions” will have meaning in future discourse about ideas
of freedom of expression.
And the likelihood is
that that design of an unreal sense of expressiveness is the tool needed by the
powers that be to keep everyone under lock and key – which is not far removed
from ‘the illusion of freedom’ most societies seem comfortable with, under
repressive governments and dogmatic regimes.
But one could also ask,
what is ‘true freedom’ in an age of surveillance technologies and privacy
traded for narcissistic virtual exposure?
In the context of artists
being custodians and practitioners of ‘freedom of expression’, has art produced
by the black creative community become but a mirror that reflects remnants of
egoisms harboured throughout years of deprivation and social excommunication?
Has our creative
output become a mode of acquiring privileges and acceptance within ‘cannons of
true art’, within the power structures that previously censored us?
Does our art mimic
selfish dreams of affluence inherited from shattered dreams which could not be accommodated
within the capitalist dream-machine without compromising dignities?
My answer is NO!
However, there exists
an undeniable trend of ‘artists scouts’ who seem to possess a yard stick with
which they measure the progressivity of art and notwithstanding that art’s
commercial viability within the art-world.
These ‘scouts’ have an
eye for ‘black art that is palatable to white consumption’; they identify niche
techniques, execution media, installations which can be either replicated by white
artists for the white market.
In other cases, they
can go as far as to ‘brand’ a ‘black artist’ who seems not so rough around the
edges, and one who can approximate their expression for the demands of the preferred
consumers.
Now, if black artists
are going to go this route of glossing up their innermost graves and tortured
souls; only then can one say ‘the gentrification of black creative output’ is
the future trend if we want to ‘make money’ through art.
Tom Fleming, UK
consultant and specialist in the cultural and creative industries, speaking in
Prato is quoted as saying "The economic downturn has shown that the
creative industries sector benefits a relatively privileged sector. In a
culturally diverse society, it is the white community, those with social
capital, who are best able to access and participate in the creative
industries".
And I cannot agree
more with this statement because it is lucid and poignant.
The white community’s
insidious inclination towards ‘romaticization before extinction’ or
expropriation is what a small number of black artists are cautiously optimistic
about, because it spell a number of traps laid out for black creative practices
within the industrial complex characterizing the gentrification of black arts.
This elite sector of
society which often possesses expendable income, tend to then inflate egos of
certain artists, buy their artworks for peanuts scavenged often by galleries
through commissions and leave for greener pastures in European or US art
markets.
We all know of the
plunder of colonialism, ‘collectors’ are raking in millions through works ‘solicited’
from ‘indigenous tribes’.
Question is, do black
artists truly long for a separate, uncorrupted sphere of creative articulation
that does not yield to the whims of global corporate patronage?
I am not speaking of
an utopian longing for a discreet space for cultural expression free of corruption
that is explicit and implicit of commodification of the arts, but the
overthrown of the entire cultural order based on supremacist ideologies.
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