NAD--No Art Day
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Incidentally, in the US, there is an event held each year, since 1989, organised by a group called VisualAids, called 'Day Without Art', in which museums close their doors and put up posters on AIDS, artists work as volunteers at AIDS centres, etc, to create public awareness of the epidemic. Of course it takes an enormous amount of organisation etc, but the end result is very dramatic. So here is my proposal for our very own 'No Art Day', to raise public consciousness that in Singapore, there is too much State presence in the Arts. What is No Art Day? It is a day self-declared by artists themselves as a kind of holiday. On this day, artists stop doing any kind of art work, galleries are closed, theatre companies shut their offices, musicians leave their instruments in their cases, etc. Is one day enough to make a difference? The whole point of the exercise is to create some kind of symbolic gesture to show that artists are organised enough to mount collective action. Power to the people. Is it illegal? There is no need to apply for an entertainment licence or even funding, and as far as I am concerned it does not qualify as a strike, because none of the participating artists are direct employees of the NAC. What will artists do on that day? It would be interesting to actually mount a documentation of NAD and perhaps hold an exhibition. Photographs can be taken of the closed doors of participating groups, which might carry posters informing the public that the group is celebrating NAD and thus not in operation. What would also be interesting is for participants to take photos of themselves on that day, and to keep a journal of what they did (I went for a picnic; I visited the dentist for the first time in 5 years; I slept the whole day; I spent time with my mother etc)--all these can be exhibited under a heading of 'So what did you do on No Art Day?' It is also interesting to explore issues of self-reflexivity--what does the artist do to 'resist' acts of doing any artwork? (for me, I would have to try to stop writing in trains, because I have a tendency to write poetry in moving vehicles). Is 'life' then a distinct entity from 'art'? What if I doodle, or sing in the bathroom, or talk about art with friends at S-11?. What day will be chosen as NAD? This will have to be worked out once we manage to gather a group of interested parties and a consensus is reached. It can be a day, for example, commemorating one of the milestones in Singapore's undocumented censorship history. But it would be good to do it on a day when there are foreign artists in town, and to make them aware that they are flagrantly flouting the principles of NAD. How can publicity be generated for NAD? I think we can put up posters informing the public about it, and I'm almost sure the press will pick it up as a story. If not the local press, then perhaps a foreign one, which can sensationalise it all with a headline such as 'Singapore artists celebrate No Art Day'. So, what is the whole purpose of the exercise? Fun. With a clear message--'we've had enough'. Alfian. : ) PS: Arts administrators, we love you! PPS: This NAD is open not only to 'artists' but anyone who believes that each day he/she is creating art in some way or the other. Of course, you cannot be the type who goes, 'but I *am* Art', because that would mean on NAD you'll have to commit suicide. |