If Ben Cameron, Program Director for the Arts at the Doris Duke Charitable Foundation, is right, then we in the arts and the performing arts in particular, must address some staggering facts.
- Video games now out sell music and movie recordings combined.
- An entering college freshman has spent 20,000 hours online, plus 10,000 hours playing video games.
- A potential single ticket purchaser sees 3,000-5,000 marketing messages every single day.
In his speech @ TEDx Vancouver 2010, Ben Cameron lays out a changed cultural environment, one that has democratized the means of artistic production and distribution. This has resulted in the development of the professional-amateur (Pro-Am) who has helped redefine the culture market from consumerism to participation; the rise of the professional hybrid artist who believes in making and presenting work in settings aligned with artistic vision and not by the constraint of traditional institutions; and business models no longer dependent on ticket sales, but altered by technological advancements and a pluralistic world. If the geography has in fact changed, the question becomes how do the performing arts compete in this new environment?
Ben Cameron @ TEDx Vancouver 2010
What I found refreshing was to hear a policy maker interchange commercial artistic enterprise with nonprofit aesthetics and educational venture. He makes no distinctions between the impact and need of the entirety of the arts industry. As a similar believer, I always thought it counterintuitive to exclude or elevate one artistic sector or aesthetic over another. This hierarchical approach seemed to only weaken the collective voice of the arts. It had often been my experience that the arts’ message, even in abundant times, fell on a non-receptive or worse yet, a placated audience. So why would we want to undermine our own interests? A unified voice can certainly be more influential. But these questions are large and complex and for now better left for another blog post.
As for Ben Cameron’s speech, a pep talk? Maybe. A clear action plan? No. Grounded in the truth? Yes. Regardless of your conclusions about it, I hope it will at least help elevate the communal conversation. If the arts are going to maintain a foothold in this economic climate, then it may be time to come together, set aside the kvetching, include the whole of the artistic community and recharge ourselves (albeit exhausted).
