Isle Of Man Dubbed A 'cultural Desert'

[thesultanofsheight]

If the article is bad, some of the comments on the website are terrible. The last one in particular is a peach:

 

"Well like what mistake im 22 years old and female and there is nothing to do over here theres only so many times you can visit the manx museum or the house of mannanin."

 

Again, the question must be asked: What exactly do people expect from a community of 80,000, in which the biggest town has a population of 26,000?

 

Its a good point BUT the problem is - like the UK - our kids have been globalized. If they can't have access to all the big High Street brands, get off their tits in the Ministry of Sound every weekend, or go to the muliplex three times a week they think their environment is shite.

 

The issue I have with this survey is that it claims to look for evidence of "culture" but quite what they define as culture is another thing. I'd have said that with a population of 80,000 stuff like the Manx Museum, the Mannanan Centre, events at the Gaity, stuff on at the Villa, events at the Erin Arts Centre and all the traditional local stuff like the Guild, Yn Chruinnaght etc would provide quite a high concentration of "culture" per resident. Obviously not.

 

What we obviously need is some yuppie wank-fest like the Tate Modern to be taken seriously. Culture these days seems to consist of staring at Tracey Emin's shitty bed and shopping in the Virgin Megastore.

[Sneaky Dolores]

What we obviously need is some yuppie wank-fest like the Tate Modern to be taken seriously. Culture these days seems to consist of staring at Tracey Emin's shitty bed and shopping in the Virgin Megastore.

 

Sigh. Even if you don't appreciate Tracey Emin's art, surely you don't think that art by, e.g., Matisse and Picasso is a yuppie wank fest, because you'll also find that at the Tate Modern. Have you even been to the place? It's brilliant and if you go in there at any time of day, any day of the week, you'll see a cross-section of society in there. It's not highbrow or elitist, it's high art displayed in an amazing building, for anyone to come and enjoy, absolutely free of charge. Beats the Gaiety any day, I'm afraid. However, I can also live without having the Tate Modern on my doorstep and I still think there's plenty of good stuff to do over here.

[thesultanofsheight]

Sigh. Even if you don't appreciate Tracey Emin's art, surely you don't think that art by, e.g., Matisse and Picasso is a yuppie wank fest, because you'll also find that at the Tate Modern. Have you even been to the place? It's brilliant and if you go in there at any time of day, any day of the week, you'll see a cross-section of society in there. It's not highbrow or elitist, it's high art displayed in an amazing building, for anyone to come and enjoy, absolutely free of charge. Beats the Gaiety any day, I'm afraid. However, I can also live without having the Tate Modern on my doorstep and I still think there's plenty of good stuff to do over here.

 

Done the Tate a few times. Sorry ... by and large its crap. In fact many parts of it are beyond crap. My problem is that I'm obviously not a Southern Metrosexual looking to impress my subnormal yuppie friends.

 

Before you criticise. I saw the Kandinsky exhibition in Picadily a few years back it - brilliant. I saw a Salvador Dali exhibition by the Millennium Wheel a few year back too. Equally brilliant. But I'm sorry the Tate is a joke aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive.

[Sneaky Dolores]

Sigh. Even if you don't appreciate Tracey Emin's art, surely you don't think that art by, e.g., Matisse and Picasso is a yuppie wank fest, because you'll also find that at the Tate Modern. Have you even been to the place? It's brilliant and if you go in there at any time of day, any day of the week, you'll see a cross-section of society in there. It's not highbrow or elitist, it's high art displayed in an amazing building, for anyone to come and enjoy, absolutely free of charge. Beats the Gaiety any day, I'm afraid. However, I can also live without having the Tate Modern on my doorstep and I still think there's plenty of good stuff to do over here.

 

Done the Tate a few times. Sorry ... by and large its crap. In fact many parts of it are beyond crap. My problem is that I'm obviously not a Southern Metrosexual looking to impress my subnormal yuppie friends.

 

Before you criticise. I saw the Kandinsky exhibition in Picadily a few years back it - brilliant. I saw a Salvador Dali exhibition by the Millennium Wheel a few year back too. Equally brilliant. But I'm sorry the Tate is a joke aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive.

 

Heheh. You've just given me a damn good laugh, so ta for that. So let me get this straight: an exhibition with one artist whose work you're probably already familiar with and already know you like = great; an exhibition with some art that you get and some you don't = aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive. Have I got that right?

