Tao Wells Speech, at petcha Kutcha, when it was free to attend. 2009

Edit
Tao Wells Speech, at petcha Kutcha, when it was free to attend. 2009
February 4, 2015 at 11:34am

so , um

Shakespeare said that the world was a stage
and, when we hear something like that, out of all the things that he said, that,
the reason why that  stands out is cause somehow that has the ring of truth to it,
somehow that, that,
that
makes
sense

There’s been a lot of people since who’ve come up with their own ideas.
um,
Warhol said “I am a machine”, Jackon’s Pollock said “I am nature”
they said a lot of things but those things in relation to their lives and their works
somehow they too, sounded real, sounded like “Oh my God, you’re right”!
Warhol you’re punching out canvases like a machine, you’re making those screen prints of those news items like a machine, you’re reflecting back the machine of our lives back to us, this thing that creates culture or whatever it is.

So, what I’m interested in is, a statement made by an Artist, round the 70’s
and the statement is “Everyone is an artist”.
was made by an artist, Joseph Beuys.
now that, when someone makes that statement, when Joseph Beuys makes that statement or anyone says that statement, for me, immediately it says ‘well if everyone is an artist, there really isn’t any artists, if we’re all artists there’s no art’ so it becomes like a meaningless statement. ahh

Now what I’d like to try and do is, is just kind of explore that statement for what I’ve (um) come to understand it to mean, from my 9 years of academic study and 10 years of practice as a public artist.

Now,
when; for me when Joseph Beuys said ‘every one is an artist’
what he’s trying to say there is that ‘yes there is a class of people,
there is a elite group, of people in this “systems of economy” that are trained to produce
“specialised”, or what I call ‘super commodities’, that are ‘art’.

And
that it is, it’s ridiculously unfair that the rest of us,
the rest of everyone else’s production is not seen, or not given the same regard or the same tick of approval (um) that this specialised group
get for their super commodities
that they create.

So,
what he, what he was interested in, is well hold on,
the butcher, the baker, the candlestick maker, these people have skills, they make creative decisions on how to create
and do their jobs effectively, um,
with what they have.
And so,
what what’s really needed is an expanded idea of what an artist is.
We need to take back the idea of creativity and how important that is, the art in our lives, so that everyone becomes responsible, as an artist.
And that’s what I truly believe what he is meaning by “everyone is an artist” is that everyone, it is not that everyone is off the hook ‘aw well anyone can be an artist, it doesn’t really matter’, it’s actually that he’s putting you on the hook, he’s saying ‘Hey, You
Garbage Man,
You,
 Business Man,
You,
Corporate Business Politician’,
‘You are the Artist therefore you are responsible for making sure that the product that you create has to be contributing to the holistic and comprehensive picture that is people living on this planet’.

And that responsibility is the art, it’s the,
it’s the way that you can conceive
that you fit in to this holistic organism
of
existing.

And at the moment we all know that there are massive holes of this holistic system of human beings existing,
From
our shit getting into the water when it’s naturally fertilizer, I mean ‘duh’ there’s a stupid um,ah mistake right away. You know, from driving fossilised fuelled cars that are destroying our environment, I mean ‘duh’ there’s a problem. I mean there are massive holes in our products that need artists, people to take responsibility for and to step up and what’s happening is instead of this idea of everyone is an artist being, being promoted by Institutions and our Academies and our, our our various power sources, the idea is, is, is squashed, it’s paved over.
Instead we have the elite group getting stronger and stronger playing out at the top of this power pyramid its little market of trinket selling,
of a one hundred and one different flavours of ‘everyone is an artist’ but without anything new,
without any new ideas, because the new idea would have to mean ‘well, hey,
maybe we’re not at the top of this power pyramid’, maybe we’re actually getting it wrong over, over and over again and all we’re doing is protecting our own little interests and making sure we receive a massive amount of profit for whatever trinkets we make.

So, we have to expand this idea of creativity, we have to expand this idea of art and we need to um,
let go.



Like ·
· Share

    Jason Biggal, Michael Armstrong, Heike Ngan and 15 others like this.

Jean E Loomis You are right! If everyone put their creativity into the job what ever that job is it would transform the outcome. You can see this very clearly in teaching - the difference between a teacher who is creative versus a teacher who is only there for the paycheck, huge difference in the student outcomes.
Like · Reply · 4 · 10 hrs

    Wells Tao they DO put their creativity into their job, there is no avoiding this, even if that 'creativity' manifests as 'only there for pay check' conceptually that is language that can be articulated and negotiated with.. But recognizing this and linking it back to feeling responsible for what is being produced is made difficult, which also makes it worth while.
    Like · 2 · 10 hrs
    Wells Tao
    Write a reply...

