OUR WEAPONS ARE TRUTH AND BEAUTY
WAYS TO CONFRONT THE BARBARIANS: with special thanks to Ricky Romain, Barb Jungr, Darren Abrahams and Tina Ellen Lee
I look at those I love and say to myself, “they are special”. Mostly they are artists. We understand each other. We know we are outsiders. We know we live in some form of revolt. We know that mostly we are melancholy, saddened by the curse of evil that lurks in so many of our and other’s hearts.
One day, years ago, I was in an airport baggage hall on my phone,
perhaps 70 meters away from my friend/lover/wife/wise-woman
who was waiting near the trundle for our bag. A large man approached her from behind, clamped his hands on her shoulders and violently swung her around. She appeared surprised coloured with anger and fear. Without a moment’s reflection I ran, leapt, charged across the hall. Within seconds I was behind him, grasped his very meaty shoulders and spun him towards me. The blood drained from his face as I shouted at him “what do you think you’re doing?” He said he thought my wife was a friend. I spat, “a funny way to treat friends.” He backed away, claiming innocences.
Later I though, I’m against violence, against intimidation and bullying. How could I have done that? I said to myself, “I’m human and sadly capable of what humans are capable of - love, tenderness, but also horrible acts of violence and cruelty.
Herbert Marcuse, philosopher and author of THE ONE DIMENSIONAL MAN (published in 1964), wrote that ‘even contemporary philosophy has rejected happiness’. He went on to write that ‘aesthetics are the only activity we have that can re-create a complex multidimensional world”. Complexity is always the enemy of populism and any form of totalitarian government. That is why the agitators and mouthpieces of totalitarian regimes hate questions (and questioners). Who better to pose questions than artists? If artists do not investigate reality, test it, ask questions of it they are decorators or entertainers.
Art foretells and reflects change. Poetic or lyrical realism, my earlier vague explanation to myself about how to define my work, appeared to be consistent with Marcuse’s definition of aesthetic form.
Content chosen from social reality,
motivated and transformed by the artist’s creative intentions
(in my case creating a poetic or lyrical visual realism) into a poem, a song, a picture, renders aesthetic form. This aesthetic form is the centre of meaning capable of touching other’s needs. That junction between the other’s troubling needs and the work of art is where they discover truths. This is where the audience cry or laugh or grasp their hearts. This is where the audience say, ‘this is beautiful’. This is where consciousness may be changed.
Content transformed via creative intentions
= aesthetic form = truths = beauty.
I don’t want to defame others, as those whom have voted for orange and his MAGA ilk. Those same people have seen factories closed, wages plummet, prices sky-rocket, houses lost, unemployment and health benefits eroded and now being cut. They have seen their children go off to wars or die in the gutter ,smashed out of their brains on prescription drugs and others.
They were convinced to vote for the barbarians false promises, false hopes, false tales of a new golden age. But I ask myself, “surely we are born without a moral compass and need to create one for ourself”. Is it unreasonable to believe that no matter the circumstances, at some point people need to ask, “is what I am doing or planning kind, generous, helpful or indeed self-centred, uncaring and evil?"
Like the man who assaulted my wife, I disallowed mitigation, I defaulted to hatred, revenge, violence. I suddenly became an ignorant lawless vigilante.
None the less, I want kindness, peace and tolerance. It is the barbarians that practice their inhumane actions upon us; it is they who foster hatred, division and violence. The others are victims of fake news, poor educations, and as always, the religious leaders cartoon texts sponsored by the rich.
The actions of artists, human rights lawyers and journalists need to cultivate our humanity in the face of current dangers. Our weapons are truth and beauty.
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Please remember that the audio interview with Graham Treacher, composer, conductor and mountain climber is available. It is a joy to listen to Graham about the pleasures of life.
PHOTOGRAPH OF THE WEEK
I will try to show one of my thousands of image weekly along with a reflection about it. Perhaps if I am lucky I may offer an image or two from others as well. This is dedicated to the idea that our embrace of images as forms of culture enrich us. Perhaps my short reflections will be helpful in encouraging others to respond with heart and soul to the richness of our visual culture.