[thesultanofsheight]

Heheh. You've just given me a damn good laugh, so ta for that. So let me get this straight: an exhibition with one artist whose work you're probably already familiar with and already know you like = great; an exhibition with some art that you get and some you don't = aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive. Have I got that right?

 

Yes. I was only vaguely familiar with Kandinsky, and had seen a few of Dali's more commercial works before I went. But didn't go to either exhibition with preconcieved ideas.

 

There are parts of the Tate that I found interesting - they had some Henry Moore scupltures in when I was there but I have to say that 60% of it is utter tosh aimed at the gullible.

 

The one thing I will always thank the Tate for was that on one of my earlier visits they had some of Damien Hirst's formaldahye sculptures in - and I could validate myself first hand that they were nothing but f**king hyped rubbish aimed at people who had more money than sense.

[Sneaky Dolores]

Heheh. You've just given me a damn good laugh, so ta for that. So let me get this straight: an exhibition with one artist whose work you're probably already familiar with and already know you like = great; an exhibition with some art that you get and some you don't = aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive. Have I got that right?

 

Yes. I was only vaguely familiar with Kandinsky, and had seen a few of Dali's more commercial works before I went. But didn't go to either exhibition with preconcieved ideas.

 

There are parts of the Tate that I found interesting - they had some Henry Moore scupltures in when I was there but I have to say that 60% of it is utter tosh aimed at the gullible.

 

The one thing I will always thank the Tate for was that on one of my earlier visits they had some of Damien Hirst's formaldahye sculptures in - and I could validate myself first hand that they were nothing but f**king hyped rubbish aimed at people who had more money than sense.

 

Okey doke

[slinkydevil]

Sigh. Even if you don't appreciate Tracey Emin's art, surely you don't think that art by, e.g., Matisse and Picasso is a yuppie wank fest, because you'll also find that at the Tate Modern. Have you even been to the place? It's brilliant and if you go in there at any time of day, any day of the week, you'll see a cross-section of society in there. It's not highbrow or elitist, it's high art displayed in an amazing building, for anyone to come and enjoy, absolutely free of charge. Beats the Gaiety any day, I'm afraid. However, I can also live without having the Tate Modern on my doorstep and I still think there's plenty of good stuff to do over here.

 

Done the Tate a few times. Sorry ... by and large its crap. In fact many parts of it are beyond crap. My problem is that I'm obviously not a Southern Metrosexual looking to impress my subnormal yuppie friends.

 

Before you criticise. I saw the Kandinsky exhibition in Picadily a few years back it - brilliant. I saw a Salvador Dali exhibition by the Millennium Wheel a few year back too. Equally brilliant. But I'm sorry the Tate is a joke aimed at the globally vulnerable and the terminally anally retentive.

 

Yeah the Salvador Dali exhibition in the Tate Liverpool was pretty good a few years back to. Wait a minute....

[VinnieK]

the problem is - like the UK - our kids have been globalized. If they can't have access to all the big High Street brands, get off their tits in the Ministry of Sound every weekend, or go to the muliplex three times a week they think their environment is shite.

 

I don't think the problem is really a consequence of globalisation (and most importantly isn't limited to kids). Certainly more demanding expectations play a part, but I think a lot of it's down to increased wealth, relative to previous generations, and leisure time fuelling those expectations. For teenagers this is exacerbated by the fact that they inhabit that awkward age where they're too old for the youth club, but too young for the pub, and for this reason teenagers anywhere are always bored and fed up with their surroundings. It was the same when I was a teenager: I wasn't interested in brands, or clubbing, and I didn't even particularly like the cinema, but I was still bored with what was on offer and this really only ended when I was old enough to have a "place" to go to, i.e. pubs etc.

 

The real problem, I would say, is why older people (in their twenties and beyond) expect more from the Island than it can really deliver, and I suspect this is down to nothing more than not thinking things through, and a general expectation that things should be handed to them on a platter.

 

What we obviously need is some yuppie wank-fest like the Tate Modern to be taken seriously. Culture these days seems to consist of staring at Tracey Emin's shitty bed and shopping in the Virgin Megastore.

 

I'm not a massive fan of the Tate Modern - being a philistine I regard most art as wallpaper and ornaments that have gotten above their station - but that's a little unfair. Someone could just as easily think of Yn Chruinnaght as a beardy wank fest where a man playing an old tune on the Gaelic bum whistle passes for entertainment and culture (not that I'm saying they'd be right to do so). Fair play to fans of either: the important thing is that people understand what they can reasonably expect from the Island and view what it offers objectively instead of just screaming "I want! I want! I want!" and banging their fists against the floor.