2024, then. 40 years since PJ Proby’s version of Love Will Tear Us Apart. 35 years since the last prosecution under the Obscene Publications Act. Oh, Manchester…
Anyway, Britain having trouble with its creative industries? Forwhy? Well,
the biggest problem, I think, is our attitude.
Uh-huh.
If any creative business out there has an idea for how we can change the mood music, they should get in touch.
goodideas@jamespurnell.com, presumably.
Another year, another post. Where does the time go? Still, I’ve heard that the creative industries have a big future ahead of them, so that’s one to watch in the coming twelve. Until 2024…
Another year. Will creativity still be doing big numbers in 2022? Well, ‘Unboxed’ (not the Festival of Brexit, oh thou cynic) promises
a groundbreaking celebration of all our creativity taking place across the UK
Which is nice. Elsewhere in ’22 news, I hope to be supervising a PhD study of ‘The Bluecoat, Liverpool and social mobility into the arts, 1960s – present’. Apply now. Don’t die wondering.
Time for my annual creative post. Last time, I had written a book. This time, some people have read it. They say:
“Much to admire”, “fascinating – if at times uncomfortable”, “useful, if excoriating”, “a pithy overview”, “accessible and fair-minded”.
Lovely stuff.
Time for an annual dip of the toe back into the ocean of creativity. Arts Council England’s new strategy, ‘Let’s Create’, emphasises our mutual ‘creative potential’, and hopes for a ‘blossoming of creativity’, noting that ‘creativity is present in all areas of life’ in ‘one of the most creative countries in the world’.
That ol’ creativity – persistent, no?
“In the future everyone will be world-famous for 15 minutes” – Andy Warhol, 1968.
“In the future everyone will be famous for 15 people…” – Momus, 1991.
“It’s not the case that in the future everyone will be famous for 15 minutes. In the future everyone will be famous all the time – but only in their own minds. It is lookalike fame, karaoke fame.” – Martin Amis, 2000.
And so, as the year draws to a close, the book what I wrote gradually drags itself off the screen onto the printed page.
Meanwhile, efforts emerge in the UK to create a ‘town of culture’ award to further regeneration, in part based on the ‘800 new jobs’ apparently created in Hull in 2017. Persistent creativity indeed.
As I persist with creativity, a reminder of the embodiment of cultural appreciation:
A woman claims to have undergone a complete “personality transplant” after receiving a new kidney. Cheryl Johnson, 37, says she has changed completely since receiving the organ in May. […] Dostoevsky has become her author of choice since the transplant.
Aha.
Brand Adidas co-opts brand Art Basel; Brand Art Basel returns fire:
[Adidas] has been unjustly enriched through its unauthorized infringement of the ART BASEL mark [. ART BASEL is] suffering irreparable and indivisible injury and harm as a result of [Adidas’] unauthorized and wrongful use of the ART BASEL mark
More at The Fashion Law.
How can we reverse the fortune of the abandoned industrial centre? Wayne Hemingway on the value of creativity:
To some it might seem misguided to use creativity as a tool for social change. But when we really think hard about the history and current challenges of these post-industrial places, it’s absolutely the right approach. Each [Creative People and Places] project is taking what’s at the very core of a place – creativity and making – and is bringing together local people and artists to create art experiences that are relevant and connected to their lives and the places where they live. And it’s these art experiences – and the process of coming together to create and shape them – that are helping to redefine the identities of these places, create opportunities and make genuine social changes.
More here.