Pop Art
Wed, 31 July 2002, 01:18 pmcrgwllms12 posts in thread
Pop Art
Wed, 31 July 2002, 01:18 pmAn article in the New York Times today claims that the number of arts festivals happening nationwide over there has reached a record high of about 3000, drawing audiences of around 130 million.
I roughly estimate those attendances as being about 45% of the USA's population, although it doesn't account for the fact that obviously a much smaller arts-going population must be attending multiple events to give that sort of box office estimate.
And also, that's still only 1 festival every 96,000 head of population.
I wonder what percentage of our population attends arts events? How many festivals do we have in Australia, compared to our population?
And I wonder what sort of similar comparison could be made with the people who attend our traditional form of culture - sporting events?
Is it possible to increase the general status of arts events in Australia? Are we hindered or helped by our smaller population?
Food for thought.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/arts/30SUMM.html?pagewanted=1&todaysheadlines
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
I roughly estimate those attendances as being about 45% of the USA's population, although it doesn't account for the fact that obviously a much smaller arts-going population must be attending multiple events to give that sort of box office estimate.
And also, that's still only 1 festival every 96,000 head of population.
I wonder what percentage of our population attends arts events? How many festivals do we have in Australia, compared to our population?
And I wonder what sort of similar comparison could be made with the people who attend our traditional form of culture - sporting events?
Is it possible to increase the general status of arts events in Australia? Are we hindered or helped by our smaller population?
Food for thought.
http://www.nytimes.com/2002/07/30/arts/30SUMM.html?pagewanted=1&todaysheadlines
Cheers,
Craig
[%sig%]
Re: Pop Art
Wed, 31 July 2002, 07:27 pmI think that at times it can be a bit easy to criticise Australians for being apathetic towards art. Firstly, whilst we don't have a thriving theatre industry over here, I don't know that this is typical of artistic endeavours in general. I remember seeing a survey published in the West Australian not too long back listing artistic hobbies as being up there with sporting events in terms of what people are likely to do with their time. Sure, out of this people were more likely to go to a museum or an art gallery than see a play, but still it does mean that we aren't solely sporting fanatics.
Secondly, I don't think that independent film support in this country is in quite the same dire straits as live theatre. Given the significant number of not quite mainstream films that enjoy commercial success (or at least sufficient support to make them viable) maybe it is the format, rather than the cultural/artistic content that people aren't interested in.
In terms of Australia's (or for that matter Perth's) size making it difficult to support an artistic culture - well, surely that would also apply to the music industry. If a town as small as Perth can sustain numerous professional bands, and produce a quite remarkable number of bands which are known Australia wide, it is all the more disappointing that we can't get the same level of support for live theatre. Frankly I think the question of why do people go to sporting events rather than artistic pursuits is far less significant than that of why a band which has played a handful of gigs can get PAID to play at a venue, whilst independant theatre companies struggle to even find a venue they can perform at.
Given the wider support for artistic pursuits in Australia, I think that it is at times too easy to blame our lack of population for the troubles facing live theatre in Perth. Frankly, if one compares it to the film/music industries, in this country and elsewhere, a better starting point is lack of government or other financial support - there is NO talent-finding equivalent of JJJ whereby new performers/companies are regularly plucked out and discovered - independant companies have to forge their own reputations. Likewise there is no lure of big Hollywood money that we can ride the tail of, like the film industry over east.
The trouble is, for most of us, factors such as large-scale sponsorship or government funding aren't things that we can influence or even count on. Personally, I wouldn't have a clue what an independant company could do to buck the tide and get part of the general sport/music-loving populace to come along to a play. I do think, though, that making it 'easy' for people to see live theatre is a good start - personally I know many people who balk at the thought of the 'effort' of going to see a professional play - having to book tickets, sit in silence (more of a perceived than a real requirement), watch a show that goes for 2 and a half hours when their concentration span runs out after 90 minutes, etc. Of course, that may come at the price of 'cheapening' the artistic content, and hence making the whole effort much less worthwhile for the performers involved. Not that I have any answers mind you - I'm just very wary of blaming demographic factors for the lack fo support for live theatre, when other pursuits don't seem to suffer the same fate.
My 2 cents worth,
Craig Edwards
Secondly, I don't think that independent film support in this country is in quite the same dire straits as live theatre. Given the significant number of not quite mainstream films that enjoy commercial success (or at least sufficient support to make them viable) maybe it is the format, rather than the cultural/artistic content that people aren't interested in.
In terms of Australia's (or for that matter Perth's) size making it difficult to support an artistic culture - well, surely that would also apply to the music industry. If a town as small as Perth can sustain numerous professional bands, and produce a quite remarkable number of bands which are known Australia wide, it is all the more disappointing that we can't get the same level of support for live theatre. Frankly I think the question of why do people go to sporting events rather than artistic pursuits is far less significant than that of why a band which has played a handful of gigs can get PAID to play at a venue, whilst independant theatre companies struggle to even find a venue they can perform at.
Given the wider support for artistic pursuits in Australia, I think that it is at times too easy to blame our lack of population for the troubles facing live theatre in Perth. Frankly, if one compares it to the film/music industries, in this country and elsewhere, a better starting point is lack of government or other financial support - there is NO talent-finding equivalent of JJJ whereby new performers/companies are regularly plucked out and discovered - independant companies have to forge their own reputations. Likewise there is no lure of big Hollywood money that we can ride the tail of, like the film industry over east.
The trouble is, for most of us, factors such as large-scale sponsorship or government funding aren't things that we can influence or even count on. Personally, I wouldn't have a clue what an independant company could do to buck the tide and get part of the general sport/music-loving populace to come along to a play. I do think, though, that making it 'easy' for people to see live theatre is a good start - personally I know many people who balk at the thought of the 'effort' of going to see a professional play - having to book tickets, sit in silence (more of a perceived than a real requirement), watch a show that goes for 2 and a half hours when their concentration span runs out after 90 minutes, etc. Of course, that may come at the price of 'cheapening' the artistic content, and hence making the whole effort much less worthwhile for the performers involved. Not that I have any answers mind you - I'm just very wary of blaming demographic factors for the lack fo support for live theatre, when other pursuits don't seem to suffer the same fate.
My 2 cents worth,
Craig Edwards
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