Art- The Vibrance of Culture
Looking across the expanse of history, we see that art plays two crucial roles in the stories of civilizations. Art illuminates the truth of the reality that a culture faces, allowing citizens to see their situation clearly. It also serves to exemplify the highest nature of a culture, expressing the most compelling ideals of its people, giving meaning to their lives.
The quality of the art produced by a culture determines in large measure how that culture is evaluated in the eyes of history. It is through the cave paintings produced in Europe some 30,000 years ago that we know their creators were not simply unconscious savages living brutal lives of mere animal survival. We can see that they were sensitive and aware human beings.
There is a deep connection between the vibrancy of a civilization and the quality of the art it produces; the kind of connection we associate with Classical Greece or Renaissance Florence. These are among the cultures that we lift to the top tier of world civilizations- because they produced great art.
Of course the Athenian sculptor and the cave painter didn’t think about their place in history when they did their work. They simply were expressing a deeply felt personal vision, while trying, probably desperately, to keep their families fed. They could have no concept of the magnitude of the gifts they left to the rest of history. They could never know the incalculable value of their vision of what it was to be a human in their time.
We don’t know how these artists were supported but we can be pretty sure it wasn’t the result of commercial success. That’s because about the only thing that can be determined by a broad survey of commercially viable art through the ages is the colors of art buyer’s couches. Art that supports itself tends to reflect a safe worldview that is already well-established. This is not where great art comes from. It almost always arises from the hard labor of one person or a small group struggling all alone, often in desperate conditions, to birth some deep inner revelation that will transform the hearts of the people.
Great art is often invisible to its own time. Michelangelo’s Pieta, one of the crown jewels of Western art, had to be smuggled by its creator in the dead of night into St. Peter’s Basilica. Van Gogh sold only one painting in his whole life. Yet these artworks are among the most valuable objects on earth today, precisely because the artists’ experience of what it is to be human, gives meaning our own lives.
Speaking as a commercially successful artist I confess I’m a little nervous that future historians will find that my work carries a certain resemblance to Montana’s couches, not because that’s what I aspire to, but because the market is where the encouragement seems to come from.
Great art is not always shocking but it is always a surprise. And surprises tend not to sell well, because they have not had time to sink in. How many broken souls have been healed by Samuel Barber’s Adagio for Strings? How many patriots have come alive upon seeing Picasso's Guernica?
Art has the power to transform our often bewildering and pedestrian lives by giving shape to our longing and direction to our aspirations. I can’t make sense of what’s going on in this weird world, but somewhere, right now, in Pony or Roundup or Circle, some artist struggles over a piano or an easel or glides across a dance floor on the verge of birthing an vision that will transform my life. I don’t know where it will come from- I may not even recognize it when I see it for the first time, but I know it will appear. It always has and always will.
Our culture in our time will be judged by future generations on the basis of what we leave behind, whether that is a conscious choice of not. Think about that for a minute and you can see why community support for the arts is so crucial.
There is no greater role the community can fulfill than supporting this kind of work- in our own best interest. This is our responsibility, both to our selves and our progeny. All of us in this room hold the power to support creative artists who are courageous enough to see beyond the demands of the market. As a member of this council I feel very honored to be able to participate in that process, allowing me to say- I was a part of what made that happen!
Tim Holmes for Montana Arts Council 6/06
Tuesday, June 27, 2006
Monday, June 19, 2006
Are We Trainable?
Here is the USA, a mighty military machine trying to make the same square peg fit in the same round hole in Iraq where others have failed- some quite spectacularly- before us. In fact, we have failed ourselves several times in the last 30 years to produce tender feelings of devotion in populations that we insist on beating into submission to our will. In looking at the stupid mistakes we human beings repeat over and over I wonder if the quality of growth of a civilization can't be determined by the speed with which it learns from its mistakes.
