Here is a taster of Sir Peter Maxwell Davies's speech to the British Academy of Composers and Songwriters, to be given tonight:
"I think we can all learn from a recent auction of art as an instantly recognisable iconic commodity, where it has become part of the entertainment industry, crossed with investment banking,
The artist had the wit to sell a golden calf and other bejewelled trinkets, but all creative artists, in whatever branch of the arts they work, must ponder the implications of so much money scrambling after manufactured artefacts without content - with just a brand tag supposed to guarantee market value.
The pressures on us to conform to this image of 'success' in our various art worlds are enormous - this is 'rewarding' art in every sense!
And it is truly accessible, for everyone can 'understand' it without effort, and we can all be thrilled and amazed at the price tags. It reminds me of the Liberace museum in Las Vegas, where the great man's tatty stage costumes are exhibited, each with a fabulous price tag, and we are supposed to be uplifted.
There are, of course, interesting visual artists out there, but this auction pantomime reflects the reductio ad absurdum of an art world where the principles of the market reign supreme."
Interesting stuff: but does it add up? Do Damien Hirst's riches really encourage composers or theatre makers or potters to hanker after vast wealth and the glories of the stupendous price tag? Personally, I really don't think for one moment that Tom Adès or David Harrower (for example) really sit at their desks thinking, now, how can I compete with Damien Hirst's auction prices? How can I get famous like Tracey Emin? I suspect they sit at their desks and think about making work. As artists.
I don't, in fact, disagree with the thrust of Maxwell Davies's sentiments here about the emptiness of the DH auction, but I do think there's something rather odd about hitting out against another art form when the world of contemporary music might more usefully look to itself. Certain branches of contemporary art – a world in which the market is a given, for better or worse – have successfully garnered a large and engaged public following: is that a bad thing? Is contemporary music better for being enjoyed by fewer people?
