There is so much to write about these days - so many thoughts going through the old noggin about recent events. It seems that inside and outside the art world there is a tsunami of intolerance. I previously have mentioned Dana Shutz's painting of Emmett Till's casket, titled Open Casket, that created such a controversy at the Whitney Biennial.
The image she
painted was created from a photograph of a young African-American boy who was beaten to death. This image had its own life and symbolism in the African-American community and Ms. Shutz, a white artist, was told that she could not use the image, even if she, as a mother, could identified with the pain in the image.
A few weeks ago, there was a Neo-Nazi march in Virginia that resulted in a woman protester being killed. There is little need to say much more about Nazi's than that the very definition is intolerance. They have been responsible for the murder of millions of people simply because they were not white or considered white. They are often oppressive and violent toward women simply because they are not men. Everyone other than the white male is considered inferior.
This is all scary and heavy. Everyone has their hair on end and have a
trigger ready to be pulled if something is not acceptable.
My observing and inquisitive nature makes me wonder how we got here.
People can say Trump is the reason, but this started long before him.
Others will go back to Reagan and the ending of the Fairness Act, which
allowed hate radio to rise, leading to a misinformed and manipulated
citizenry. But I can't help but think this goes back even further. I see
the manipulation of the wealth of this country in the late 1800's that
ultimately led to the Great Depression. I read about the history of
immigration and how each new wave of immigrants became the rung on which
the last wave rose. Each immigrant class is given some status as long
as there is a newer class to be pushed down and prejudiced against. And
then there is slavery.
This country has always been about pitting people against each other. We
have a myth that the ruling elite, the current supposed oligarchy, is
unified in dividing and oppressing the rest of us. Yet, when you see one
of the wealthiest persons become the President of the United States, he
starts to turn on those around him, even those he has chosen to lead
with him. Those around him start fighting for their own territory and
throw anyone else under the bus, gladly.
I think of Seinfeld,
the show that best captured the innocent version of this inability to
be happy, to accept that life is good, to accept that we are good. There
was always something wrong with every girlfriend, with every
restaurant, every dish served, etc. In America, there is always
something wrong with the other. In America, one mistake leads to a
lifetime of opportunity for condemnation. Why are we so vicious and mean
to each other? We return hate with anger, we return misunderstanding
with shame, we return hurt with fists.
When
do we help each other heal? Have computers so taken over our lives that
we no longer know how to look into each other and see ourselves, to
have empathy? Has the need to be unhappy, to see ourselves as a victim,
made it impossible to truly see and understand others?
I am toying with the idea of a class about art and meditation and
relation. Art can be a way to open up one's self to others, to share
what is inside and to see what is inside others. There are many art
forms that are meant to be meditative/contemplative. Could engaging in
these art forms help bring about a change in ourselves? Could communal
forms of this art bring about a change in our community? It is a
question worth exploring.
