Friday, 15 May 2009 (THE INDEPENDENT newspaper, London)
Grave new world: There’s a sombre new mood in the arts world
by David Lister
…Linking the art that affects us and that we seek out to the economic recession is a dangerous science. In reality, such links can amount to little more than instinct and deduction. And yet… Do fears of financial meltdown, fears of redundancy, fears of a breakdown in society make us more contemplative? Contemplative of our own security, our own place in the world? Contemplative of our relationships with our fellow human beings? Contemplative of our mortality? The answer is surely yes.
I became even more certain of it this week, when I sat in a full house at Waiting for Godot. This best double act in English literature, with their music hall allusions, will always get laughs. But I could not fail to notice how the audience, more than in previous productions I have seen, seemed to feel the pain of the two tramps, seemed to ponder Beckett’s existential parable. The laughter was muted; the contemplation on the purposelessness of life almost audible.
Great art can and should reflect the times we live in, as great art has something to say about all times. But the times we live in can also determine the art we seek out. In this particular time of recession, financial and political instability, with the integrity of our most notable institutions questioned as never before, we seek out art that has real questions to ask. We seek out art that tries to make sense of the senselessness of existence. We seek out art that is full of ambiguity. We seek out art that helps us strive to understand.
If the silver lining of the recession is a hunger for more serious art, it is a silver lining unlikely to be mentioned in Parliament or in financial reports. But cultural history will not understate its sign.
Read the full article here…