Time for Change?

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On 7 December 2008 President-Elect Barack Obama was interviewed by Tom Brokow on America’s Meet the Press. Unique in offering a cultural policy prior to inauguration, Obama discussed his plans to make a political impact through the arts, announcing his intention to invite musicians, poets and artists of all kinds into the White House to mark a new beginning for American arts and culture. [1]

Shepard Fairey's 'Hope' poster Photo: Steve Rhodes (CC)

 

'Unique in offering a cultural policy prior to inauguration, Obama discussed his plans to make a political impact through the arts...'

Cast your minds back to the spring of 1997. An abiding image from the early days of New Labour was an effusive Tony Blair locked in a sycophantic handshake with a leering Noel Gallagher. In his urgent desire to present Labour as hip and cool, Blair had invited ‘musicians, poets and artists of all kinds’ into Number Ten. The event ushered in a new era for Britain. By November, Time Magazine described London as ‘the coolest city in the world’ [2] , and by the following February Vanity Fair had placed Patsi Kensit and Liam Gallagher on their front cover, under a Union Jack duvet and the headline ‘London Swings Again’ [3]. Christopher Frayling, Chairman of Arts Council England (2004-2009) proclaimed it a golden age for arts and culture.

'In his urgent desire to present Labour as hip and cool, Blair had invited ‘musicians, poets and artists of all kinds’ into Number Ten.'

Tony Blair and Noel Gallagher 10 Downing Street, 1997
Photo: Rebecca Naden/PA Photos

 

For a decade New Labour clung to the Brit Pop bandwagon and snuggled up to Young British Artists (YBAs). Obama, it seems, will not have to court his allies with such vulgarity. Obama isn’t short on ‘cool’, and many celebrities are keen to align themselves with him. Those not lucky enough to be pictured beside him proffer their allegiance and don tee shirts emblazoned with his image.

Obama values the creative spirit and wants to revitalise and reinvest in America’s arts. He plans to increase funding and provide reduced rates of health care for artists and advance fair tax policies for the arts. He wants to make America a top destination for visiting artists by relaxing post 9/11 visa restrictions, and envisages America as a centre of creative excellence. Benefits to the populace, he claims, include raised IQ levels, creative thinking, patience and determination, skills fundamental to good education and a well rounded workforce. Obama believes the arts are good for business, the economy, and the spirit. According to Obama there is nothing that the arts can’t do. Citing the employment of artists in the Cold War, he believes that art can even be utilised in the war of ideas against Islamic extremism. 

Shepard Fairey's 'Progress' poster in a New York Street, 2008 Photo: Rob Coles  

'He plans to increase funding and provide reduced rates of health care for artists and advance fair tax policies for the arts.'

Many believe that Obama has the creative imagination and the political acumen to bring forth the kind of cultural and economic change America needs. His early appointment of Bill Ivey to head his transition team for arts and culture is further affirmation that he is serious about reinventing cultural policies. Ivey is the former chairman of the National Endowment for The Arts (NEA) and author of How Greed and Neglect Destroyed our Cultural Rights (University of California Press, 2008), the title summing up the legacy of the Bush administration. Ivey has a reputation for forging relationships with reluctant supporters of the arts and many art administrators believe that he has the experience to cement new policies, making the arts a top priority for the new administration.

However with a global recession and other major issues on the President-Elect’s ‘to do list’ can Obama achieve his aims? In recent interviews he referred to the problems faced by Roosevelt in the 1930’s, whose far reaching Federal Arts Project (FAP) turned the cultural spotlight on New York, in similarly disastrous economic and political times. Obama is confident, but cultural theorist Slavoj Zizek is less optimistic [4]. He predicts that Obama will fall foul of the same tragedy as other left leaning politicians; the enthusiasm for the ‘good guy’ winning lasting for a couple of years – ‘a period of grace’- but ultimately he will only be able to paper over the gigantic cracks left by the disastrous Bush administration before falling victim to economic and political pressures. Obama will simply become ‘Bush with a human face’. [5] 

Back in the UK, ‘Cool Britannia’ lies mouldering in its grave while the YBAs and Brit Pop idols pat their paunches, line their pockets, and settle for middle age in Middle England. As New Labour stands accused of hi-jacking British culture and repackaging it under its own brand, many artists, musicians, and cultural theorists have turned their backs on Blair; publicly speaking out against New Labour policies, condemning Blair for his part in the invasion of Iraq, suggesting he should be tried for war crimes. Even Christopher Frayling admits feeling betrayed as our public money is diverted to fund the Olypmics.

Whatever the impact of America’s new presidency on art and culture, artists, musicians and film makers will respond. From the Bush and Blair era the examples are numerous; the TV series ‘24’(2001-8); Banksy’s replica of a Guantanamo detainee placed at the foot of Thunder Mountain, Disneyland California (2006); Mark Wallinger’s ‘State Britain’ (2007).
Art is our cultural barometer. Sometimes reflecting our cultural and political climate, sometimes eerily predicting what is to come. Obama has already proved an inspiration, and the internet and the art world is awash with images of the man. In the Spring of 2008 Boston born performance artist Yazmany Arboleda made headline news when attempting to exhibit a new installation in Midtown Manhattan. The exhibition was halted after protest and the artist arrested and questioned by police. Voicing our permanent sense of fear and foreboding in this dark post 9/11 world the offending art work was entitled ‘The Assassination of Barack Obama’ [6]. 

Yazmany Arboleda 'The Assassination of Barack Obama', 2008, Naomi Gates Gallery, New York

Yazmany Arboldea 'The Assassination of Barack Obama', 2008, Naomi Gates Gallery, New York

In October 2008 a gleaming Obama appeared on the winning stage in Chicago, waving to an ecstatic crowd. Neatly framed between two spotless bullet-proof glass panels he appeared as the saviour of the ailing free world, the embodiment of hope and change. This article goes to press on the day of Obama’s inauguration and we hope, upon hope, that Barack Obama will be remembered for all the right reasons.

Notes:

[1] Transcript of interview between Tom Brokaw and Barack Obama on MSNBC’s Meet the Press 7 December 2008, msnbc.msn.com/id/28097635/page/4
[2] Time Magazine, November 1997
[3] Vanity Fair, March 1974.
[4] Transcript of interview between Amy Goodman and Slavoj Žižek, March 11 2008, on Democracy Now:The War and Peace Report, democracynow.org/2008/3/11/everybody_in_the_world_except_us 
[5] Žižek, Slavoj,( November 13, 2008), ‘Why Cynics are Wrong’,In These Times inthesetimes.com/article/4039/why_cynics_are_wrong
[6] ‘The Assassination of Barack Obama’ is part of ‘The Keller Gates Project’ (2008) by artist Yazmany Aboleda. cityroom.blogs.nytimes.com/2008/06/05/assassination-artists-trail-of-deception

Sources:

barackobama.com
theguardian.co.uk
independent.co.uk 
americansforthearts.org/news/afta_news/default.asp#item30

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