Okay, some Vile Commentary on The Glasgow Effect.

An appropriate critical response to The Glasgow Effect might involve waiting until the artist has made or done something concrete, assessing its intentions and commenting on its strategies and success. 

Public discussion has, however, raced ahead. The Glasgow Effect conjured a storm of protest. While I dislike any abuse aimed at the personality of the artist, I remain a pretentious old bore who regards all interpretation as valid. I respect it as opinion that has a right to expression. I'd prefer to read commentary without heavy use of the word 'cunt', though. 

Never let it be said that I refuse to jump onto bandwagons, though. Here comes a selection of my usual obsessions, tangentially connected to The Glasgow Effect.

All art is bourgeois

Throughout history, art has been used by the dominant sections of society to establish its values and culture. In fifth century Athens, tragedies were performed during a state supported festival: the absolute monarchy of France before the revolution staged ballets, and the Soviet Union invested in the development of The Bolshoi and The Kirov. In Artificial Hells, Claire Bishop argues that the conflation of political and artistic language has encouraged a participatory art that supports the state's agenda. Even the gentrification of hip-hop, for all its gangster lean, echoes a very capitalist morality.

I've banged on about this before, but the structure of art funding, because it comes from the state (or philanthropic individuals), supports certain bourgeois values. I'd do further: modern ideas about the function of art, the nature of the artist or genius, having been defined by Diderot, represent bourgeois conceptions and were designed to be used as weapons against feudal understanding of society.

The idea of the bourgeoisie - which Marx regarded as the class who held the means of production - has been confused with a wider 'middle-class', denoting a certain set of financial and cultural interests. It's usually those people who stand to gain from various forms of capitalism. Both doctors and playwrights, who don't actually own the means of production, could be within this group.

The Glasgow Effect offers a flash-point for the resentment of those who feel excluded by the arts. It's not unique.

Community orientated art is bourgeois

The argument that the money would be better spent on social amenities or food-banks has been wheeled out in the recent past against any art that transgresses popular ideas about what art's supposed to do or be. I'm suspicious of it: The Rite of Spring caused a riot (allegedly) because it transgressed, yet has become an icon of contemporary composition and choreography. But I'm equally suspicious of socially useful art. To take an example - free music lessons for children.

I support free music lessons but, beneath any subsidy lies the assumption that 'music soothes the savage beast': performing art reveals a quality in the human that has more value than, say, frying chips. Community art is sometimes about introducing culture to a group, as if they are bereft without it.

To take an example: remember The Choir? When Gareth Malone rolled up in South Oxhey, the programme presented an area that was culturally deprived. Funnily enough, my mother has run a ballet school on the estate since the 1960s. They interviewed her for the show, but her vision of a South Oxhey that had plenty of culture - her school sent a student to The Bolshoi School, something rare and wonderful - did not follow the narrative of how the working classes didn't get art. So they cut it from broadcast.

Nothing exists in isolation

The Glasgow Effect, whether or not it turns out to be amazing or rubbish, is part of a wider issue. If Creative Scotland handed over fifteen grand to a project that everyone loved, the problem would still be: what are the assumptions upon which they decide? With a bit of research, it's probably easy to find half a dozen grants that seem pointless or trivial. Certain art forms - such as comic books - are mostly excluded from consideration.

Every system has faults. As Loki points out, one of the problems with the current art culture is the exclusion of certain voices. The debate around this one piece is unfair if it refuses to challenge the underlying values of funding, or engages with Creative Scotland as if it has no integrity or honour. 

Pointing out Flaws is a Form of Respect

I have been rude about my fellow critics and, most recently, The Scotsman. I don't do it because I hate them, but because my fantasy is a dialogue with them. I probably go too far. 

It's the same thing, I think, with this debate. All the opinions are valid, intriguing and deserve to be heard. The Glasgow Effect is a starting point, perhaps. 

Note: not all art is bourgeois, but I like to say this as a corrective to the idea that art is, in some way, leftist and radical.

