ART AND THE BOUNCY BANKER: Letter to the Bank #26

The Bruxist Collective's take on Art and (as Alfred Jarry might put it) P'finance.

A numerically dyslexic artist (and reluctant consumer) shares his dearth of financial wisdom and resulting frustrations with his Bank Manager. Read personal letters from the elusive Art to his even more elusive Bank Manager. See a comic rendition of a Day In The Life Of The Bouncy Banker. Art struggles to make sense of the senseless as the Authorities of Finance wobble but never quite fall down. Full of hot air they float above it all! When they bounce it is with impunity! Why are there no Remorseful Bankers? Can Art and Finance ever coexist? Do you have a Blue Chip on your shoulder?

When bankers get together they talk about Art. When artists get together they talk about money. Oscar Wilde

Tuesday, August 25, 2009

Letter to the Bank #26

Dear BM,

Who am I kidding? You won’t employ me as a curator, or let me have a say in your acquisitions process. Deep down in my gut I know this to be true. I must have been curiously disconnected the other day or high on the huge dose of Ibuprofen prescribed for my infuriating backache. Truthfully my gut also cannot quite stomach the idea of working within your “for profit” system though clearly, penniless as I am, I could surely learn a thing or two. Is it within the realms of possibility to earn well AND honestly, with higher purpose? Is this a higher calling you are pursuing as you enable museums to put on shows that they could probably not afford to mount without your help in the current economy? I know funding for many museums has been drastically cut. So in your efforts to mount these ambitious shows are you being altruistic or pragmatic? I honestly can not tell.

So many of the people I know have great dreams, positive dreams, poetic, artistic dreams but to do anything to realize them requires (dammit) money! Financing! Getting in to debt! Going in to foreclosure for goodness sake! Getting a bad credit score! Or...writing amazing proposals! Now there’s a good idea. Would you listen if I wrote you a proposal? I’ve got this great idea that requires I build a paper maché and cardboard bank, write a monologue and pretend to be working on behalf of the bank as a PR man. I attempt to reach those corners of the community most suspicious of banking institutions. You’d have to have some humor, be able to laugh at yourself, take a joke. I’d do all the hard work and your support would only reflect well on your institution. When I have a moment, when I’m not busy fixing a broken toilet, replacing a broken sump pump, or tearing out a ruined ceiling and so compromising my back, I’ll find a moment to work up my proposal. I only ask you to keep an open mind and stop badgering me with bewildering notices regarding my various credit cards. I know you only have a couple of weeks left to do your dirty work before new banking regulations kick in but how about leaving me out of it?

Sorry. I got a bit distracted didn’t I. More soon.

Sincerely,

KC