Couple weeks ago I mentioned that the Western Arts Alliance wanted to change their conference layout in part because they felt the current one created an atmosphere that commodified the artists.
When the session presenters mentioned this I was thinking that wasn’t my approach at all to the conference. While this is absolutely true, I soon realized that it isn’t hard to fall into that mindset and that I had indeed committed the selfsame sin.
Before attending the conference, one of the presenters on the other islands said she would be looking for a country music act because there was a new country radio station going on air to serve a demand for that genre.
Since I had worked with country music acts before, I suggested a few people. I personally don’t like the music, but like her, I once worked for an arts organization committed to serving the local community’s interests and that was an interest they had.
A few days later I suggested a group to her whose music and videos are played on country music stations but really couldn’t be classified as such. At best, some of their music approaches bluegrass, but even that classification only describes their straight instrumental pieces.
The band would probably attract a country audience since that was where they got the majority of their airplay plus be appealing to a wider audience so they seemed perfect for her purposes. Since I am a fan of this group’s music, I told her I would be like to present them as well if she was interested in them.
So I went to the conference and talked to the group’s agent. He sent their CDs to me. I really enjoyed listening to their latest album (it is still in my car CD player) but I realized that they are even further away from sounding like bluegrass much less country. I started to think that maybe we would have to ask them to play their earlier stuff.
Now this goes on for a few minutes before I realize what an idiot I am. I am the one who is suggesting them because they don’t sound country and here I am thinking we might ask them to play the stuff that sounds closer to country so we can appeal to a certain audience.
And yes, even worse, I was thinking about them as a commodity. They weren’t offering the color and flavor I was looking for so I was thinking of asking them if they would mix some of the old stuff up for my audiences even though I really like their new stuff.
And yes, I wasn’t crediting country music fans with the intelligence and taste to appreciate their new stuff since I think most country music is trite, formulaic and full of pretensions. (I have since checked the band’s listing out on the Country Music Television website and they are getting a fair bit of due recognition. Though people are commenting on their deviation from their roots.)
So as I look back I have to think that maybe there is a danger in viewing artists as commodities. Organizations obviously want to balance their offerings with variety and appeal to the widest audience possible over the course of a season.
Even if one didn’t engage in temporary delusional consideration of dictating a group’s artistic choices, I can see how it would be easy to think about a season as a collection of slots fill rather than being on the look out for excellence that reaches out and grabs you. In such a case, walking down the aisles in the resource room at a WAA conference wouldn’t be that much different than walking down a supermarket aisle. Perhaps you pass by a flamenco group because you already have a packet from another group with a much more attractive booth. Or maybe you compare two groups based on price per performer.
Producing organizations can fall into the same trap when they look to program 1 period comedy, 1 Shakespeare, 1 Fall Musical, 1 Spring Musical and 1 Avant Garde piece every year.
I submit that this approach does not appropriately fulfill a mission of serving ones community.
When you are keeping your eyes open for something that grabs you artistically, you aren’t thinking about what slots to fill but rather how you can get them or something similarly exciting in your theatre.
Maybe you can’t afford the group next year or maybe your audience isn’t ready for that sort of show. But if you go back home thinking about how you can work the budget so that in a few years you can afford to present the exciting work or prepare your audiences to accept that sort of show, then your are contributing to the active growth of your organization and community.
I am not suggesting discarding the traditional pattern whole cloth. In fact, presenting those shows that excited you might not necessarily constitute a success. It is the journey that is valuable in this case, not the destination.
The changes enacted in the pursuit of a single, simple exciting different thing can make the difference between artistic appreciation and commodification. It can be the difference between truly offering something to the community and offering the status quo under new names.
