Volk art attack: Wouldn't it have been better if Partner Re had given money to parade instead?
I TOTALLY concur with Sheilagh Head's excellent and articulate (forgive the pun) letter (, May 21). I am sure the arts community's reactions to Gregory Volk's blanket criticisms of Bermudian artists will be ongoing ? which I am sure is what the National Gallery intended when they decided to import this particularly insensitive and gauche young man, as unschooled in art history as I am in neuro-surgery, to attempt to goad the creative community into toeing its stringent line on what constitutes meaningful art.
Presumably Mr. Volk was invited to Bermuda by the gallery to act as an after-the-fact advocate for that institution's leadership which has, rightly, been roundly criticised for ensuring the jurying at this year's Biennial placed a quite artificial premium on "cutting edge" artwork (a meaningless and self-defeating term given, as Mrs. Head pointed out, that today's voguish works are often tomorrow's embarrassments).
But in that Mr. Volk, like the gallery's leading lights, seems to mistake the superficial for the profound, the chic for the substantial, he made the perfect spokesman to parrot its hollow agenda. As far as I am aware, fashionability and quality are not always synonymous; and the demarcation lines between different schools and periods of art are always blurred as all artwork is (or should be) part of an ever-evolving process, a continuum that cannot be neatly divided into various artificial categories and sub-categories with distinct cut-off points and styles as critics like Mr. Volk (and his National Gallery patrons) attempt to do.
All art reflects, to some degree, the environment, culture and time in which it was created. So quite why Mr. Volk excoriates Bermudian artists for painting what they see around them ("a culture of tourist boats") is hard to comprehend when he takes pains in his reviews (which I have taken the time to read) to praise emerging New York artists for capturing the gritty atmosphere of their urban reality.
Surely, the only legitimate criterion for judging a piece of art is its ability to evoke emotional and intellectual responses in the viewer, reader or listener, regardless of where or when the work was created or where and when audiences discover it.
Art's timelessness is the only true measure of its success, not a fleeting contemporary relevance ("cutting edge") that will be entirely lost on the audiences of tomorrow. Beethoven's Third Symphony () stirs listeners completely unfamiliar with the life and career of Napoleon Bonaparte, who inspired this masterpiece; the intricate goldwork of the Ashanti awes those who are not versed in West African history or culture; Shakespeare's poetry has a universal relevance that does not require any specialist knowledge of Elizabethan society from the lay reader.
Art's power to transcend the specific in terms of time and place, its staying power, cannot be gauged by whether it suits a fleeting contemporary fad. Trendiness in the arts is, after all, among the most perishable of commodities. This year's flash-in-the-pan model in the arts is quite often next year's quaint curiosity ? just ask Andy Warhol.
Stanley Kubrick, the late film director, expressed an interesting opinion on the transience of much modern art, one those at the helm of the National Gallery might want to pay heed to: "I think modern art's almost total pre-occupation with subjectivism has led to anarchy and sterility in the arts. The notion that reality exists only in the artist's mind, and that the thing which simpler souls had for so long believed to be reality is only an illusion, was initially an invigorating force, but it eventually led to a lot of highly original, very personal and extremely uninteresting work.
"In Cocteau's film, the poet asks what he should do. "Astonish me," he is told. Very little of modern art does that ? certainly not in the sense that a great work of art can make you wonder how its creation was accomplished by a mere mortal."
Many of Bermuda's working artists continue to produce art that astonishes me both in terms of quality and scope. The Bermudian environment and culture that Mr. Volk so cavalierly dismisses inspired artists as diverse as Winslow Homer, Georgia O'Keefe, Mark Twain, Eugene O'Neill and John Lennon whose work continues to astonish the world decades after their deaths. How sad that Mr. Volk, on his three-day walk about of Bermuda, should find himself so "bored" by the island's rich and stimulating cultural heritage.
As Mr. Volk's most used complimentary term in his reviews of art shows is "quirky", I would imagine he is, like the National Gallery, more interested in the fleeting shock-value of the "new" rather than what has proved, and will go on proving, to be of lasting artistic significance. But, of course, Mr. Volk cannot possibly be expected to understand this as he has ? by his own "gleeful" admission ? no background in art history with which to make any comparison between mere capriciousness and true creativity in art.
Mr. Volk is simply a pawn to the National Gallery and, by extension, an embarrassment to their sponsors. The lunchtime lecture series at which Mr. Volk unleashed his double-barrelled attack on Bermuda's art and artists is underwritten by Partner Re.
Along with its associated insurance and re-insurance companies, dollar-fattened corporate cuckoos that have so heavily dropped themselves into Bermuda's fragile nest, Partner Re already stands accused of having a detrimental effect on Bermudian society and culture.
