People’s vision glasses need some soap and a squeegee when imagining the possibility of a substantial art gallery. I, for one, am convinced that even if you can clean the vision specs and can muster a truly original and creative plan for such a piece of architecture, there is then the momentous task of building consensus.
The original idea must be something more significant than a house for macaroni art and Elvis’ portraits if you expect the sheeple to follow. Ah yes, that is a bit testy, but it would be nice if people did follow your idea like sheep. But no! People don’t do that, they are cantankerous, contrary, difficult and individualistic before one can bribe them into joining your vision. Consensus gathering is as hard as fishing, you think you have caught one, but it jumps out of the boat!
Vision and consensus. There’s a mouthful for most. Most are wondering about how much the groceries went up this week, or when to pick up their mother-in-law. Or is it garbage day tomorrow? Where is Jimmy’s lost hockey glove? Or more seriously, I need to go to Home Depot and pick up a snow shovel before tomorrow. There is no time for visioning and ‘consensoring’ at all. And if there was it would be taken up by the instant arrival of a big car repair. Car repairs take precedence over most things, including art gallery plans and art gallery consensus building.
Now if we could pick up an original Van Gogh, a tidy dusty Rembrandt, or even a Group of Seven Thom Thompson oil on canvas, in a flea market sale, or in grandma’s attic, we would have a consensus point of renown. That’s what you need for consensus for anything, a strong monetary value that you are picking up for nothing, and then consensus builders would be dancing in the streets. ‘We found a bag of gold!’ and now everybody believes sincerely that we should build a truly remarkable art gallery, and still have money leftover for the groceries.
Let’s face it, we don’t want to look like an updated thrift store, or a converted old barn or a discarded warehouse. We do need consensus building around Big Daddy Warbucks if we want to get this done before 2060 and have it look like the Gugenheim. Ah yes, I can imagine opening night, none of that aforementioned ‘macaroni art’ , kids’ finger paintings, or bananas on the wall with duct tape, nosiree, we will have famous Scarborough artists, paradigms of artistic virtue who have earned their fame and poverty through dint of earnest effort, and dedication to low pay, and never having to pay taxes. We will have built that much needed consensus that will have put our great vision into a joyous reality.
Vision and consensus, it just doesn’t have that advertising ring to it like ‘talent might be right under your nose’, but it is the crucial link between thinking about stuff and actually getting it done.
Peter Marsh December 23th 2024
