Artists vs. Obnoxious Bastards: 5 Questions.
I’ve always felt that there’s a huge cultural chasm, something bordering on Marx’s conception of class-defined relationships between social groups with less (but certainly with no absence) of a purely economic basis, between people who act like completely ignorant fucks at concerts and those with the capacity to understand what’s going on.
Well: check this out.
This piece, by Tim Shia (of The Worst Pop Band Ever, and other groups) digs into this chasm – or pours salt into a chasmic open wound – in a very profound way. It’s about his experience playing at the Rex while a bunch of City Hall politicos and journalists were having a shmooze and cock fondle session. What went down was ugly:
Being the premier jazz club in the city, the players on the stage included Juno winners that have performed with everyone from Chantal Kreviazuk, Blue Rodeo and Wynton Marsalis, performing original music that’s been commissioned by The National Film Board, the Governor General Awards and even the UN. However, the assembled masses talked through the whole performance, commandeered the stage without a word to the band during the set break and about half the assembled party begrudgingly gave $2 or less in change when the tip jar went around to collect the pay-what- you-CAN cover . A few even disdainfully refused to pay (these journalists and politicians were obviously facing hard times despite their spiffy business suits and dresses). Oddly enough, those that weren’t there for the retirement party and were there for the music gave between $5 and $10, including an enthusiastic group of high school music students from Israel.
…a stupid son-of-a-bitch named David Nickle, who organized the boor party, followed up with an “apology” which is the most painful expression of clueless entitlement I’ve ever had the misfortune to read. You can check out this disgrace in the original post, as well as Shia’s obviously-through-clenched-teeth response.
What makes this piece so striking is the unbelievable restraint in Shia’s writing about this. There’s a lot of anger in it, but his reaction is so profoundly dignified and generous. I know I wouldn’t have anywhere near his self-control under these circumstances and I admire it – both for its basic decency and for how his intelligence, reason, and respect for others’ positions highlights the lack of those qualities in the people he was dealing with.
It’s a situation that everyone who cares about the arts has encountered often enough. But this time it was a group of people who’ve exercised a pretense of being “supporters of the arts” who were behaving like boorish assholes.
It’s sad, but is it surprising?
I don’t think so. And I want to explore this question a bit. I’m going to be discussing these concepts on a future What’s All This Then?! podcast:
1) What does the word “entertainment” mean in defining relationships in live settings. Think about it: “being entertained” is one of a lot of ways to describe an audience’s interaction with live performance. Some others are “entralled” “upset” “interested” “engaged” “bored” or “disgusted”. All those mean different things than “entertained”. Do you expect to be “entertained” by art?
2) Do the people and organizations that exercise influence over who/what/why/where/how art is presented have a moral interaction with artists? Does the fact that artists depend on their goodwill make that impossible? Are artists stupid and craven fuckers for accepting this situation?
3) Where does the question of economic and social class come into this?
4) What general qualities and influences shape the attitudes of the obnoxious bastards who show up at concerts with the tacit understanding that they’re the centre of the world?
5) How should artists react to these motherfuckers?
After I get the second half of my interview with Bob Wiseman up (should be tonight) I’ll get onto this podcast. It’ll probably be my first show with an iTunes “explicit” tag, so hide yer kids.
Comment here with your thoughts about this and it’ll help me shape that show.
And: Tim Shia – all props to you for how you responded to this.
Tags: audience, David Miller, David Nickle, jazz, Jennifer Lewington, marx, obnoxious bastards, the rex, Tim Shia, Toronto, What's All This Then?!
