A Modest Proposal for Wollongong

Fig 1. Edouard Manet, The Execution of Maximilian

[Marcus Westbury] also looks at how we rank our cultural priorities. The multimillion-dollar upgrade to the Regional Arts Centre in his home town of Newcastle prompts him to question the value of arts institutions and ask whether we can buy art by building iconic centres such as the Guggenheim in Bilbao. The Sydney Morning Herald 15/10/07

While some arts commentators question the usefulness of institutions for the display, performance and “consumption” of art, the ACO is rather attached to those places as it’s good to have a roof over one's head when performing. The Wollongong Council has once again postponed a decision on whether to demolish the Wollongong Town Hall, until recently the ACO’s Wollongong performance venue.

But perhaps the Wollongong Council shouldn’t wait much longer to get rid of Town Hall? Destroying it would be a progressive - even Boulezian - move: as we all now know, the art of the future is to be found in the graffiti-daubed streets or on the rubble of demolished civic theaters and Town Halls rather than concert halls and boring museums.

Compared to the visual and aural splendours of Grand Theft Auto IV, orchestral concerts aren’t much chop, are they? And why bother with fly-weight “painters” like Manet (Fig. 1) when there’s mordant political commentary on the walls of Hosier Lane, Melbourne (Fig. 2).

Fig. 2 Detail, Hosier Lane Graffito c. 2007

Nuance, depth and originality of thought are, like, so 19th Century.

We predict that once it gets rid of its tired institutions, Wollongong will be the art capital of Australia.

M. Croche