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: playing dress-ups
Fri, 2 Aug 2002, 09:22 pmHey Tomás
Interesting point about folks expecting to get "dressed up" to go to the theatre. But I'm not sure which way to look at it.
If the masses think that theatre is an elite occasion, and they need to put an effort into getting dolled up, than perhaps we are scaring some away who may feel that they can't or don't want to put the effort in.
We may need to educate people that you can go to the theatre in your trackydaks, the same way that you can just waltz into the cinema in whatever you're wearing. After all, you spend most of the night in the dark, so who cares what you look like?
But maybe, as you also note, people ENJOY making the effort...so maybe we need to encourage even MORE of the sense of occasion that going to the theatre can be.
Maybe, compared to the cinema, theatregoers are aware that the folks onstage can stare back at them, and so they feel self-conscious if they're not dressed properly?
I think maybe many people are put off getting dressed up to go out to our main operating venues, which are in the main pretty grungy and where most of the patrons wear jeans and tshirts. They probably save their money for the one night of the year they can see a flash production at His Maj or Burswood for $60 a head, and they get dressed up and have a great sense of occasion.
Do we need to lift our game in the perception of how one "goes to the theatre"? If there was more sense of importance placed on the event, would it be seen in higher prestige?
I understand that there is a good chance many of our venues will receive a bit of a facelift in the near future, which may help to solve some of the image problem. I actually quite like the bare, raw and unpretentious atmosphere of our smaller venues, but then I'm a slob who always dresses in the aforementioned jeans & tshirts.
Which brings me full circle. Our general population seems extremely casual, in dress and attitude. We can turn up to the cricket, to a concert, to the beach, to the pub, to the movies wearing the same shorts, singlet & thongs... maybe "prestige" is too threatening a concept, and Australians would prefer their entertainment to be "dress: cazsh "...?
Cheers,
Craig
<8>-/====/----------
Interesting point about folks expecting to get "dressed up" to go to the theatre. But I'm not sure which way to look at it.
If the masses think that theatre is an elite occasion, and they need to put an effort into getting dolled up, than perhaps we are scaring some away who may feel that they can't or don't want to put the effort in.
We may need to educate people that you can go to the theatre in your trackydaks, the same way that you can just waltz into the cinema in whatever you're wearing. After all, you spend most of the night in the dark, so who cares what you look like?
But maybe, as you also note, people ENJOY making the effort...so maybe we need to encourage even MORE of the sense of occasion that going to the theatre can be.
Maybe, compared to the cinema, theatregoers are aware that the folks onstage can stare back at them, and so they feel self-conscious if they're not dressed properly?
I think maybe many people are put off getting dressed up to go out to our main operating venues, which are in the main pretty grungy and where most of the patrons wear jeans and tshirts. They probably save their money for the one night of the year they can see a flash production at His Maj or Burswood for $60 a head, and they get dressed up and have a great sense of occasion.
Do we need to lift our game in the perception of how one "goes to the theatre"? If there was more sense of importance placed on the event, would it be seen in higher prestige?
I understand that there is a good chance many of our venues will receive a bit of a facelift in the near future, which may help to solve some of the image problem. I actually quite like the bare, raw and unpretentious atmosphere of our smaller venues, but then I'm a slob who always dresses in the aforementioned jeans & tshirts.
Which brings me full circle. Our general population seems extremely casual, in dress and attitude. We can turn up to the cricket, to a concert, to the beach, to the pub, to the movies wearing the same shorts, singlet & thongs... maybe "prestige" is too threatening a concept, and Australians would prefer their entertainment to be "dress: cazsh "...?
Cheers,
Craig
<8>-/====/----------
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