Research Student Raises the Banner for Arts Funding
14 January 2013 – A 23m high banner stating, ‘The Market Will Save Us’, will adorn the façade of the RCA in Kensington for two weeks from today.
The eye-catching billboard installation, by artist and RCA Critical Writing in Art & Design PhD student Bill Balaskas, features the ironic phrase in Perpetua, the same typeface as the RCA’s royal charter granted in 1967. It will be hung on the Darwin building in South Kensington, on the same spot where the College’s graduate show banner is hung annually.
It’s one of 27 pieces by research students that will be shown at the second research biennial, Disruption, next week and aims to shine a spotlight on arts education funding as part of a wider body of work exploring capitalism and economic crisis in the West.
The Market Will Save Us is a precursor to The Market Will Save the World, an exhibition at the Kasa Gallery in Istanbul, opening later this month (25 January – 8 March 2013). A solo show, _The Market Will Save the World will feature Balaskas’ old and new works, dealing with economic crisis and the current state of globalised capitalism. Located in the vault of a former bank, the site is also a nod to the migration of economic centres from traditional historic locations such as London, to emerging ones, such as Istanbul.
Balaskas, who hails from Greece and studied economics before changing direction to study art at Maidstone and at the RCA, explained that by exhibiting this phrase on the side of a renowned art institution, it becomes a statement about the current status of the art world – the impact of funding cuts and increasing corporate dependency. Curbing artistic expression, and having to think about ‘what you do and what you say’ is effectively a form censorship, Balaskas argues.
‘Of course, it’s not just about art; it’s about what governments see as their priorities and what will be important for people in the future,’ he stressed.
‘This kind of debate should take place today and artists should be more vocal about what’s happening. We need to think about creating a stronger cultural charter in the UK – there need to be more channels of support for students, as well as a much stronger charity culture,’ he added.
The student research show, Disruption, will present specially created work by 27 participants from programmes across all six schools at the RCA, including Architecture, Design, Fine Art, Humanities and Materials. Running from 21 to 27 January, the show aims to be a rare glimpse into art and design practice-led research, exploring how subversion and disruption are key to its evolution.