THE ARCHES GRANTED ADVANCE

THE ARCHES GRANTED ADVANCE ON AGREED FUNDING FROM CREATIVE SCOTLAND AND GLASGOW CITY COUNCIL

Appeal against Licensing Board decision confirmed


The Arches met with stakeholders Creative Scotland and senior city officials yesterday (Tuesday May 26) to explore a number of possible avenues for the continuation of the venue’s cultural programmes and activity, following Glasgow Licensing Board’s recent decision to curtail its licensed hours.


Creative Scotland and Glasgow City Council have now agreed to provide an advance on their agreed 2015-16 funding to support The Arches in delivering its current programme in the short-term, and in gaining specialist advice to enable it to properly consider all future options.



At the same meeting, The Board of Directors for The Arches decided that, following legal advice, the venue will proceed with an appeal against the Licensing Board’s limiting of the venue to a midnight licence – a decision which would effectively close its club and have a devastating effect on its future as a cultural centre.



Lucy Mason, Artistic Director, and Mark Anderson, Executive Director of The Arches said: “The Board of The Arches is grateful for and has agreed to the funding package offered by Creative Scotland and Glasgow City Council, which provides for stability in the short-term as we look to find a more permanent solution in the weeks to come.”



“At the same time, having taken appropriate legal advice, we believe there are grounds to appeal the decision of the Licensing Board and will now proceed on that basis.”



All scheduled arts events between now and the end of June will go ahead as planned with club events moved to alternative venues.

Wed 3 – Fri 5 June: On The Verge 2015

Thu 4 – Sun 21 June: Being Human

Sat 6 June: The Big Glasgow Comic & Craft Fair

Sun 7 June: STAND

The following events have changed venue:

Fri 19 June: Deviation: Benji B & Kenny Dope – Now at La Cheetah

Fri 26 June: Nervo – Now at O2 Academy

Sat 17 Oct: From The Jam – Now at SWG3

£400,000 to boost youth arts provision in Aberdeen and the North East

Although I love churning out press releases (it keeps the blog alive when I am too busy making post-visual theatre), I don't often celebrate the activities of Creative Scotland. I am, however, pretty pleased to hear that CS is giving '£400,000m support to help boost youth arts provision in Aberdeen and the North East.'

It is part of Scotland’s National Youth Arts Strategy Time To Shine and will be used to create a network of nine regional Youth Arts Hubs across the country.

I wasn't that impressed with the Time To Shine comic book (made by Metaphrog, it was a bit simplistic and assumed that the comic book is an 'easier' medium to express ideas. Until Creative Scotland start supporting the Scottish comic book industry with cash, it seems a bit cheeky to expect it to help present its agenda).

But these YAHs are a good idea. And Aberdeen Performing Arts has got a good record of working with young people to create good art. They use the phrase 'shaped and driven by the participants,' which is what I want to hear. Youth Art is not something to be left to adults.

Anyway, I think the press release can do my work now. I have the third act of Uncle Vanya (In Dub) to edit.

Ben Torrie, Director of Programming and Creative Projects, Aberdeen Performing Arts, said: "Aberdeen Performing Arts and its partners are thrilled and honoured to be selected to deliver a Youth Arts Hub for Aberdeen and the North East. There are nearly 150,000 young people living in Aberdeen and Aberdeenshire, and we are eager to enrich and improve the lives of as many as we can, particularly marginalised young people, looked after children and those from diverse cultural backgrounds. We also believe that this gives us a unique opportunity to engage with young people in order to build a more creative and vibrant cultural landscape for the region."

Leonie Bell, Director of Arts & Engagement, Creative Scotland, said: “Through making connections and developing new projects these Hubs will enable more children and young people to take part in creative activities close to where they live.

“These Hubs will not only create opportunities for young people to shine and express themselves creatively; but also by placing them at the heart of the creation and delivery of the new work, the young people will develop skills and expertise which will be invaluable to their futures.”

Creative Scotland Community Arts Award (part 3)

It's important to note that Creative Scotland's awards includes a category for Community Arts. This is a far from uncontested area - author Mark Ravenhill had a brief swipe at the emphasis on outreach over art - and frequently disappears beneath the cultural radar, due to its smaller scale and different set of outcomes: the emphasis on the journey of the participants rather than the quality of a final performance makes critical interpretation difficult.