I continue to discover new surprises about history that were left out of my school texts. For instance I just learned that at the onset of W.W.I. the US was neutral and fancied that it could serve as peacemaker between the British and the Germans. That was until the British sabotaged the undersea cable serving as the communication line between Germany and the US. Suddenly all European perspectives had to be channeled through London, where they were cleaned up to align with official British dogma before being forwarded to the US. By 1918 Americans, fed on years of British propaganda, harbored a vitriolic hatred of Germans that resulted in the Sedition Act, which imprisoned Americans for uttering a single sentence questioning American participation in the war or not buying enough war bonds to support it. (Recently in Montana, my home, our governor posthumously pardoned 78 such 'criminals', almost 100 years too late. See: http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1519811)
The world, including many shocked Americans, watches in horror as our government carries out the same programs of silencing our detractors, including secret imprisonment and torture. The Patriot Act is simply a rebirth of the Sedition Act of 1918 . We travel the same road of self-deception for short-term PR at the cost of long-term success. The refusal of our leadership to hear the truth, indeed to listen to dissent of any kind, does not change reality but only postpones its inevitable consequences.
Ours is not a stupid nation. American civilization has learned many valuable lessons: the inhumanity of slavery, the value of a free education, that human rights is a natural resource, etc., etc. We are capable of learning and permanently improving our values and thus our behavior. We are not a lost cause.
I submit that the level to which our culture rises in the eyes of history will hinge on how quickly we learn. Some may say it makes no difference whether we learn nonviolence this century or next, but as can be seen with the stakes of dealing with global warming, learning some lessons may be the difference between whether we are judged by future generations or if there will be any to do the job.
Here is the USA, a mighty military machine trying to make the same square peg fit in the same round hole in Iraq where others have failed- some quite spectacularly- before us. In fact, we have failed ourselves several times in the last 30 years to produce tender feelings of devotion in populations that we insist on beating into submission to our will. In looking at the stupid mistakes we human beings repeat over and over I wonder if the quality of growth of a civilization can't be determined by the speed with which it learns from its mistakes.
I continue to discover new surprises about history that were left out of my school texts. For instance I just learned that at the onset of W.W.I. the US was neutral and fancied that it could serve as peacemaker between the British and the Germans. That was until the British sabotaged the undersea cable serving as the communication line between Germany and the US. Suddenly all European perspectives had to be channeled through London, where they were cleaned up to align with official British dogma before being forwarded to the US. By 1918 Americans, fed on years of British propaganda, harbored a vitriolic hatred of Germans that resulted in the Sedition Act, which imprisoned Americans for uttering a single sentence questioning American participation in the war or not buying enough war bonds to support it. (Recently in Montana, my home, our governor posthumously pardoned 78 such 'criminals', almost 100 years too late. See: http://wireservice.wired.com/wired/story.asp?section=Breaking&storyId=1519811)
The world, including many shocked Americans, watches in horror as our government carries out the same programs of silencing our detractors, including secret imprisonment and torture. The Patriot Act is simply a rebirth of the Sedition Act of 1918 . We travel the same road of self-deception for short-term PR at the cost of long-term success. The refusal of our leadership to hear the truth, indeed to listen to dissent of any kind, does not change reality but only postpones its inevitable consequences.
Ours is not a stupid nation. American civilization has learned many valuable lessons: the inhumanity of slavery, the value of a free education, that human rights is a natural resource, etc., etc. We are capable of learning and permanently improving our values and thus our behavior. We are not a lost cause.
I submit that the level to which our culture rises in the eyes of history will hinge on how quickly we learn. Some may say it makes no difference whether we learn nonviolence this century or next, but as can be seen with the stakes of dealing with global warming, learning some lessons may be the difference between whether we are judged by future generations or if there will be any to do the job.
Knowing Nothing About Sex
Regardless of how much I love someone, you could probably prove that I don’t and I couldn’t prove that I do. Although love is the most powerful emotion, it could never stand up to argument in a court of reason. It is a mystery beyond mind.
The same is true of art. Perhaps because western civilization is so reason-oriented we tend to think that appreciating art takes some kind of special knowledge. To me the phrase, “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like” comes across like, “I don’t know much about sex but I know what I like". Think about it. True, an art degree might be the more impressive of the two on a resume, but when it comes to really absorbing either of them special knowledge is not required, only full presence. Sure, batting around details and associations about art helps one to see how art relates to other aspects of culture, politics, psychology, the spirit, history, etc. That’s a blast and I’ll never quit trying to learn as much as I can. But can I say that such knowledge makes my enjoyment of any work deeper than the next guy’s?
