Cannons And Muses- Art in times of Crisis
Posted by Andrew on Wednesday Jul 15, 2009 Under Uncategorized
Cannons and Muses Moran Been-noon discusses this book by Suzi Gablik about art and politics:
“Autonomous art,” as Gablik presents it in her book, is potentially more aggressive politically than politically intended art. This claim established any art as political, whether the artist constructs it as such or not. Gablik believes there is no escape from the prison society enforces upon art, and encourages those who produce culture to be wise and choose the cell containing their work instead of allowing it to be assigned by someone else.
Art and politics feels like a difficult mix. How can you create freely, be removed enough to reveal some sort of universal truth, if you’re playing politician?
If any art is political, then it doesn’t matter one way or another if the artist considers himself/herself political. I believe the most exciting and liberating political art is made in a kind of bubble. Its a spontaneous eruption and may have little to do with the politics that inform it. This doesn’t mean its not political. Its just truthful. Its gets to the heart of politics. When I worked with the Chicago Independent Television collective to start an independent tv channel we often discussed how ‘political’ the show should be. the mix that came out of it shows that you can go one way or the other- its all effective as long as its truthful. Its good if it shows you the soul of the artist(s) in one way or the other- that way you can see the true effects of war, oppression, poverty, even positive political impact like liberation, social justice, change…
During the most oppressive time of the Bush regime (when he was re-elected) I noticed a shift in what radical “political” artists were spontaneously producing. It was more about joy and release, less about a message. But it was still political.
This liberates the artist. the political artist equates to the artist in any context. political artist == any artist == artist, regardless of conflict. art is art, the cell is chosen. its a question of awareness.
Make art not war! as Glenn Hansard said. Kind of.
