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Art work is important... Is this homework?
I am betting this is homework...
Take yourself out and look at 1000 original works of art. The answer is then very simple. Also keep in mind that every single thing that is man made had to be drawn or illustrated by someone or someone operating a computer with a specific program with informaton that was thought up by a creative mind.
Art is all around.
12 years ago. Rating: 7 | |
True art is a check on power.
How is true art a check on power?
Within all societies, you’ll have a ruling class. This is the class that has the power and the class that makes the decisions about what is right and what is not right (usually, these rules about what is right and what is not right will benefit those in power). That ruling class wants followers to do what they say. In order to get followers to do what they say, the ruling class creates a world view for their followers to abide by (or they inherit this world view and take advantage of it). The followers don’t question this world view; they take it as what is, and they act accordingly.
For instance, in America we have the world view of moral consumerism. That is, it’s good to consume. It’s a good thing to pay for and buy things constantly. This world view benefits the systems that produces the consumer products. And so, those that are in control and have power in those consumer producing systems want that pro consumption world view to stick in the minds of those that follow.
And that’s not really a bad thing. It is what it is.
So what’s all this have to do with art?
With true art, you have a message. There’s an inherent understanding of life that each artist portrays in his work. The artist usually isn’t aware of it, but it’s always there, influencing their decisions to go this way or that way. And then, with all their body of work, they offer the viewer a particular world view, a unique understanding of life.
And that’s where the threat is to those that have power. The artist’s world view can be contrary to the current status quo world view. And this disrupts those that have power because it calls into question the world view that the followers currently have. This means that if life can be different than the way it currenlty is, maybe we should change it. Maybe we should change the system to something different, perhaps something better.
And it’s at this point that the power holders want to avoid. They never want someone to consider that life can be different. Because if they did, they might not be the ones in charge of the new and different systems.
What if life wasn’t about consuming at all? What if life was all about community? What if life was all about living within your means and not consuming?
It could be. There’s no reason that it couldn’t be. And that’s what the artist can communicate. Not that true art is contrary to power; it’s just that art offers an alternative to what is. And that can be scary, especially with those that have something to lose if life can be different than the way that it currently is.
And so, when you have powerful leaders that rise through the ranks, they want to capitalize on a world view that gives them the power. And anything that questions that world view becomes a threat to their power.
And this is why we need art. This is why we should support the arts. Because it offers a check on those with power, and because it can give us insight into life that we might not consider.
A supported class of artists is a good measuring stick on the health of a society.
So go for it, support the arts, it does the body good.
article written by Daniel Vineyard
12 years ago. Rating: 2 | |