In order to truly absorb what art offers, you don’t have to know the artist, the period, the medium or anything at all about it. All that’s required is your full engagement with it. The rest is gravy. The only real experts on the true intimacy we have with an artwork are ourselves. So if anybody ever tells you you’re wrong about the art you like, just smile and say “I don’t know much about sex but I know what I like”!
Regardless of how much I love someone, you could probably prove that I don’t and I couldn’t prove that I do. Although love is the most powerful emotion, it could never stand up to argument in a court of reason. It is a mystery beyond mind.
The same is true of art. Perhaps because western civilization is so reason-oriented we tend to think that appreciating art takes some kind of special knowledge. To me the phrase, “I don’t know much about art but I know what I like” comes across like, “I don’t know much about sex but I know what I like". Think about it. True, an art degree might be the more impressive of the two on a resume, but when it comes to really absorbing either of them special knowledge is not required, only full presence. Sure, batting around details and associations about art helps one to see how art relates to other aspects of culture, politics, psychology, the spirit, history, etc. That’s a blast and I’ll never quit trying to learn as much as I can. But can I say that such knowledge makes my enjoyment of any work deeper than the next guy’s?
In order to truly absorb what art offers, you don’t have to know the artist, the period, the medium or anything at all about it. All that’s required is your full engagement with it. The rest is gravy. The only real experts on the true intimacy we have with an artwork are ourselves. So if anybody ever tells you you’re wrong about the art you like, just smile and say “I don’t know much about sex but I know what I like”!
Art v.s. Terror: Balm for Bomb
Terrorist attacks on the U.S. have wounded the American psyche, a wound which our most powerful tools, like money and technology, are inadequate to heal. We respond with, as it turns out, equally brutal violence- the oldest and most pointless reaction. Though directly providing the personal remedies to grief of religion or family love is beyond the capacity of a free society, there is one balm that can succor all universally. Art.
We sink to violence only when we have run out of ideas. Terrorism tears out the roots of a community, shatters trust and leaves in its place the disease of fear. In Iraq we discover- as if for the first time- that we reap what we sow. We are shocked to find that no quantity of gunfire produces good will.
Art is the opposite of violence. Art is a synthesizer, illuminating the truth of the basic goodness of creation and human unity and as such it offers a unique emotional bond that can re-connect the most despairing person with the rest of humanity, re-forming hope in human goodness. Art affirms that the true essence of humanity is not that of hell-bent destruction of the other, but rather of joyful cooperation and compassion.
In a culture with few mourning rituals, art provides a means to connect with our own grief. And having acknowledged and grieved our loss, art is the only means of expressing the immensity of who we really are. I offer this in the spirit of balm in the face of frightening but ultimately impotent brutality. Violence appears to take the upper hand in the short term but always emerges as the wimp of eternity- overcome by the slow but inevitable progress of love.
Terrorist attacks on the U.S. have wounded the American psyche, a wound which our most powerful tools, like money and technology, are inadequate to heal. We respond with, as it turns out, equally brutal violence- the oldest and most pointless reaction. Though directly providing the personal remedies to grief of religion or family love is beyond the capacity of a free society, there is one balm that can succor all universally. Art.
We sink to violence only when we have run out of ideas. Terrorism tears out the roots of a community, shatters trust and leaves in its place the disease of fear. In Iraq we discover- as if for the first time- that we reap what we sow. We are shocked to find that no quantity of gunfire produces good will.
Art is the opposite of violence. Art is a synthesizer, illuminating the truth of the basic goodness of creation and human unity and as such it offers a unique emotional bond that can re-connect the most despairing person with the rest of humanity, re-forming hope in human goodness. Art affirms that the true essence of humanity is not that of hell-bent destruction of the other, but rather of joyful cooperation and compassion.
In a culture with few mourning rituals, art provides a means to connect with our own grief. And having acknowledged and grieved our loss, art is the only means of expressing the immensity of who we really are. I offer this in the spirit of balm in the face of frightening but ultimately impotent brutality. Violence appears to take the upper hand in the short term but always emerges as the wimp of eternity- overcome by the slow but inevitable progress of love.
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