Funding community arts is a later addition to the portfolio of organisations like The Arts Council: it is often characterised as a feature of New Labour's 'instrumentalism', which stresses the need for art to have a social impact. When the UK first systematised funding after World War II, the emphasis was on supporting the "high arts" - ballet, opera et al - in the hope of broadening access and encouraging excellence. Once New Labour accepted Thatcherite ideals, it linked funding to the potential for social change and inclusion. 

In the past decade, there has been an explosion in the number of arts organisations that are interested in community building, and the actual arts are used as a way develop new interest groups, encourage personal development and possibly expand audiences. Whatever the political implications, it is tough to critically assess these projects in the same way as the latest script from Mark Ravenhill, so the activity of these groups can be marginalised.

In short, it is encouraging that Community Arts are being recognised in these awards. The three candidates are a snapshot of the diversity of issues that community arts address, although it is far from definitive.

Elderflowers – Run by health charity Hearts and Minds, this project used performing arts to overcome issues faced by elderly people with dementia.


Nothing About Us Without Us Is For Us – The brainchild of artists TS Beall and Matt Baker, the public art event used obsolete technology to hurl communications across the River Clyde in Govan. 

This was part of Glasgow International Art Festival, suggesting that even the high arts - GI is full of conceptual visual art - are including community projects. That's unsurprising in Glasgow, since the idea of Social Sculpture has been important for the past twenty years.


The Zombie Project – Gave kids from the Ferguslie Park area of Paisley the chance to write, direct and star in their own zombie film and comic project.

Creative Scotland Awards part 2: my victory speech

When Creative Scotland announced that one of their awards was for an Arts' Ambassador, I immediately set to work. My acceptance speech took me a few hours, because I had so much to say about how my contribution to the arts was vital to its on-going health, and quite a few anecdotes that ended with the line - "needless to say, I had the last laugh..."

It turns out that Mr Criticulous didn't make the short-list. Fortunately, I am as gracious in defeat as victory. I thought I'd give everyone the chance to read the speech... just imagine me in my grubby black suit, badly shaved and my hat pulled over my unwashed hair: striding to the podium and holding aloft my trophy...

"I'd like to thank everyone who has come here tonight: I know you've been forced to sit through a delicious meal and hear from some of the greats in Scottish Arts, but now the main course has arrived. Gareth K Vile, also known as Mr Criticulous - and a variety of other aliases that even my parents aren't able to name - the great ambassador not just of the arts, not just of Scotland, but of criticism itself.

While it was obvious that this award would end up in my hands, I'd like to take a moment to remember the plucky outsiders who were nominated alongside me. Allowing them to bask in my reflected glory seems only fair.

First of all - The National Theatre of Scotland. It has been a real pleasure, during my time as a critic, to watch the NTS grow in strength. In this year, when they embrace a new artistic director, The NTS continues with its commitment to expanding audiences and making theatre that is experimental - think of Lifeguard at the Govanhill Baths, which combined Adrian Howell's intimate performance with community development - and popular, like Appointment with the Wickerman. 

Apart from providing my radio show and blog with a stream of interesting guests, The NTS has managed, despite the diversity of its output, to find an articulate, coherent voice . Eschewing a house style, they nevertheless have an identity that is recognisable. The writing of David Greig has helped with this and works like Glasgow Girls, The Strange Undoing of Prudencia Hart, Black Watch represent the combination of the populist and the challenging. 

The NTS is restless, always looking for new ways to reach out: their policy, of being artist led, has allowed them to support a new generation as well as the veterans. And frankly, being a national theatre is a minefield - Scotland itself has enough diverse groups that "staging the nation" was always going to be a challenge. Yet, like me, the NTS has never lost its belief that it can speak to the world.

Donald Shaw has presided over Celtic Connections during a period when it has moved from a wee fill-in during a quiet season to a showcase of folk from around the world. Rather than be insular, he emphasises the "Connections" and brings musicians from around the world who would never make it this far north.

Again, CC has given me plenty of guests for the Radio Show, and defines my playlist from November until the end of January. It has never lost its inclusiveness - plenty of chances to learn as well as listen. In a time when national identity is a major question for Scots,  Celtic Connections brings the world to Glasgow, showing off the city's eclecticism. It is more than a question of letting Glasgow see the richness of music around the world - there's no tokenism in the programme: it reminds the world how switched on and smart Glasgow audiences can be.

