Tuesday, June 17, 2008

art ...and the world

NPR discussed the Rwandan genocide and they interviewed a woman who was 8 months pregnant when the war was going on. About to be raped, the soldier cut her Achilles tendon so all she could do was crawl away. When she gave birth, she could not move, docgs ate her baby.

In a world like this ...what importance does art have?

Art--in all its forms--must show society what it refuses to see. Even the most obvious, the most mundane things have been used as subject matter for artists because we --often see things but rarely think about what it really means or we justify our indifference because we think it is not our problem.

As every aspect of our life is affected by gasoline prices and the incredibly weak dollar...i think we are starting to realize as individuals in a collective society that the whole world is interconnected. Nothing we do affects only us...knowing that let's turn our actions into a positive. Everything we do CAN have an effect on somebody, somewhere in the world.

Rwanda is our problem. Iraq is our problem. China is our problem. The environment is our problem.

1 comment:

lisa said...

I thoroughly enjoyed reading your blog and could not agree more that art is a powerful medium of expression.

How better to emote one's feelings and opinions other than in art forms which reach out to all walks to life?

I recall the strong art pieces which were produced and published after 9/11 for example. Through art one is able to express without lecturing, to present a position with an invitation to the viewer to understand that position and possibly open their minds to express their own position on the subject matter.

An excellent point. Thank you!