"A master gambler and his high-stakes museum."

October 19, 2014 1:35 PM

Walsh agreed to pay Boltanski for the right to film his studio, outside Paris, twenty-four hours a day, and to transmit the images live to Walsh, in Tasmania. But the payment was turned into a macabre bet: the agreed fee was to be divided by eight years, and Boltanski was to be paid a monthly stipend, calculated as a proportion of that period, until his death. Should Boltanski, who was sixty-five years old, live longer than eight years, Walsh will end up paying more than the work is worth, and will have lost the bet. But if Boltanski dies within eight years the gambler will have purchased the work at less than its agreed-upon value, and won. "He has assured me that I will die before the eight years is up, because he never loses. He’s probably right," Boltanski told Agence France-Presse in 2009. "I don’t look after myself very well. But I’m going to try to survive." He added, "Anyone who never loses or thinks he never loses must be the Devil."

—Tasmanian Devil is the story of David Walsh and his Museum of Old and New Art in Hobart, Tasmania, as told by recent Man Booker winner Richard Flanagan.
posted by Kattullus (17 comments total)

Not the Booker.
posted by Fizz at 1:40 PM on October 19, 2014

MONA

A image search in google of 'mona museum tasmania' brings up a number of the exhibits mentioned in the article.
posted by salad at 3:00 PM on October 19, 2014

MONA is a fantastic museum. If all vanity projects were this civic-minded, we'd have a good time down here in 3rd class.
posted by flippant at 3:55 PM on October 19, 2014 [2 favorites]

You can either love it or hate it, there is no middle ground at Mona, or so Walsh believes.
posted by asok at 4:08 PM on October 19, 2014

"Walsh’s mother, Myra Heawood, was one of ten children born to a possum

trapper."

I was really disappointed when my eyes reached the next line.
posted by moonmilk at 4:26 PM on October 19, 2014 [1 favorite]

MONA is one of the best art galleries I ever visited, if not the best, and I've been to an awful lot.
posted by lupus_yonderboy at 7:56 PM on October 19, 2014

Goddamned taswegians.
posted by um at 7:56 PM on October 19, 2014

We're going there next month. I'm very excited.
posted by web-goddess at 2:41 AM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

There's a longer version of this article on the Monthly. (possibly paywalled if you've already read 3 free articles this month)

I grew up a few hundred metres from Moorilla's front gate, in one of those suburbs you don't have to actually see when you slip up the river on the MONA ferry. How nice not to have to look into Tasmania's economically depressed face.

Will David Walsh's midlife fancy survive for long, if it's making all these losses? Past his old age, and his death? Past the rise of the river, as alluded to by the article, and his own comments about longevity? What happens to Tasmania once all that tourist traffic collapses and the economy stops coasting on David's money?

Tasmania will still be there, and Tasmanians will still be there, getting older and poorer, its children still either booking tickets to anywhere-but-here or staying home to chronically underachieve, and then to raise another generation of underachievers.

I have a rough time cheering along when he is lauded for "giving back" to the community where he grew up. To me his achievements feel like they are more about throwing a party in honour of himself.
posted by raena at 3:03 AM on October 20, 2014 [2 favorites]

Well sort out your education system and the surrounding culture. A place where it is considered strange to finish year 12 is going to underachieve. There are plenty of jobs in tassie but those in the arts, such as the higher ups at Mona, are filled by people from Melbourne or Sydney, jobs in construction are filled by people from anywhere else at all, because there's no training in tassie. That's just the two areas I know of.

I've spent a reasonable amount of time in Tasmania, there's a lot of bitching about the economy and lack of jobs but I reckon the by far bigger problem is education, and that's cultural more than anything.
posted by deadwax at 4:51 AM on October 20, 2014 [1 favorite]

Yeah, that's kind of what the underachievers link goes into. The whole issue is well worth a read.