The third nominee is Patrick Doyle. Glasgow has some world class composers - James MacMillan springs to mine, Matthew Whiteside, so many more even ignoring my weekly contribution to sound art through the Vile Arts Radio Hour. Yet Doyle is out on the international stage: his scores have enhanced  Harry Potter and the Goblet of Fire, Sense and Sensibility, Hamlet, and Disney/Pixar’s Brave.

I liked him best when he used to turn up on a Saturday morning on ITV, but his alliance with Kenneth Brannagh took him to the silver screen. His score for Thor is my favourite, as it supports the comic book fantasy of the story with lush, evocative composition. 

I suppose what all three of this nominations do is remind us that Scotland isn't just making work for local appreciation: as a nation, it punches above its weight and adds to the sum of international creativity. The borders may be up for debate, the relationship with England in discussion: yet Scottish art carries an identity that makes it part of the global heritage."

Creative Scotland Awards (Part 1)

If I had paid a bit more attention, I'd probably be able to comment on how the selection process for Creative Scotland's inaugural rewards had operated - and make a stab at guessing how the format dictated the outcomes. At the moment, all I have is The Daily Record being involved, and something I heard about the panel - who took the votes and made up the short-list - being all men. Until I get round to doing some research, I'll just list the awards and add my own comments on the artists.

The Best Visual Award is an easy place to start, thanks to my original Young Critics' Sessions: made up of visual art students, they taught me a great deal about what was going on beyond the stage. Of the nominations, I am backing Karla Black: her installation in GOMA was a highlight of the Glasgow International and her use of sawdust was monumental and strangely touching. 

However, I do know something about the other candidates. The Harry Papadopoulos/Street Level Gallery: What Presence! Exhibition captured the bands of my childhood in classic rock'n'roll black'n'white: it felt nostalgia, as so many of the rebellious young rockers in it have become well-kent faces in the art establishment: the retrospective of George Wyllie I haven't managed to see yet,  but it's garnering rave reviews from my friends on Facebook.

Elph – and I admit that I was not aware of him - is a  graffiti artist. Further research is required.

I doubt my opinions on the Music Award would be much help to anyone, but my choices - The Said Ensemble, for putting contemporary classical music into bars, Tut Vu Vu for having Raydale Dower in the line-up and Curses for introducing me to very slow r'n'b probably only reveal how out of touch I am. The actual three choice -  Admiral Fallow, Frightened Rabbit, Rachel Sermanni are examples, to me at any rate, that the folk-tinged revival is looking popular and healthy. I might be pushing it to suggest Frightened Rabbit are folk.

The Scottish Film & TV Award is a tough one for me to judge: I don't watch TV as I am too busy making sure I am a face on every scene that happens around the city - an unwanted and unwashed face, but I do my best. Fortunately, Glasgow Film Festival is one of the choices, a programme that I not only intended but have watched grow  from a bijoux winter oasis into an international force.

 I'll back this to win, simply because I haven't seen the other two contenders  (Ken Loach's The Angels’ Share and The Perfect Fit about the making of the perfect ballet show) and I have complete respect for the GFF's emphasis on getting people into the cinema to see something other than blockbusters.

Thank God for the Theatre Award: this is my turf. Further than the Furthest Thing was a popular choice at the CATS earlier this year - the script is already appearing in translations around the world and the set was spectacular. It's no surprise to see both Pass The Spoon and Whatever Gets You Through The Night  on the short-list: both products of The Creative Spark funding, they have that fashionable cross-platform thing going on, and were both greeted with critical and popular acclaim. 

I am not going to pick a favourite here. To be honest, I've been picking the things I knew best in each category and I have actually written about all of these choice, and interviewed the creators. Nicholas Bone (Pass The Spoon) and Cora Bisset (Whatever) have both been good enough to come on the Radio Hour, so I'd like this one to be a draw.

