Two recent experiences have given me an opportunity to reflect on a fundamental problem that I believe lies at the root of many problems in the world today. One is Simone Kermes' wish that we at least hold the final concerts of the master class not with free admission, but with ticketing to "educate the audience to culture", and the second experience was the financial obstacle for me to attend two cultural events, simply because lack of means. Culture and money. In this article I would like to reflect on the relationship between the two elements and find possible ways out of the dilemma. After all, we live in difficult times. On the one hand, culture and art have lost importance in times of "pandemics" and wars, on the other hand, difficult financial circumstances threaten most people. However, during this historically difficult time, the artist is most in demand to raise his voice and inspire humanity to find new, more beautiful ways out of the crisis. There have never been so many artists and so hungry for communication as now. I feel called upon to find ways for solving these problem.
Is Art a job to earn a living?
... or a vocation, subject to the spirit?
What is Art for me? In contrast to most of my colleagues, I also see art, my art, as an ideal. In no case do I see it as a profession to earn money to survive. Making my artistic activity dependent on my stomach is absurd! Simply because art must be free from need: yes, it is inspired by worldly problems, but never dependent on them. I see so many artists who quickly give away their art just to get some money. They do things that don't suit them, that don't express their soul in any way, they obey interest groups, they are, in short, manipulated. The finance world of our neoliberal society has found in art and culture a good vehicle to spread ideologies, so use as an instrument for its own ends a discipline that should only be subordinate to the divine. The universal inspiration: it comes from heaven, from the soul, from the spirit, whatever we should call it: But the money and business of this world are certainly not a source of inspiration for art.
This means that an art that is driven solely by the acquisition of money is not inspired art. It is empty of its true core: to inspire humanity to something higher, to universal beauty and above all to give solutions in life. Art should be independent of money and, above all, free.
A child's soul is inspired by the power and beauty of music, love is born for this art and the child decides to become an artist. This child never thinks of making money when deciding to do art. But the child grows up later and then realizes that there are people who earn a lot of money with art. These are world-famous stars, such as opera singers or painters, or rock stars, etc. This fact may corrupt many artists' souls. On the other hand, the social pressure is enormous "You have to have a job, you have to have enough money to pay your rent, to start and take care of a family"... We hear that every day, from parents, society and who wants to be an outsider? Under the pressure of society, many artists become "bureaucrats", they turn their art into a job. At the same time, culture becomes a trade product for the markets.
Is there another way?
First, the artist must be willing to make sacrifices for his muse. No, the artist is not a normal person, like a baker or a nurse who has to work every day, gets a salary and pays the rent with it and if lucky enough to start a family. We are subjects of the spirit. Sometimes we can work not 8 but 40 hours a day, because more intense, more multidimensional. And why? exactly to make the world of the baker and nurse, these wonderful, so important people, better. It is a pity to see how workers are being made slaves nowadays due to the increasing lack of humanity and basic values in our society. We bear the responsibility of preserving the eternal values in society, so that people do not harm other people, so that love prevails. For this, the artist must be free and independent of society. Many colleagues ask me, how is that supposed to work? How can you work and survive in this way?
My answer is always the same, and yet no one seems to understand: You are subject to the spirit and must trust your ruler. He will never leave you hungry. I can only confirm it with my life. Yes, there were times when I had to do hard and bad jobs to pay for my studies and my rent. But never as an artist. I worked as a cleaner, shop assistant, interpreter and music teacher for children, but then I went home and made MY art as I understand it. I think a lot of great artists lived like that: Eichendorff was an official and then went home and wrote poetry. Yes, it was a sacrifice that I had to leave the music business because the way it developed no longer suited me, I created a parallel artistic universe which fits to my ideal. Show-business went down the drain: anyone who depends on it for their livelihood will go down with it. It was not always that bad. The result of my decision to leave the "business" is that I have no material security and no family either, but I have remained true to myself and in the end that is all that counts. We are like monks, we obey a god. He alone gives us happiness and fulfillment of our task. That was my motto all those years: And look, I'm still alive, I'm healthy, I have an alert mind, I'm free. And I think every artist can walk this path and not be afraid of anything, just believe. Sometimes I think the world, including the art world, would be better if more artists thought like me.
Arts in a capitalist society.
I will never forget the surprise with which I saw the singers' advertisements in music magazines when I arrived in Italy. As if they were a shampoo or a shoe brand: nice picture, repertoire and below the contact to the seller: his agency. I stayed in Italy and experienced this whole situation, I had an agency myself for a short time that gave me a couple of jobs. And these were the well-paying jobs that allowed me to have a certain good life back then. That means I don't despise the agent's job or the money. How could I? It is one of the achievements of human civilization and a fundamental reason for our culture.
