Man Is The Media.
Are you an artist too? A stripper?
December 6th, 2006 by Martin
Today I just learned that striptease by court rule from now on is to be considered an art. In Norway, of all places. This means that shows from now on are exempt from VAT on tickets because “Striptease (…) is a form of dance combined with acting,” three judges decided unanimously. I wonder if a) those were male judges, and b) if they were art critics?
Good news for the Norwegian gents who’ll be looking at cheaper admission fees. Bad news for all the real artists out there, who, at least on a linguistic level, are over flooded by the upsurge in wannabes and dilettantes who claim the right to the artistic title. Take the music industry, for example. It used to be that a singer, a bassist, a guitarist, and a drummer made up a band of musicians. Now they are all artists, at least if you ask MTV.
Depending on moods, one might argue that these are prosperous times when everyone strives to be creative. Or you might conclude that lifestyle media (such as MTV) has diluted the term so much that any kid thinks he can make it in that game. But you know that anybody’s game always end up being nobody’s game, where a shady lifestyle, tattoos, and an ornamental guitar just don’t cut it without the talent. Anyway, you never see any of these people entering the concert halls or galleries because no curator or critic deems them worthy.
So there’s more than a linguistic issue here. Also in the field of arts (with an ‘s’) & business, where inspiration is traded for cash (this being the dejected short version) there is a continuing failure to appreciate creative forms for what they really are: photography, calligraphy, sword swallowing, or salsa dancing. Everything is just … art. The biggest problem, as I see it, is that if you fail to call things by their proper name, many of the real artists won’t show (luckily there are exceptions).
As one artist said to me: “Arts and business is just about money.” Meaning: not about art. And that might just be it: Business invented the phenomenon because they – like the teenagers and wannabes – wanted to be associated and interact with real artists in the flesh. And the creative people came to give a song and a dance because of their notorious financial hangovers (luckily there are many exceptions where much more happened).
I hope the Norwegian state appeals the striptease case. ‘Artist’, unfortunately, is not a protected title but someone ought to set an example. Of course, if it was protected, everyone would just want it even more. Like drugs and sex in some exotic far away countries.
