The other day a friend and I were discussing the
ways in which the art school has changed. We
argued that because the market for contemporary art
has grown so much, it is entirely feasible for an
interesting and good artist, no matter how seemingly
difficult to commodity, to make a living outside of
working within the academic institution. They no
longer require this income to survive. The impact of
this is that there has been a haemorrhaging of really
interesting tutors. This combined with the collapse of
visiting lecture budgets means that a student
working within art practice today is not getting
exposed to the very best or most interesting in their
field. However, in theory, or say critical writing,
because the economic infrastructure does not exist
in the same way, because it isn't possible to survive
easily in these professions, there is still the
possibility to gain access to interesting teachers. You
are in a position far closer to the position I was in
Newcastle in the 70's. Despite the academisation of
things, which is problematic, there is some really
interesting stuff happening on the critical side and
frankly rather less in the art school.