Without money there is no trade, no travel, no relations between cultures, people, countries - and also no development of civilization. We strive for an orderly life: that is only possible with the help of this invention called "money". We artists need it too, and how! it is a good for our societies and fortunately there is a science that studies its rules, Economics. But it seems that some of these scientists thought that art and culture should be subject to the same rules, that fits for everything else in society like occupation, trade, energy. I have a feeling that these people's intentions were good in the beginning. Unfortunately, however, over time and especially after a fallen morals and an ever-increasing lack of education and culture in society, this monetization of the spirit and abstract values brought considerable damage in the end. Not only in the field of arts, but above all in other vital areas such as health and education. With sole purpose of gaining, the ideal and reverence for the ideal behind the object was lost. So maybe capitalism wasn't meant to be bad in the beginning, but today it ends as a bad nightmare, as the incredibly inhuman situation during the pandemic has shown us. Those years have only revealed the incredible decadence and corruption of society. Nothing was sacred anymore: not life, democracy, debate, science, culture, health, education. Everything sacrificed at the altar of whimsical pursuits of interests, business and dealings. The lobbies seize power over politicians, the politicians over citizens, in between we, spirit-workers, were who suffered the most. The culture was silent for two years, the children no longer went to school. The spiritual component of our lives, which by nature should be free, succumbed in chains. The artist a hostage. How will this all end?
I think, something got lost somewhere along the way and an equilibrium vanished. "Everything in moderation is perfect" is always a golden rule. We honor our ideals, we value virtue and pursue the good that is immaterial - without despising the material. Both elements of life are fundamental but which of the two is more important? Is it balance between the two that we want to strive for (50% each), or should one of the two elements - spirit and matter - be more important, our first advisor? Should we rather be looking for a Golden Rule (one element is a little bit more then the other) where, of course, spirit rules over matter and not vice versa?
Back to the roots - how was it back then?
The Greek philosophers always emphasized the importance of virtue. A person who is wise, only he has the possibility to become good and happy. Aristotle talks about "Phronesis", the use of Reason that promises to regulate our practical life and success. Of course, if we want do something good, there must be a wise thought behind each of our actions. Without a scenario, senseless chaotic actions are likely to occur, and with a bad scenario, catastrophic actions. We want to achieve something good, don't we? Then we must have a good, well-thought-out, wise plan. But that can be done better by individuals with a culture and an education of the spirit in values and ideals like those of the classical period. Freedom, humanism, preservation of the good, protection of nature, happiness of all people. We want to create a society where we can all live together peacefully and happily, with mutual respect. Then we must be mentally alert, inspired by higher values.
Now shall we look around us? Does the society where we live, look like this? Just today, misfortune, poverty, disease and war are on the rise again. Because we neglected the good spirit that the Greek philosophers wrote about in their political writings.
So the answer is "Yes, matter and spirit are equal, but spirit is a guiding force for matter and therefore more important. And for its guidance to be good one must take care of its perfection and purity".
The three spiritual disciplines
.... And their role for the good of human societies. The education and guidance of the human spirit is the task of the disciplines related to the spirit: in my opinion these are Art, Science and Religion. Each person, depending on their temperament, finds one of these three ways for their spirit and all three are equal. So I am convinced that Art is also a vocation to educate people's spirit: its path is that of the subconscious, which is difficult to explain in words, but poets, musicians, painters have the means in their hands to do so to convey these messages from space to mankind with the help of their art and talent. Science - unlike art - uses Rationality and consciousness of the mind to explore the laws of the universe. Finally Religion collects and spreads the messages left for us by the various extraordinary people before us, prophets and masters. Most of the religions are sources of great wisdom that people have received in a mystical communication with the Higher Being and give generously and freely for us to enlighten us, especially when our life is in danger and we walk in the dark. Of course, these three disciplines are also very closely related, and Philosophy flies over them all. The love of wisdom. For the ancient Greeks, Athena, the goddess of wisdom, was the patroness of the muses, i.e. the goddesses of science and art. The muses, in turn, enthralled and inspired artists and scientists, and they bestowed upon mankind beautiful, inspiring fruits - and this brought well-being and happiness.
There is now no doubt that the mind must be free. Inspired by higher spheres, he should take over the leadership of matter and not vice versa. That means it is wrong when money, i.e. matter, tries to gain power over him.
With that I have to refute two phrases that I have heard from officials in culture and religion. "Paying a penalty is a good discipline," a religious official once told me. "By charging a higher ticket price for an event, we educate the audience to appreciate the culture." These two people - although they should be spiritual, were convinced that with money and its rules you can educate people. But the truth is that only with the spirit can and should one educate people. The mind is not subject to human laws. It has a cosmic origin, it is divine and only God (by which I mean the universal laws) has power over it. The education of people is also subject to the Holy Spirit, he alone sends his messages and guides us along the paths of art, science and religion. Nothing else.
