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ArtWord Editorial:
NEW YORK -- If the Mayor's purpose was to publicize the Charles Saatchi owned and sponsored, "Sensation" exhibition of 'outrageous' art by twenty and thirty-something Young British Artists, he could scarcely have contrived a more efficient method of doing so by pursuing his current strategy. The result will succeed in increasing the resale value of the art he claims to find so offensive. What works against mosquitoes and squeegee men does not fare as well against internationally backed public relations backed marketing machines. It should be pointed out that neither the Mayor, Jerry Falwell, or any of the individuals speaking publicly on behalf of such organizations as the Catholic League of Religious and Civil rights have ever been publicly documented buying a work of art from an artist whose vision they believe in. Nor have any of them every funded an art exhibition or exposed their taste in art, whatever that might be and whatever it might reveal about themselves, to the judgement of the public whom they presume to represent. When the Church used to hand out hefty commissions, the best artists in Europe would compete to satisfy the market thus created. After the power of the Church was gradually eclipsed by the sovereignty of the royal courts, that is where artists directed their attention. And, when the bourgeois and mercantile classes emerged as a significant source of patronage in Western Europe in the seventeenth century artists began to happily produce for that market. If Rudolf Giuliani's goal is to increase the democratization of taste in contemporary art, perhaps he should consider proposing innovative methods of allowing the public to vote with its pocketbook. For example, Charles Saatchi is entitled to an array of tax benefits when he makes his private art collection, 'available to the public to enjoy.' But to play the art game on his level takes tens if not hundreds of millions of dollars. If Mayor Giuliani were to propose that every American taxpayer were entitled to deduct up to the first $5,000 spent annually in purchasing a work of art of a living American artist, he would open the door to a much wider public to be able to help decide how the 'marketplace' values various art. At the same time he could provide a positive support to his own nation's cultural development. The galleries that currently are dependent upon the 'Saatchi's' to set their trends and pay their bills would have a far wider pool of collectors to satisfy, and the great Republican rhetoric about 'letting the democracy of the marketplace decide' could be honestly put to the test. For those of you interested in learning more about Rudy Giuliani's scintilating thoughts regarding freedom of expression may we recommend surfing at www.yesrudy.com . The following is a smattering of the bon mots available at this site: Elizabeth Freedman, an attorney speaking on behalf of the N.Y.C. Corporation Counsel's office [Mayor Giuliani's lawyers], explained the City's anti-art position. "Visual art... does not express ideas," Ms. Friedman said, "and as such is not entitled to First Amendment protection." ("Marketplace," WNYC's syndicated business news show, 2/24/97) Mayor Rudolph W. Giuliani discussed his philosophy of what freedom means in a democracy yesterday at a forum on urban crime, and his remarks left a civil libertarian puzzled and worried. The Mayor, a former United States Attorney in Manhattan, said New Yorkers were inclined to "see only the oppressive side of authority."
Asked later about his remarks, Mr. Giuliani said governmental authorities in American society had fallen into disrepute in the last 30 years. He said anarchy would result if everyone were allowed to behave exactly as he wanted and cited Oliver Wendell Holmes's adage that freedom of expression does not include shouting 'Fire!' in a crowded theater. Norman Siegel, the executive director of the New York Civil Liberties Union, said he was "floored" by the Mayor's definition. "Order is an element of freedom," Mr. Siegel said. "But to put the emphasis on order rather than on a just and fair society is inverting the meaning and significance of freedom."
Proposal for City Hall Park Claus Oldenburg and Red Grooms are hereby commissioned to collaborate and design a 500' tall crucifix for City Hall Park featuring a 400' *ferret with stakes driven through his paws into the crucifix as 20' models of giant mosquitoes with the facial features of Mayor Guiliani attack the limp ferret and suck its blood dry. *Mayor Giuliani has often spoken out publicly and vitriolically against ferret owners, his position regarding mosquitoes is even more well known. Perhaps the highlight of his mosquito fixation occurred as he was giving a Press Conference at his new Emergency Bunker as Hurricane Floyd was bearing down on New York. Tiring of questions concerning the City's preparedness for a flood surge, the Mayor interrupted, "Let's talk about mosquitoes!"
— J. W. Phillips - is Executive
Editor of ArtWord and is a regular contributor to Vistaview's Journal
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"What we don't see is that freedom is not a concept in which people can do anything they want, be anything they can be," he said at the
forum, sponsored by The New York Post. "Freedom is about authority. Freedom is about the willingness of every single human being to cede
to lawful authority a great deal of discretion about what you do."
