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Editorial
Welcome to volume two of Variant, marking the re-launch of the magazine
after a lengthy absence. It must be something of a rarity for a magazine
which was 'killed off' to get the opportunity to discuss its
demise; just like Tom Sawyer and Huckleberry Finn we have turned up at
our own funeral.
Firstly we would like to thank all the many readers who wrote to the Scottish
Arts Council in protest against their decision. We have tried to summarise
the numerous issues brought up in some of the responses in the form of
a letters page, which has the additional function of providing a link
with the past and orienting our readership with the focus of the magazine.
It will suffice to say here that none of the carefully reasoned arguments
put forward met with anything like an appropriate response.
We have resurfaced at a crucial yet not altogether unfamiliar point, which
in the interim period of our absence has witnessed this tendency to openly
and routinely consign independent and critical voices to silence, developed
into something approaching policy. From who's viewpoint will the
history of the last two years in the arts in Scotland be constructed,
will it be from diverse sources? Just as Variant's critical function
had been defined as an urgent and diagnostic one, offered from a position
of autonomy from vested interests (rather than operating as PR for the
institutional art machine) it was targeted for closure. Was it really
such an irony? It is our aim to carry forward Variant as a project with
or without funding. As stated in the last editorial: "For the establishment
of a critical, engaging and diverse culture, lateral links need to be
made across media, and opinions need to be expressed and exposed."
Is it unreasonable to assume that, earlier than in any other industrial
country, British governments began to make the avoidance of crises their
first priority? That even before the era of full sufferage they had discovered
how to exercise the arts of public management; extending the states power
to assess, educate, bargain with, appease or constrain the demands of
the electorate? That they created in Britain a political Gleichschaltung,
and a financial Anstalt, subtle and loose enough to be resented only by
'deviants' and 'minorities'; and in which the challenges
of Conservatism and Socialism were alike dispersed in a common reformist
policy justified by an unreal assessment of historical tradition?
With comparatively limited resources we can sustain a much needed forum
for debate based in Glasgow, which can move through the forces exerted
by the administration of the arts in Scotland. It is our perception that
the current climate seeks to stifle any deviation from the cultural packaging
and re-packaging of a benign culture of entertainment. This imagined utopia,
this "Disneyland without the rides," is a product of the repressive
prioritisation of public funds which has become social Darwinism run wild.
It is our intention to challenge this emerging culture of denial and its
attendant language of competition, through debate and critical analysis.
In this, the re-launch issue, we have taken the decision not to put a
specific type of exhibition review to the forefront, but rather take the
opportunity to focus on more critical/theoretical issues. Our initial
plan is to produce four magazines in the space of a year, each one expanding
the possibilities of what Variant has previously achieved. Variant has
always been part of, and aimed to represent ideas that are refused the
hospitality of the would be 'mainstream,' which itself represents and
replicates the ideological chastity of a tiny elite. With the new format
comes a wider distribution (possibly the highest of any comparable magazine
in the UK) and a wider readership; also the magazine is free!
"Sycophancy:
Gr. sykophantes, usually said to mean one who informed against persons
exporting figs from Attica or plundering the sacred fig trees; but more
probably one who made rich men yield up their fruit (lit. to show a fig)."
The Beast that Would Not Die
This is a collection of some of the responses sent to the Scottish Arts
Council (SAC) by our readership, provoked by the withdrawal of Variant's
funding which resulted in its closure. They are arranged here to represent
a glimpse of the concerted effort in lobbying which was independently
undertaken by a wide range of individuals and groups. In this case their
efforts were ignored. The immediate question which arises from this (and
other similar cases), would have to ask whether the SAC are in any way
responsive to the opinion of the art community: given that they have openly
defined themselves as not a 'democracy,' does this then mean
that they are autocratic? What form should our approaches to them take - sychophancy?
This is something of an unusual - in that such a gathering would never
normally have such exposure - but ever present and powerful combination
of viewpoints. They have been edited down to focus on each individual's
attempts to identify very real, yet unaddressed concerns. Although their
concentration centred on Variant's plight, the predicament revealed
still resonates strongly with the present climate. They have also been
presented to provide a tentative model of what kind of concerted effort
could be made, in the pages of this magazine to monitor and cast light
on the activities of funding bodies in determining our culture.