Athena and Hermes
Many societies have idealized the friendship of the two gods. The two gods can be seen together everywhere in the Wilhelminian style buildings in Görlitz. Hermes - the god of trade - and Athena - the goddess of wisdom. Together they should lead society, and then there will be prosperity: this is what the politicians in Prussia thought around 1889, children of the humanistic education after Humboldt and the European Enlightenment. They have not neglected the material, but they have not neglected the spiritual either, they even saw both as protectors of their well-being. Well, what does Hermes mean? On the one hand he was the messenger of the gods, mediator of the divine will, god of communication, but at the same time protector of traders and money. What would divine wisdom be without its communication on earth. For the Greeks and Romans, this channel between above and below was the task of the god Hermes, the god of trade and money. And she, the Wisdom Goddess, she is the protector of human activities, mentor of men and teacher of the arts and sciences. She develops, he helps with the dissemination. This is also a metaphor for the perfect combination between art and money. She has the task of teaching wisdom, he has the task of bringing this wisdom to people. The first without the second remains just an abstraction. Hermes is the means to manifest spiritual values in people's lives.
Expensive tickets or free entry?
One should not despise the function of Hermes for art either. Without it, the mind's channels between above and below remain inactive. Now how is that supposed to work? Because it doesn't look like the business of art, as it currently exists in the world, allows for a channel between the higher spirit and humans. On the contrary.
I'm thinking: where and in what way did I get the most and higher spirit in my life?
a. Free visits to churches and preaching by inspired pastors, as well as counseling from some of those pastors who have valued their vocation. b. Conversations with hermits who have never asked for anything in exchange for giving their spirit freely and lovingly. c. Outstanding artists and art lovers who had a wisdom and also never thought of the money to spread it further. c. Books, mostly borrowed from a library for free, or inherited from a library, or received as a gift or bought, but - thank God - you can always find cheap good books. Funnily enough, expensive books today are not full of spirit, while the classics can also be found for free on the net today. i.e. visit to the theatre. When I was a student the theater and the opera inspired me to great spiritual ideas, tickets wasn't that expensive. I could afford to go to Epidauros and the Bavarian or Vienna State Opera had very cheap tickets too. At the same time, back then - when everything was not so expensive - the plays were beautiful, inspired, full of respect for the author and values. The more the prices of the directors, the agents, the star system rose, the more expensive the tickets and the more nonsensical the spectacle. The vanity fairs of western cities took over the mind: result: only rich people, who for the most part were ignorant of culture, could afford to go to the theatre, while the general public stayed with the theater and the music, especially when she is classic, distant. Now they're willing to pay high prices for a rock concert, but they're no longer interested in the art that could really help their spirit. They think it's elitist, and that's what it looks like when it's that expensive.
Unfortunately, this attitude arose because what was supposed to be offered free of charge was seen as the art of an elite, sold dearly and traded with it. Arts became poor of Spirit but Expensive. The Balance vanished. And I don't blame the people if they got that impression, because that's how it was presented, with the catastrophic result that the broad masses of society remain without culture in the classical sense, without spiritual guidance and therefore completely manipulable, unhealthy. Society is consequently going down the drain! The fact that I was spared, even though I come from a poor family, is because my mother grew up in a communist society which had a different approach to arts, it was a common good for everybody, not depending on money.
So it is of utmost necessity to devise a strategy to solve the problem that has arisen (I guess in the 90s) as quickly as possible and to present the culture again as a beacon of hope, a healer and a guide for society. Now: how?
Looking for a way
1. There is no other way but to return to a healthy, spiritual Art that rediscovers its vocation and becomes aware of its role in the health of society. Inspired artists, high spiritual projects with divine messages. Just goosebumps, a tear, an inspiring idea can become the catalyst to change an entire society. Because the mind is like electricity: it spreads automatically when there is a channel. But it must really be like a river, of great power. Then it brings light, it moves, it gives strength.
2. Then the inspired artist must find a way, a "Hermes" mediation, for his ideas and messages to make their way to his audience. The mediation in this case must be as pure and ethical as the artist himself, and not corrupted. Hermes, is a son of Zeus and a god for the Greeks, so made of higher spiritual stuff.
In the past there have been directors, impresarios, talent scouters, producers of theater and music as well as painting exhibitions who were really inspired by this high spirit and mediated between artist and audience. Right now I'm thinking of Sergej Diaghilev or even Antonio Vivaldi, who, in addition to composing, was committed to his musicians: actually, most composers of the Baroque period were also impresarios, because they were the ones who knew the music and artists the most. Antonio Bioni was also a singer, composer and impresario.
The impresario is still very important today so that the artists can find a way from their studying-room to the listener. For him, too, money should not be the first concern, but the intellectual quality of the art. Diaghilev still remains my best example because he brought high ideas and spirit to manifestation. How would the world be without Sheherezade, Sacre de Printemps, Apres midi d'un faun
And now we come to the money. The engine of it all. That with which one can prepare scenographies and costumes, pay the fees of musicians and other artists, travel, accommodation, electricity etc etc.
