A Few Bits of Truth in the Guise of Self Promotion 

(released on January 1rst 2002 for publication at tofu-magazine.com)

“The splinter in your eye is the best magnifying glass.” T.W. Adorno

It’s been three years since we first screamed out loud “Dematerialize NOW!”  and our message is just now beginning to be heard. In a new world order where culture means marketplace and discourse has been replaced with commerce, the din of messages received obscures the senses. Nature and politics have now morphed into one and truth has been reduced to a slogan. The commodification of Art has become the commodification of sight and understanding itself, requiring a radical rethinking of the place of the creative individual within the social machine. The current models are hopelessly arcane and dysfunctional. Dissent only makes things worse, further marginalizing the artist or at best, merely broadening the scope of available merchandise. Producing a cornucopia of sub cultural delights codified for easy digestion i.e. Art as pseudo science, or the Artist as pseudo professional.  But, enough of this rubbish. All we really want to do is address a few misunderstandings about our objectives that have occurred amongst the intelligentsia since our inception.

‘The end of ART is not the end.’ Ad Reinhardt

First, we are not AGAINST ART or ANTI ART in any way. While we embrace Danto’s theories on the “end of Art history” to confront the purpose of Art itself would be an exercise in masochism. Instead, we attack the unnecessary, the extravagant, the meaningless in Art, the over packaged numbness of the culture industry parading as philosophy. The Art Moratorium Project advocates the reduced production of Art, the restructuring of our Art education system, the streamlining of the retail Art business, and the establishment of broader based cultural and aesthetic standards.

 “Whenever art strides forth in its full energy, it creates a religion and stands at its source. On the other hand, philosophy is never the creator of a religion, for it never produces a shape that might serve as an Object of the understanding, and its insensible ideas do not lend themselves to being the revered objects of cultic worship.” Max Stirner

Second, we are not a cult, a commune or an armed militia. While, at times, we might count ourselves members of the disenfranchised, this is not a dead lead to the reactionary, but instead presents a clearer lens though which to focus on the creative infrastructure as outsiders, yet carrying the baggage of an invested interest in the end result. 

“There’s No Business like No Business.” Ad Reinhardt

Third, we are not ANTI CAPITAL. We are, in every practical sense, in favor of, the so called, free market economy. We believe the basic rules of business conduct should be taught in every Art school, along with the self promotional skills and methods needed to succeed. Let’s drag the business of Art from the gallery backroom into the light of day and strip the Art cartels of their inflationary control and corrupt deal making. The pricing of works of Art should, at least, reflect the open marketplace, where a clear relationship is required between commodities, producers, costs, liabilities, and other measurable factors.

“Well, Art is Art, isn’t it? Still, on the other hand, water is water! And east is east and west is west, and if you take cranberries and stew them like applesauce they taste much more like prunes than rhubarb does. Now tell me what you know.” Groucho Marx

Fourth, the Art Moratorium Project is not being presented as a joke or a put on. Sure, the rhetorical style may embrace satire and the visuals may look like candy, but we take the task at hand very seriously. Humor is a weapon not a vice. Conditions are such that momentum works in our favor. The walls of the old infrastructure were already weak before we arrived. Our task is to assist in establishing fair and equitable direction after the fall. The time is NOW! DEMATERIALIZE NOW!

A Rant for the living. (released in spring, 2001 when this page came on-line)

 In the beginning. The National Fine Arts Moratorium Project was established in 1998 in California and New York [GALLIGAN] to address problems of overproduction and mismanagement within the Art world. The impending glut of ART and related products that threatened our future made cause for immediate action. At that time we proposed that all Artists voluntarily take a year out of their production schedules and devote that time to researching, analyzing and restructuring: * The marketplace i.e. galleries, museums, ART fairs, brokerage houses. * The educational system, Art schools, universities, and professional internships * The financial matrix, public and private grants, jobs, and commissions. along with a myriad of other social and economic issues that still face our creative nation. One year later, with the encouraged support of friends in Hong Kong [TOFU-magazine] and Paris, the Project went global, becoming simply, the Art Moratorium Project. Our slogan “Dematerialize Now” could finally be heard round the world. Our Goal. The eventual dematerialization of Art. A Little Background. During the nineteen sixties, a small university based vanguard of Artists throughout the world began questioning the need to produce traditional physical Art objects i.e. paintings, sculptures, etc. They turned to phenomena, language, and performance as a more flexibly responsive means of communication. The market, in turn, responded by appropriating the very documentation of this process, thereby, creating new salable genres. Regrettably, while the signs of future collapse were visible on the horizon, the impetus for substantive change was not yet in place. The full globalization of world markets in the eighties combined with the further concentration of capital within politically conservative hands quickly ushered in the return of more traditional Art commodities i.e. painting, sculpture, etc. A boom market rose up practically over night. This frenzied trading environment composed of the over valuation of investments and unregulated financial resources (the banking and loan debacle) led to an over expansion of the cultural infrastructure. Too many Artists. Our universities are still pumping them out faster than you can say Endowment Grant. Most of these graduates emerge totally unprepared for the stringency’s of the marketplace and quickly becoming fodder for the service industry. Too Many Museums. With the recent creation and popularity of the Contemporary Art museum, the commercial relationship between the public institution and the private investment market has become transparent. Historical integrity has been lost and the whole display appears as some facade of corporate philanthropy. A commercially proven artistic elite has emerged creating works on commission for major museum permanent collections. The Art historical cart well before the ass and funded by public moneys. O.K. So we’re not expecting miracles. We understand the human necessity to fetishize objects. The world would be a dreary place if not for the occasional insightful Artistic diversion. And in no way would we denigrate the spiritual and therapeutic value of soiling one’s hands, or indulging one’s heart, so to speak. The parental aphorism “It keeps them out of trouble,” comes to mind. What concerns us most, is the wholesale production of Art commodities above and beyond the markets ability to reasonably absorb them. Meaning: to much Art, not enough money (or space for that matter.). There are few other cultural endeavors of any significance that continue mindlessly beyond the excess needs of society in general. Poetry perhaps. But you could take every poem ever written and store them all comfortably in a space the size of your average downtown sports stadium and still have room left over for Haiku. Art on the other hand is literally consuming our planet. We are not positioning ourselves as taste makers. But it may be time to position the decision making process back in the hands of common sense. The Current Situation. The Art experience has become an extension of the Entertainment industry. The new artistic community raised on Star Wars and Jurassic Park are demanding ever greater spectacles. The production budgets for recent artworks are rivaling those of Hollywood blockbusters, demanding ever greater corporate sponsorship and promotion. Art Museums have been remodeled as the mega malls of high culture hawking their own line of mass produced products and accessories, while their central galleries are festooned w/today's huete couture and interior design concepts. Historical lectures and educational junkets have been replaced by all night raves and interactive computer play stations designed by video game stylists. The very designers of museums themselves have lost touch with the central purpose of the institution. To preserve and display ART. The post-corporate Artist can now emerge from the ivied tower a true professional, along w/the lawyers, doctors, and financial experts. Another cog in the careerist scheme complete w/pseudo technical jargon and pop psychology terminology to dazzle the mass and impress ones peers. Which explains why at most artistic gatherings these last five or ten years, the predominant subject is usually real estate and/or the stock market. We implore you, BUY A PIECE OF US!
Contemporary Art should be as basic as a hamburger w/fries.