This is not a gossip column; it should be stressed that it is the issues
which the individuals raised which is of importance here, most of the
glowing tributes given to the magazine and its then editor, Malcolm Dickson,
have been omitted. A collection such as this, represents a valid survey
of opinion, possibly in a more natural form than the traditional survey,
since the responses were unsolicited, and given that the writers were
also free to express their own opinions rather than presented with a multiple
choice. It also gives a practically unheard of insight into how the SAC
themselves are viewed. Taken as a whole, what perhaps emerges - bearing
in mind that a great deal of the individuals below have 'inside knowledge' - is
that a large number of people were convinced that something underhand
took place, that this constituted an abuse of power, that the decision
was unjustifiable and that funding should be restored to the magazine.
In closing it should be pointed out that the 'substantial increase'
referred to by the SAC was £5,000 and that they received full copies
of these, many other letters and other forms of protest. Despite the disingenuous
tone of their reply (which was identical for each individual) the SAC
must be fully aware that this type of action towards them constitutes
not just a reliable cross section of opinion by the Scottish arts community,
but an undeniable expression of their will.
"Responding to letters of support for Variant, from prominent critics
and artists, SAC officers stated that it was not considered vital to the
infrastructure of Scottish art."
Creative Camera
"Variant has survived resolutely for many years now in conditions
which have left many arts organisations in a state of financial ruin–organisations
that have subsequently been kept afloat by means of additional Arts Council
funding. To pull the rug from under the feet of Variant at this stage
is a truly short-sighted act of cultural vandalism..."
Transmission Committee
"In order to produce four issues in the forthcoming year, Variant
required a substantial increase in its grant. After much discussion and
consideration of the magazine's value, the Committee decided, in
relation to other priorities, not to recommend this increase. Without
an increase a continuation of the current grant of £21,000 would
only have guaranteed two issues. The Committee decided that it could not
justify continued funding on that basis..."
Andrew Nairne in reply to the above
"I cannot support this decision. You may have other ideas about
publications from Scotland, but with Alba gone and now Variant it does
seem perverse."
David Harding–Environmental Art GSA
"There will now be no focus for the debate and interchange of ideas
that has been of such importance to Scotland's growing development
as a significant cultural centre outside of London."
Entire MA student body GSA
"While all the various bodies with Scottish Arts Council support
are of relative importance in helping artists to gain access to showing
their work in public, it seems to me that there must also be a platform
for consistent and considered critical debate on the general state of
the arts. Any art scene worth its name would expect not one but a number
of regular publications working to fulfil this very necessary function.
That Scotland is lacking or being denied this essential critical facility
must be a sad reflection on how seriously we take the intellectual and
ethical role of art in Scottish society."
Bill Hare, Talbot Rice Gallery
"The fostering of critical debate is crucial to the well-being of
any culture and any decision which makes critical debate less easy to
engage in is, in my view, to be deplored."
Murdo Macdonald MA PhD LCAD,
University of Edinburgh
"It seems particularly ironic that at a time when serious coverage
of innovative visual arts in the national media is shrinking (even the
Guardian now seems to have a policy of restricting its regional coverage
to 'major' exhibitions) our specialist press is finding it increasingly
difficult to command the support of its natural allies within arts funding...
The majority of publications we subscribe to are quickly digested, often
offering an unappetising fare of overlong interviews, unfocussed reviews,
art gossip and dull layout."
Bryn Biggs, Bluecoat
"Without such barometers the arts industry will not be able to
pace itself nor place itself within the rest of society: financially or
culturally."
Mal Williamson, In House Video
"A chief factor in Variant maintaining and consolidating its
reputation has been its independence from fashionable mainstream art thinking;
not functioning merely as a curmudgeonly critical tool, but rather attempting
to contextualise many different cultural facets in an intelligent and
considered way."
Simon Herbert, Locus +
"I know from experience that it is virtually impossible to publish
an art journal quarterly without substantial financial backing... I'll
bring you up to date on what damage an earthquake can do to an arts organisation."
Thomas Lawson,
California Institute for the Arts
"Information and education are the central aspects for the European
Countries to survive in the growing market of communication and visual
communication in the future. To form this future it is necessary to realise
the change of paradigms in society as well as to find new humanised approaches
to technology."
Alfred Rotert, European Media Art Festival
"It is almost as if I am witnessing the demise of the Arts magazines
in Britain."
Ian Mundwyler, Research Publications
"Many of the museums in Texas read Variant... it is an important
tool for informing spaces around the US about art activity in your region
of the world. It is an invaluable resource for finding out about new artists
and ideas and influences and which artists they invite to exhibit, perform
and lecture. To withdraw funding from such an important information source
is like cutting your head off while the body runs around in circles."
