But Is It Art?

compassion and so forth, and obviously any coherent view of British identity would have to include all this. Though he stresses Britain's history, his view of it is largely free of the Thatcherite gloating over how the country civilised the 'immature races' in Asia and Africa and "saved' the rest of Europe from its internal barbarians. The bulldog that figured in Labour's election broadcast was not intended to be John Bull's nostalgic imperialist emblem. Blair's government has also repeatedly talked about an inclusive Britain, and the priority it has given to the work of its social exclu sion unit reflects this concern. n spite of its obvious virtues, the Prime Minister's vision remains sketchy and inadequate. At times, he too tends to see national identity as a waIy to sell Britain abroad, and concen trates on its narrow economic gains rather than its domestic moral and political value. I am not sure either that calling Britain theory, the Marxism and post-structuralism young when a quarter of its population is which they might have come across in their over 60 offers a sufficiently inclusive vision training. Tracy Emin's stated enjoyment of of it. Nor am I convinced that we should 'doing' Marxism and feminism at art college strive to become a beacon to the world or is touched with irony. Her tent owes more its moral leader as the Prime Minister pro to the 'girls just wanna have fun' humour of posed during his address to last year's Lab But Is More magazine than it does to her feminist our Party Conference. If others find some elders, Cindy Sherman or Mary Kelly. thing worth learning from the way we solve The yBas reject the seriousness of the our problems, we should be pleased. But to political art and photography of Camera imagine that we have some special talents work, Victor Burgin and Ten Eight maga in this area and that the rest of the world zine like, and also the generation of black should look to us for guidance is to invite It Art? British artists whose work began to appear disappointment and the charge of hubris. Forget the tortured soul in a in galleries from the mid-1980s- Chila Bur- Although the Prime Minister has pas man, Mitra Tabrizian, Sonia Boyce, David sionately complained about inadequate garret, today's artists are fully Bailey, Keith Piper and film-maker Isaac minority representation in the upper eche Julien — all of whose work engaged at some lons of our major political, economic signed-up members of the level with cultural theory, with questions of and other institutions, his vision of Britain cultural mainstream. identity and with new ethnicities. Nor is does not appear to be fully sensitive to cul there any sign of the whole wave of art tural plurality. It is intended to open up Angela McRobbie treads work which developed in relation to the cri spaces for minorities within the dominant the path from Bohemia sis of Aids and HIV. structure rather than to broaden its Some critics, notably John Roberts, cultural base, to create greater opportuni to Big Business have argued that this disengagement with ties for members of minority communities theory allows a new licentious and profane to rise within the dominant culture rather Philistinism to emerge, particularly as post than to pluralise it in the light of their he Sensation exhibition held at the modern art has become over-institution distinct cultural sensibilities. Blair's Royal Academy in London last alised. The cynical, apolitical indifference, search for the 'Third Way' has a strong year demonstrated how the work as well as the weary, not to say tawdry, dis economic and political dimension but little of 'young British artists' is now engagement of many of the pieces (Sarah cultural content. It is not adequately Tphenomenally successful and simultaneous Lucas' soiled mattress with phallic-shaped embedded in a searching critique of the ly less special. With Damien Hirst's magnif fruit pieces casually thrown on top, or, for shallow moral culture thrown up by most icent shark on display to greet the visitors, that matter, Tracy Emin's tent) certainly western societies. contemporary conceptual art suddenly, and says something about how art now per All this may perhaps explain why Blair's spectacularly, crashed through the barriers. ceives itself and where it also places itself. vision of Britain has not fully resonated Sculpture could be something that was sim Acknowledging, and even endorsing, what with the ethnic minorities. It has not in ply interesting to look at. Kobena Mercer has described as the 'vul spired and mobilised them on a large scale, The new brand of art - spearheaded by garity and stupidity of everyday life', this is or led him to do for them what he has done Hirst but envisaged and endorsed by the casual, promiscuous, populist art which for women. whole group now known as the yBas - bold wishes to be repositioned within the chat- Women fit into Blair's vision of Britain, ly declares that art is no longer the preroga show world of celebrity culture, alongside the ethnic minorities do not and require a tive of the elite, and its less special status the sponsorship deals, inside the restau greater imaginative effort. Although it is warrants more attention. Not that we are rants and at the very heart of consumer generous in its spirit and points in the witnessing a new democracy or a radicalisa- culture. This is art made for a prime-time right direction, it needs to be deepened tion in the field of art. The young British society, where daytime TV encourages the and broadened.* artists distance themselves from all the art parading in public of private misfortunes 55 MARXISM TODAY NOVEMBER/DECEMBER 1998 ('My wife weighs 900 pounds' was the title boundaries of gender, class and ethnicity. While the explosive intensity of punk hur of one recent Jerry Springer show). Expo Rather than be startled by the new com tled towards the violent deaths of Sid and sure and confession are recurrent themes mercialism in art, we should recognise how Nancy, the yBas disavow such extremity. It in Sensation. The power of the popular slow to understand it an older generation of is as though neither life nor death are worth media to penetrate every moment of our social and cultural theorists has been. Now the effort of thinking or reflection. daily lives makes the tabloidisation of art there is a determination to stick the course The connection with youth culture leads inevitable. rather than give up and retrain, which the to the third unifying feature, which is the It is tempting, but not entirely satisfacto 'Art has got majority of fine art graduates did in the past. impact of rave and club culture and the ry, to explain all this on the grounds that off its What do we expect of an art show? Is it effects of Ecstasy. The extension of bodily nowadays art is simply good business, and pedestal, it enough that an exhibition like Sensation pleasures which underpin club culture also that these artists are 'Thatcher's children'. simply invited a degree of curiosity? The presents itself in the art, as does the anti- Liz Ellis has suggested that in this context has relieved artists appeared to be challenging critical intellectualism. The body is the focus of all the new art has reneged on all feminist itself of the judgement. The 'don't care' attitude had attention and the mind is left to lag behind. achievements and shorn itself of all recog burden of the effect of freeing them from the burden There is something of the informality of nisable ethics: it's art as political backlash. distance of being classified in terms of great, good, rave lingo and the crude coloration of rave I'd suggest a slightly different angle on mediocre or bad. party flyers in a good deal of this work. The the yBas. Ensconced inside the consumer and being In an aestheticised culture, art becomes Chapman Brothers' dolls have a drug- culture, less lonely and cut off, the new art expected to another transferable skill; train as an artist induced psychedelic and nightmarish qual simply becomes less important, it down embody deep to become a DJ, work nights in a club and ity about them, and, inevitably, the DJ is the real artist for the yBa generation. In the grades itself as an act of conscious bad and lasting get a commission to do an installation, faith. The Sensation exhibition did not make a video etc. Art can now be pursued series of club nights hosted by the ICA in require the usual quantities of cultural cap values' less grandiosely. And given that there are the Summer of 1997, the artists themselves ital to enjoy it. It did not invoke cathedral fewer traditional jobs to return to, the yBas took to the decks. But this is unexception like silence. It self-consciously staged itself seem to be aware that ducking and diving is al. How many under-30s don't want to be as shocking but was also completely unin- no longer the fate of unqualified working- DJs? The veneration of the DJ is now cul timidating. In this respect art has got off its class males. Sociologists have written ex turally the norm, as the single by the band pedestal, it has relieved itself of the burden tensively about the new world of work, Faithless indicates: God Is A DJ. of distance and of being expected to characterised by risk, uncertainty and tem ourth, and finally, there are the embody deep and lasting values.

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