Well, that's the easy categories out of the way. I'll hit up the Community Awards and all later - it is taking ages to find websites to link all these nominees. I'll say that there are no massive surprises here - even the things I have no idea about represent trends that are working through the arts. I'm interested to see how GFF can be judged against individual films - even I apply different parameters to assess the impact of a festival against an art work. 

I think the research might be a good idea.

Lost and Found

I've been rereading Lester Bangs' Psychotic Reactions and Carburetor Dung, part of my research into the history of criticism for the Young Critics course at Tramway. Hoping to find some kind of style guide for my vision of Radical Subjectivity, I was disappointed by Bangs' writing: it tends to the adolescent, a match for the energy of the garage rock that Bangs adored, but wearing its influences too clearly on the sleeve - Kerouac, Burroughs' more coherent passages and that's about it. Whether Bangs could have survived to write about MTV is a moot, given his entry into the they-died-too-young pantheon of rock: such unabashed romanticism, however, would have struggled to deconstruct the corporate take-over of rock that had already happened by his death in the early 1980s.

Thanks to my Radio Hour, I have challenged myself to go beyond theatre - I am becoming a cultural critic these days. And part of this mutation is expressed in a slightly creepy fixation on "youth music". I've been standing in the corner of the disco again, watching the bright young things groove to tunes that sound like something I liked when I was a teenager.

I have recognised my own subjectivity, and so end up being generous to bands that, frankly, I really don't understand. Found have been touted by The Skinny as some sort of art-rock saviours: people I trust have told me that I'd dig their artistic associations. They certainly got some cash from Creative LandScot, and they have just released a single made out of chocolate. So, they must be artists, right?

I played them on the Hour, but can't exactly remember what the tunes sounded like. Last week, I went to see them live at the aftermath of a special showing of You Instead - filmed over 2010's T in the Park, it wastes both Gavin Mitchell and Cora Bissett by forgetting that a witty script is necessary, even for a gimmick based movie. A week later, and I still can't remember what Found sound like, only that their electronic aspect consisted of one underused keyboard, the guitar picked out a ghost version of Godspeed You Black Emperor's majestic rush and that the singer invested his lyrics with serious intent by pulling a face.

Edinburgh leaks bands like this all the time - rather than fusing diverse genres, they blur the boundaries into a bland broth - and I wouldn't mind if they weren't getting funding off LandScot. The chocolate single is a typical trick. Yes, I am sure it says something about the nature of pop, disposability and consumerism. And since the idea is far more interesting than the thing itself, it ticks a few conceptual art boxes. I know that the audience are supposed to do the work these days, that it's not all about the object. But the best thing about this little trick is that even the sucker who buys it won't have to actually listen to the music.

While I am not claiming that Wounded Knee would agree with my sentiments, I am going to set him up as my antidote to Found. First of all, every time he performs, it is something unique. Whether he is singing along to his grandfather's tape recording of "dhu-wop", or encouraging the hipsters of SWG3 to join in an old walking song, Wounded Knee is fresh, fun and provocative. That his voice has the richness of an old folk singer, and the passion of a soul man, only disguises the artful intelligence beneath his restless performances. Unlike Found, who proudly proclaim their artiness.

Listening to Wounded Knee is a surface delight, but slowly reveals deeper pleasures. He can work an audience kindly, breaking that old fourth wall and reminding them how they too are part of the show. He draws the link between Scottish folk and US soul - something that once inspired Scottish rock, but was always mystifyingly oblique. His musical family tree makes sly jokes about language, influence and identity. And more than any other musician working today in Scotland, he reaches the soul.

Found dress up like gentleman fops - a look that was pulled off better by comedy rapper Mr B at the Fringe, or by Chris Eubank, who ripped it from early UK hip-hop - in a self-conscious attempt to invest their music with presence. Wounded Knee just gets up and sings, and  recalls Greil Marcus' meditation on The Mekons' Never Been in a Riot. Marcus called this the most punk recording ever, because it just relied on the human voice, reducing the rage to a spectral moaning.

Now, for all my moaning about Lester Bangs, I have a fair idea which artist he'd prefer. Found seem to work very hard to make a minor point; Wounded Knee busts open all sorts of ideas about rock'n'roll by just standing on stage. Maybe, had Bangs lived, Wounded Knee might have helped him become the writer he is imagined to be.