MONA-driven tourism can't fix that, and neither can hip mainland foodies going on gourmet adventures, or whatever the next tourism trend for Tassie will be.

I'm not convinced that those Tasmanians whose culture you're thinking of here would have their minds changed by MONA or the things that surround it. It has to be more than this.
posted by raena at 6:06 AM on October 20, 2014

Of course it has to be more than that. It has to be more than just "jobs" be they in MONA, wine, gourmet food or logging or anywhere else. I've been on the fringes of the expat (interstate, not so much overseas) work scene in Tassie, there are heaps of jobs in Tasmania that just go to expats because you can't find skilled people for love nor money. That causes heaps of grief, but the only options are don't have those jobs there at all or start investing in education, and take it seriously.
posted by deadwax at 8:29 PM on October 20, 2014

And none of that makes MONA detrimental to Tasmania, it's just not a panacea.
posted by deadwax at 8:31 PM on October 20, 2014

Until last year I have spent my whole life living in Tassie, growing up, schooling and working. I'd definitely be interested to hear more about the heaps of skilled jobs being filled by mainlanders, that runs counter to my own experience.

While I don't doubt there are some jobs, the problem that I see is that they are few, in limited industries, pay poorly and have little room for advancement. All but a few of my own friends have left the state to pursue opportunities not offered in Tassie. Opportunites that far exceed what is possible for even the modestly skilled in the state.

I am in regular contact with friends and family I'm the stare and it really is that dire. Couple that with the constant messing around with upper secondary education and what is the motivation to not underachieve on the education front?

By the way, MONA is a fantastic place. I have spent many hours wandering the museum, intrigued by Walsh's tastes, and maybe a beer at the bar on the bottom floor. It certainly helpes that locals get in free.

It's a bit sad, really. I love Tasmania and it will always be my home. My friends mostly feel the same way. But I have no intention of returning in the medium term.

So maybe we'll back to enjoy Tassie when its time to retire (if that ever comes), but how can the state survive, let alone prosper, when it does nothing to encourage people to stay.
posted by Prahan at 12:14 AM on October 21, 2014 [2 favorites]

I'm happy to admit that I will have a far less broad experience of Tassie than you, and my experience is entirely subjective. I have though watched a large-ish civil construction job find skilled labour impossible to find in-state, I'm friends with a whole bunch of ex-Melbournians that now live in Tassie and watch them mix with other expats. I'm not going to talk about the arts because I can't do so in a way that won't identify people - it's a tiny world and even smaller in Tassie, but every time there's a big job on it seems a bunch of my industry friends head down for a little while. All anecdata, sorry.

I am genuinely curious though, what would encourage you to stay? What do you think would create jobs?
posted by deadwax at 2:44 AM on October 21, 2014

I also would find it really strange if your observation with that construction job was the norm, deadwax. I left the state because there simply weren't the opportunities for growth in my industry, and that's the same reason why tons of us do. I stuck it out till I was 27 but a lot of us clear out as soon as we finish uni or decide we're sick of not using specialist qualifications in telco call centres.

It's certainly possible that some kinds of jobs are being filled from outside but I wouldn't say there are a lot of them.

But as far as the arts thing is concerned -- yeah I have seen quite a lot of non-locals get involved. I wonder if some of that is a cultural thing, too.

Some friends from here in Melbourne have had a look at moving down after enjoying a week or so of tourism. Then they hear about the pay and the conditions for Tasmanian jobs, and many of them call it a major con, if not an actual dealbreaker. It's not exactly the most attractive option.
posted by raena at 4:23 AM on October 21, 2014

I had a lover for a while, a mathematician & hoarder squeezed into a role as a professor of computer science (and I used to troubleshoot his IT issues by phone - I'm no expert). I believe he was an undergrad with this man and three others who formed a syndicate for gambling that he was not invited to join, but often envied.

I didn't really believe his story until now.
posted by b33j at 5:47 AM on October 21, 2014 [1 favorite]