Artists and Civic Life
Dave Randall - Artists and Civic Life
In the first of a series of essays on the artist's role in civic life, we invited guitarist and composer Dave Randall to start the debate. Dave's credits include work with Faithless, Dido and his own project Slovo.
The lives of artists are often romanticised. We’re seen as a rarefied and bohemian bunch of dreamers, drinkers and dilettantes who sit apart from the rest of society. But our role in economic terms is often no different to the role of any other worker. Artists – like plumbers or teachers – sell our skilled labour. Therefore the nature of our art will tend to be determined by who the art is made for and what end it seeks to achieve. For the vast majority of artists over the last millennia or so, putting bread on the table has meant seeking the patronage of the rich. For Leonardo da Vinci this was found in the house of Lorenzo de’Medici, for the griots of Senegal it was sought in the courts of kings and for many of today’s best artists it’s in the advertising agencies of Soho and Manhattan. The artist’s role in such cases: to make their employer feel and appear to others to be special. Therefore art cannot be viewed as being separate from the economic conditions and social relations that underpin society.