Mike Nixon Like this, pecha kutcha tho ? , no if it is being charged for excessively ?, just collecting other peoples content to profit off it.
Like · Reply · 10 hrs

    Mike Nixon replied · 2 Replies · 10 hrs

Maia McDonald KIA KAHA, KIA MAIA, KIA MANAWANUI - TEHEI MAURI ORA - Tama tu, tama ora, tama moe, tama mate. AROHANUI X
Like · Reply · 10 hrs
Neil Macgregor MacLeod Two more statements I like - "I am life being aware of itself." and Bronowski's observation - "We (humans) are Nature's experiment to see if intelligence has survival value."
Like · Reply · 1 · 10 hrs
Neil Macgregor MacLeod Wasn't it the Balinese who claimed "we have no artists - everything we do is art." To implement your main argument we need that attitude - and we need to distinguish art which is an activity from the 'art world' which is just wheeling and dealing in the end result.
Like · Reply · 1 · 9 hrs
Ali Bramwell beautifully succinct
Like · Reply · 9 hrs
Alice Rose Before Art was signed and names became a commodity, there was Art to the glory of rich benefactors, usually prescribed by religion. Arts commercialism, and its 'superstars' seem to have developed out of this and taken over our right to participate, exp...See More
Like · Reply · 1 · 8 hrs
Barry Thomas Here we go again...

Art is only leading seeding radical new memes in the pavement cracks of culture...framing elephants in rooms....See More
Like · Reply · 2 · 8 hrs · Edited

Wells Tao "Good to see you starting to re-define art, artists, roles vs getting hooked up on 'what is it the art of?'" - Barry, the point of re-defineing is to answer the question what is it the art of?
Like · 28 mins
Wells Tao Again, your art definition is propoganda not art.
Like · 27 mins
Wells Tao Art's job is to do what it's told.
Like · 27 mins
Wells Tao don't sorry bro me, that's lame. You don't have any authority except your ability to reason and provide evidence of such, i.e it's not my experience that artists (at least the ones i've met) EVER know what it is that is great about what they have made. full stop.
Like · 25 mins

    Wells Tao your last point I almost agree with, but it's not 'people' it's you and me, and if you think this is what is needed, Beuy's wasn't wrong. But not widely understood. I could help you but you seem determined to be an artist. And i'm looking for those that want to shed that skin.
    Like · 19 mins
    Wells Tao
    Write a reply...

Harry Silver Was that in the overseas terminal building in Wellington? Having a flashback, trying to remember if I remember.
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 7 hrs

    Wells Tao yes
    Like · 33 mins
    Wells Tao
    Write a reply...

Kenneth Lee Morgan · 4 mutual friends
salvidore said i am drugs
Unlike · Reply · 1 · 5 hrs

Wells Tao https://www.facebook.com/photo.php?fbid=10150498533072181&set=a.172933277180.132978.577792180&type=3&theater
DARE TO TELL KIDS THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS
Wells Tao

DARE TO TELL KIDS THE TRUTH ABOUT DRUGS
Like · Remove Preview · 30 mins
Ra Ra Ra life is medication
Like · 23 mins

    Wells Tao for death
    Like · Just now
    Wells Tao
    Write a reply...

Jason Biggal We can expand on this idea we are all works of Art, Nature the greatest Artist of all perhaps, I guess the powers that may be, may not have wanted to hear that Truth, never the less there it is, in all its raw beauty and the Beauty of any work or Quote, un- Quote '' Art Works'' lays in the Beholder of their own perceptions and inspirations. How we perceive it is mostly up to our own thoughts. How we react or view it again is an individual perception that can be shared, so the art can be in many different forms or ideas or perceptions as thought patterns very greatly just as there are many, many different art forms and Artists, not just a simple set for certain individuals only. That's the Universal thread its access-able really to most if not all people on some level so we all participate as art and works of art. Weather its good or not is another story.
Like · Reply · 56 mins

Wells Tao I'm not talking about interpreting different pages from the bible. I'm talking about dropping the bible all together.
Like · 19 mins
Jason Biggal Again that's just one perception I 'm not talking about it either its an open comment about of whatever you want it to be, and many can't handle that concept'' so you let go or hang on to what ever truth or perception you want''
Like · 16 mins