Daniel Plunkett, ND Magazine
"Given the financial strength of American film production and
their influence in the publishing industry, it is unreasonable to assume
that independent magazines could finance themselves on the free market.
To the contrary: only because the promotion and discussion of European
films in magazines like Variant is notoriously underfunded and underestimated–thus
making efficient work difficult–many "European" films do
not get the attention they deserve. On the other hand, the success of
"American" films is often not based on their superior quality
but on well-equipped and financed promotional organisations and a critical
establishment which can afford to actually write and think about films
rather than spending most of their energies on financial questions.
The appalling situation of independent European film is a result of a
political and socio-cultural attitude which considers every non-American
production to be some sort of difficult subtitled art movie. Watching
film has become a crucial social ability, a new kind of cultural literacy
needing to be developed and supported by professionals. I cannot believe
that Scottish authorities have no interest in cultivating a Scottish view
on cinematography and film journalism."
Reinhard Puntigam, Blimp Film Magazine
"As an arts administrator yourself, you will be aware of the
current trend towards cross-artform interaction and collaboration, and
that the creative potential of such a trend depends absolutely on the
awareness of the artists themselves of activities not only within but
also around their own discipline. It is my opinion, speaking as a composer
and performer, that the coverage of a wide variety of activity in such
a journal as Variant takes an essential part in this process of fostering
a more open attitude towards what artists in the various disciplines are
doing and perhaps might do next."
Richard Barrett
"I'm not sure that any comments from me would actually help
Variant–but it seems like a recurring nightmare. To lose one magazine
could be called unfortunate, to lose two... Publications cost money. Either
you want to support them or you don't. The message from SAC is that
it doesn't.
Any discussion in SAC about supporting criticism and discussion should
have happened before delivering what could be the coup-de-grace to Variant.
To timetable it for later this year seems at best like a policy which
is trying to catch up with events."
Hilary Robinson, University of Ulster
"Perhaps the most important thing to say is that the Committee
was not 'against' Variant. The problem was whether they could
continue to offer support, in relation to other priorities. Without going
into detail about all the funding decisions it is not possible to completely
explain the decision...Taking up your final point, I am not sure personally
whether what we want is a glossy magazine which only reaches a very small
number of people. If magazines are about encouraging debate perhaps they
have to aim to attract a broader visual arts readership than Variant aimed
to attract, given its very specific editorial policy."
Andrew Nairne, in reply to the above
"I was really very shocked by the withdrawal from Variant. You
know what a fine publication I've always considered it, way way above
some of its English and European counterparts in its scope and the quality
of writing and philosophy."
Neil Wallace, Programme Director, Tramway
"As a director of an international experimental and innovative Film
and Video festival I am daily confronted with this stupid kind of commercial
thinking and it needs a lot of time to convince foundation members and
sponsors that it is very important to support innovative and high-quality
cultural projects apart from the mainstream entertaining culture."
Dr. Christoph Settele, Viper, Switzerland
"Variant represents an aspect of cultural experience which is
non-definitive, an open form, where terms like, radical, visionary, self-determination,
seem to be very much less a thing of the past than they do when one is
confronted with the general depression and neurosis of everyday."
Cathy Wilkes
"Many people would agree that one important aspect of a magazine
is to serve as a promotional tool for the arts within the region it is
based. At a future date, when considering how the gap left by the inevitable
demise of Variant is to be filled, the SAC should not presume that a magazine
can be nurtured into existence by simply making money available. The quick
demise of the relaunched Alba and the failure of Hybrid illustrate the
folly of this approach.
Short run Art magazines emerge from, and are supported by a constituency.
These are the publications funders have the duty to support."
Ken Gill
"It would appear that for a small increase in funding, a vital
publication would have been secured that would continue to champion issues
of arts development and access. It is curious therefore, that issues of
ACCESS and DEVELOPMENT are highlighted in your 'charter for the Arts'
policy document...
In Scotland, art institutions are not exactly models of accessibility...
Increasingly, the arts are being dictated to by a select few. This is
a state of affairs that would seem to contradict the SAC's strategies
of Access and development. And yet, through the decision to withdraw funding,
you have denied opportunity and restricted access to the arts...Variant
reflected my, and many other people's aspirations and hopes for the
development of a new arts activity which is grounded in community practice,
rather than in the sales rooms and commercial galleries."