By writing cheques for people like Mr. Volk without first determining what it is they are buying, this elitist section of our society are only encouraging unhelpful critiques from unqualified individuals who do still further damage to Bermuda's culture.
Perhaps Partner Re would have done better to allocate this month's corporate contribution to the arts to the Heritage Day parade, a celebration of all things Bermudian, rather than subsidising Mr. Volk's slash-and-burn raid on Bermudian culture.
CLEARLY we now have no further use for our National Gallery. An ongoing contemporary exhibition of the only subjects earmarked as "real" art by the gallery and its visiting critical hatchet man Gregory Volk ? gender, race and sex ? can be found decorating the walls in any public lavatory.
Eight keep flag flying
S president of the Bermuda Volunteer Rifle Corps Overseas Association, I can't decide whether I should describe our 85th annual reunion held this month as a gathering of the last-of-the-few or the few-of-the-last.
Either way, there were only eight of us present out of a possible 13. The other five couldn't make it chiefly because of poor health.
In all, there are 19 remaining members of an 800-plus membership right after the end of the Second World War. Five live abroad in the United Kingdom, Canada, and the United States.
The reunion was held at Bloomfield, the beautiful and historic home of Malcolm and Mary Gosling in Paget. With Mary presiding graciously over the dinner, all agreed it was one of our best ever.
Actually, this year there were two more attending than in 2003. At that time, we decided it was no longer feasible to hold the reunion at Warwick Camp, as we had done for many years, thanks to the generosity of the Bermuda Regiment and its Commanding Officer. Mal Gosling immediately had offered his home as the location for the 2004 reunion.
The Association was formed in 1919 by returning BRVC volunteers who had served in Europe in the First World War. All three military services received Bermudian volunteers in both wars.
In the first, 1914-1918, the largest number, with two contingents, joined the Lincolnshire Regiment. Others served with the Royal Navy. An intrepid few saw action in the fledgling Royal Flying Corps, fore-runner of the Royal Air Force.
Again, a large number served with the Lincolnshire Regiment during the Second World War, 1939-1945, in Europe. Far greater numbers this time were in the Royal Navy, the Royal Air Force, and the Royal Canadian Air Force.
The annual meeting saw the re-election of the officers and committee, as follows: Tommy Aitchison, president; Francis Stephens, vice-president; George Fisher, honorary secretary; and Malcolm Gosling, honorary treasurer. Committee members are Hal Dale, John Watlington, Graham Madeiros, Eugene Doughty and Herbie Marshall.
Sadly, the Association lost one of its longest-serving members during the previous year with the passing of Robbie Outerbridge. He had the unique experience of having served in all three services ( Army, Navy, and Air Force) in the Second World War. A member since 1945, Robbie was a fixture in the first three in the march to the Cenotaph every November 11.
Over the years, the Association accumulated funds amounting to several thousands of dollars. Members decided that the ideal way to spend the money would be to commemorate the long life and service of the Association in an exhibit at the Military Heritage Museum at Commissioner's House at Dockyard. We hope to arrange a meeting with Dr. Edward Harris, MBE and Charlotte Andrews, the Director and Curator respectively of the Bermuda Maritime Museum, to discuss the suggestion.
@TIMES-18:Impressive credentials
May 20, 2004
YOU should be the first to know: I have added two items to my CV, which cannot fail to impress the Bermuda Hospitals Board. (You see I am submitting an application for Director of Imaging, which is the new facility dealing with radiography, ultrasound and MRI.)
The first is that I have attended Harvard University. Well, sir, I really did. I mean I really, really, did, several times last year, as a patient of the Massachusetts General Hospital.
The second is that as a direct consequence of my attendance at this illustrious seat of learning, and indeed teaching hospital of excellence, I have acquired an in-depth knowledge of these diagnostic procedures. Well, sir, I did, I really, really did. I spent so long in waiting areas with text-books I had borrowed from the library, I have taught myself all anyone else knows on the subject, and, sir, I am willing to pass my knowledge on to Bermudians.
What more could the BHB ask for in a candidate?
Oh! And by the way, sir, if anyone should question why I did not formally enrol in an IT (Imaging Technology) degree at Harvard, I should inform you, sir, that I am sitting on the highest moral ground here. You see, as you well know, I have always been against Bush's war in Iraq. I even marched past the American Consulate here in Bermuda.
Now, you and I both know how Republican the ancient institution of Harvard is. All those Republican teaching professors! Out of protest against the war, sir, I refused to enrol myself officially in any degree course. I mean, in all honesty, sir, if George Bush tells his nation he is going into Iraq to "kick butt", how can he be surprised when members of his military carry out his command to the naked letter? Is he not the Supreme Commander of the US Armed Forces?
HARVARD GRADUATE