That has to be found. Throughout the history of theatre, money has always been available: whether as income from tickets when the spectacle is open to the public, or sponsorship from patrons. In large measure, this model should still work today, but because we live in a turning point in time, perhaps we should also think about new ways and ideas.
New ideas
I personally think that people shouldn't be pigeonholed in "drawers". In recent years, an ideology has spread that wants to make us aware of this new necessity. That every human being can determine for himself how he wants to live and that no social models have any power over the universal soul of a human. In our case: a musician is never just a musician. Szczepan Dembinski is a cellist, composer, builds instruments, knows the internet well and speaks several languages. And who knows how many talents he still has.
I love music, theatre, I studied opera singing. But I'm also a scientist, I have experience doing research, organizing, building websites, I speak six languages and I'm a good agent, so I have a pretty broad understanding of art. I can definitely do a lot more than just sing. Heinz studied dental technicians, but he plays 3 instruments: now he's a great sound engineer without having studied it and cooks fantastically. We are more than a name, a table, a profession. We should and are allowed to live that out. So not just singing, but doing other jobs at the same time.
Shakespeare's Globe was a group of theater people who formed a company together. They shared the income. At that time there weren't as many theaters as there are today. Globe also owed its success to Shakespeare, as he wrote brilliant plays. But also that the performances were open to the masses and had a good business model. Even today we need all the knowledge of economics about business models to run a theater perfectly, and we need witty, perfect actors, impresarios and plays, including new ones!
In this ideal company, the artists share the common theatre, the common accommodation, they make their plans together, they are creative together, they invest their energy in the project together and share the income together. Together: "in comune"... And since today we have a great need for the spiritual education of the next generation, these artists should also teach young people in music, but also in philosophy, spirit and everything that makes a person a better, harmonious, peaceful and healthy being. Following the ideals of the Renaissance, Enlightenment and Classicism. Tuition is also a source of income.
Conclusions
My conclusions after these reflections is that Simone Kermes was not wrong when she spoke about the need for tickets. But she had no right when she said that this is how we educate an audience. Asking for a ticket isn't against the freedom of art, as I've always thought. For me, the most natural thing in the world was to make an event completely free to the audience, and after the event everyone should pay what they like. The idealists and the patrons pay a lot, the poor little. In the end though, I thought the income would be higher than charging tickets if people weren't seen as bearers of money. When witty people come on stage for whom money isn't what drives them, but only the reward for their acting then they get the more they touch their audience. That's what I always thought, but unfortunately to this day this idealized image of a music-event hasn't worked the way I imagined. Artists weren't always the inspired spirits, and audiences weren't always that hungry for spirit either. No young people, no new people, and everything went like in the music business, only for free and on a small budget.
Now I know that the best way is the middle way between what Simone Kermes wants and what I want. Admission but also spirituality and social affairs.
Now I would like to try out this model for the next event (final concert of Simone Kermes' master class.
The founding of a company
Let's put it this way: I would like to found a new company of my own. It's like Shakespeare's Globe, or Diaghilev's Ballet Russes, and it has 3 aims: To create Sublime Art (Ars Augusta) among the people and for the world, to enliven this magical, beautiful region, to attract and promote artists, especially those, who really have something to say. The means for me is music, poetry, theater and singing.
Like the Globe, my group of artists should invest in this joint project, especially energy. Like the Ballet Russes, my company needs an inspired and fully committed leader. And finally, the addressee of this art, the audience, should embrace a large part of this work with as much love and commitment as the director and his artists do. Then something can emerge that can be a treasure for everyone. Give strength and beauty, health and inspiration. A joint project for everyone.
This should be supported in part by wealthy sponsors, as in the case of both the Globe and Ballet russes examples. And the small fee should also be given by an audience. If possible. The institution must keep its doors open for everyone, but those who can do more should give more and those who can't can and should still participate if they want to. Casually.
Another important element of this institution would be that it knocks on doors of people who have lost touch with classical art, for example. Promotion and dissemination through all possible channels that technology and modernity offers. The Mercury part.
I guess these conditions would be enough to create something beautiful. The rest will come from “doing and learning”.
A new INTERREG program has just been launched between Görlitz and Jelenia Góra. I think this offers a great opportunity to create a company with a sit between Görlitz and Jelenia Góra. As a repertoire we will have early music, the heritage of Augustus III and Augustus Poniatowski, what the region (Bohemia, Saxony, Silesia) gives us as threasure, whose performance is currently a gap. But also we could give reinterpreted Operas of the Repertory and Classical Literature. We also have to be open to new pieces and commissions. Good luck then, future Compagnia Ars Augusta.
Comments