Adam Geary
"Committee's decision in relation to Variant does not imply
a lack of support or interest in encouraging critical debate. However
substantial future support for a Scottish based visual arts magazine is
unlikely unless it clearly addresses issues and events central to the
making, curating and appreciation of contemporary art made or presented
in Scotland. The question of art magazines is moreover part of a wider
debate about fostering intelligent criticism and discussion, documenting
exhibitions and projects, and encouraging both within Scotland and abroad
an increasing interest in the work of artists living in Scotland. The
Visual Arts Committee will be discussing this subject in detail later
in the year."
Seona Reid, in response to the above
"Some two years ago I was approached by the ACGB and asked to
submit a proposal for a London-based live-arts magazine. The panel specifically
mentioned that they enviously took Variant for their model: Had the unwieldy
machinery by which ACGB and SAC communicate allowed it, I suspect they
would simply have put more money into Variant. My study for this proposal
suggested such a magazine was uneconomic, and it comes as no surprise
to me to hear that Hybrid, the eventual outcome of ACGB's plans,
is now rumoured to be rapidly sinking into debt. However, for a magazine
to fail in today's market is not a matter of blame or surprise. What
is surprising, and worthy of blame, is that bodies such as the SAC are
apparently incapable of recognising that they have before their eyes a
flagship which has earned the respect of both the most extreme of art-loathing
anarchists and the trendiest of ICA curators–and all in between.
It is incomprehensible to a person such as myself that you should now
seek to undo the fine work in which you have had so integral a role: it
argues some sudden thick darkness of mind on the part of SAC, indicative
to outsiders of a demoralised and gutless institution that is losing its
sense of direction and purpose."
Dr. Edmund Baxter
"The SAC may be there to promote what it sees as mainstream culture,
that is bringing things in from outside, but it is also there to sustain
and develop indigenous talent and culture. You cannot force local culture
to be something it is not."
Fiona Byrne-Sutton
"Your stated grounds for not extending Variant's funding beyond
its initial three years was that it was 'unable to produce quarterly
issues without significant increase in support'. I would not seek
to question the details of your other funding decisions, although I note
that no other revenue client has effectively been abolished by you in
this funding round.
Instead, I would like to question your strategy. The visual arts, like
any other area of the arts, does not survive and grow by art works alone.
It needs an infrastructure, a vital part of which is one or more intelligent
and critical magazines which make connections between different works
and different fields. The benefits of such a magazine, as with all infrastructure,
are difficult to trace in detail, especially in the short term. But it
is the job of an arts strategy to address such infrastructural needs."
Nick Couldry
"I appreciate and note your comments about the need for magazines
which make connections. However, the committee's view was that in
reading the magazine, because of the specialist nature of most articles,
it was actually very difficult to make meaningful connections. The committee
does not believe Variant to be a primary part of the infrastructure of
the dynamic visual arts constituency in Scotland."
Andrew Nairne, in response to the above
"Most people in Scotland, and outwith, are aware that the city of
Glasgow is burgeoning with activity, and recognition has not been slow
to come. This recognition, as I see it, is based upon the fact that Scotland
supports a broad practice within its art community; and that Broad practice
is made up of small pockets of intense discussion and application... On
the issue of a profile for Scottish art/ideas within the international
context: as a younger artist I had to make a decision as to the prospects
for a fruitful practise based in Scotland. I, and many others, decided
that it was worthwhile to remain, or return to, this country as opposed
to any other. It is honest for me to say that this decision was encouraged
by several individuals, institutions and publications, if not by word
of mouth, then in commanding respect for the activities in which they
were engaged. Malcolm Dickson and Variant magazine were key elements,
among others.
The implications of the SAC's decision on Variant does nothing to
encourage me for the future."
Douglas Gordon
"Having sat for 3 years on the Arts Council of Great Britain's
Art Advisory Committee, and an ACGB magazine review panel... I see no
reason to compel a magazine to quarterly deadlines for bureaucratic convenience."
Anna Harding
"The health of the cultural situation in this country has depended
on the commitment of groups and individuals who... have a remit based
not on personal gain but on ensuring the continuation of a healthy growth.
It is extremely disheartening to see this commitment so cruelly ignored.
That the Council does not acknowledge how their decision will adversely
affect the kind of new initiatives required to sustain the vitality of
the arts in Scotland is baffling."
Christine Borland |