You are welcome into the world of abstract wall art or modern art, relax and let youreye leisurely wander over the collection of verities of art forms and styles….

A selection of different dark hues, shapes and forms may give various impressions todifferent minds….

A selection of different dark hues, shapes and forms may give various impressions todifferent minds….

Which is why I disliked this podcast so much. In particular your comments about criminals and whether or not they have the ‘right’ to make art, or sell what art they make. Although you did play devil’s advocate a bit, you spouted off without any regard to actually researching the topic and figuring out WHY a group would be trying to sell convict’s artwork.

Some view prison as a punnishment. As a punnishment, prison is a horribly ineffective deterrent, so it would be a waste of so many things (taxpayer’s money, time, the convicted criminal’s time,etc.) to just send folks into prison and let them “rot” there. In this view, your opinion about not allowing prisoners to make or sell art fits right in, but again, it is a huge waste.

Some view prison as a way to re-pay society for the wrongs they have done. Some prison programs actually work with prisoners to make the world a little better through some sort of good works. It is pretty rare, and I think the world would be a better place if this were the real point of prisons, instead of a half-forgotten platitude (as if by merely spending time in prison the “debt to society” could be repaid). Here, creating art fits in perfectly as a way for prisoners to create a better world (and if there were more directed efforts at getting prisoners to make public art, for instance, we might really have something cool).

Some view prison as a way to rehabilitate convicts so that when they are eventually released back to society they can make their way through the world without going back to crime. I think that this view often gets put aside as being too “liberal” a view. Here, again, though, making and selling art is giving the convict something to build on beyond the crime. Combined with the idea of repayment to society, even those who are in prison for life without the possiblility of parole can make a better world.

Yes, in this particular case the art isn’t that great, and yes, some folks are buying the art because they like the idea of getting into a killer’s head, but I don’t think the former is a good reason to keep someone from trying to sell their art, and I don’t think you can blame the artist for the motivations of the buyers.

I’m tempted after this one to stop listening, as I found the comments neither showing great care of thought, things I value in the overall discussion of art. I’ll probably keep listening for not, but I hope you’ll take more care in the future.

Cheers,
-Tony

http://music.podshow.com/music/listeners/artistdetails.php?BandHash=8c4793e168a49d46eed2304614d8ac94

Thanks

Luis Claudio

I can’t believe you two actually got busted at the Tate! I was listening to the podcast while having my morning coffee at a coffee shop near the office. When it got to the point that you were busted, I laughed out loud – and of course everyone turned around to see what was happening.

I only have one small suggestion: I know that you don’t want to do a lot of audio editing, and the realtime/live feeling of the podcasts are absolutely great. But, sometimes the audio levels jump from a whisper to loud church bells and back again, so it means that your listeners have to keep adjusting the volume on their mp3 players. If you could do something to normalize the audio levels it would help a lot.

Great podcasts! Keep them coming.

-Lem