I actually wrote this for an English class last semester. I had good feedback from my Professor, so I thought that I would post it on here. Maybe open up a new realm of discussion. So here it is in all of it's glory. This is by no means a call to arms or trying to put anything in anyones face, just an interesting read. I read it again and liked what I had written.
What influence does art have on politics and society?
I have chosen this question out of my own curiosity, and surprisingly enough I am pleased with the results in my findings. I had not had a chance to actually think about what the positive and negative influences could be in art, especially in politics. So in my research, I found numerous articles on the good and the bad that can come from art. Art, in the context of this essay, is music, literature, visuals, poetry, and theatre. My major that I am currently studying for is, visual arts- multimedia. I have also been drawing freehand for most of my life. Then just been a connoisseur of art all of my life. I would like to share a brief summary of my articles with you.
A modern composer named Daniel Felsenfeld writes the first article that I read. It is featured on the website www.newmusicbox.com. It is a literary website for musicians. In the article he talks about, how as artists and musicians we tend to gourd ourselves on the disasters that occur here and abroad. He first recounts the terrorist attacks that happened to the World Trade Center buildings. He was staying two blocks away in New York when he felt and saw both the planes hit. He recounted exiting from his apartment in a cloud of smoke, as the towers fell. He remembered hearing the people fall, and how loud it was as they plummeted to the ground. Then he goes on to say, how after this tragedy artists and musicians tried to summarize, in their works, the awful horror. Not as a call to arms for people to get active and help, but as a sympathetic reminder of what happened. He goes on to say in a quote from the writing, “ To make people cry by invoking the Holocaust in 4/4 time is not to make them weep over your music, but over the horrid memory you have invoked.” He then ties into the relationship that this disaster is close to the hurricane that pounded New Orleans. Not to say that it is the same, but similar in the aspects of action. He says that as he was in dire need of clothing, food, shelter, and some counseling. There was not as much help as was needed. He then urges any and all that can help, artists and musicians especially. Not to write songs about the tragedy, but to write songs that will inspire us to get up and do something. Not to create dismal art that reminds us of the pain and suffering of men and women, but to create beauty from disaster, and lift up those hearts that are so desperately seeking some sort of semblance. He also refers to what happened with 9/11, as a sort of disaster porn for some, those who just feed off of the whole thing just to sell an album or a painting.
The next article that I read comes from The New York Times, and is written by Alan Riding. This article takes a very strong contrast to the previous article that I have cited. In this article, he talks a lot about cultural diplomacy. During the Cold War and World War II, there were a lot of campaigns and cultural centers setup world wide to support America. He states in the article that during the late 1990’s these programs and campaigns fell by the way side. He says, “ While rejecting United States foreign policy, people in many countries happily embrace America’s movies, television programs and pop music.” He goes into detail about how Washington needs to have a broader effort to spread our culture to other nations. He believes that if we can make a bigger statement, we can stem off some of the anti-Americanism that seems to run rampant. He states in his article that during the World War II, we had many American libraries and art galleries setup worldwide. He alludes that we need to get back to that. Not only politicians, but business owners as well, need to make a bigger and more conscious effort to support these programs. He also states that this is hardly a radical idea. Other countries, including, France, Britain, Germany, Japan and many others have long used culture to spread their influence across the globe.
He also believes that the, war in Iraq as well as 9/11, have brought the stark reality that we not only need military might, but “soft power” as well. In a quote in this article from Frank Hosdell, who heads the Center for Arts and Culture in Washington DC, he says “The new situation is much more multi-polar. There’s a need for more effort in a lot more places where cultures are much more different.” The end of the article states that more than money will be necessary. Anti-Americanism will take a long time to subdue, but in the end if we are persistent it will pay off in the end.
I agree a lot with what both articles have said. I think that art can be a very positive influence for spreading our culture. Overall I think that the article that calls for a positive outlook into art follows my opinion also. I think that in a way art is over-commercialized and can even stand as propaganda for some. In the long run, I think that I will always show thoughts, feelings and emotions for a certain time period. If we look into history, from the first cave dwellers primitive drawings, to Leonardo Da-Vinci, then even into such modern artists as Clifton Fein, who has a lot of pictures and poetry on the website www.annoy.com.
The art that we know and think about has moved a lot from the traditional sense of the word. We tend to think of art as a one dimensional canvas drawing. Art is all around us, from the politically satirical cartoons in the New York Times, to Parade magazine, to the website and emails that we get everyday from co-workers, and friends. We just may not see it as art, but the pictures, poetry, and graphics on websites have moved into the art category.
I think that in order for us to win back the support of our allies, and other countries views of us as Americans, and especially as students and the youth, is constantly declining. We need to wage a silent war. A war that will not be fought with bombs and guns but with culture and ideas. We need to show a side of us as students, especially in this class as writers, that we are not all arrogant, and stuck up. But that we care as much as anyone about what happens to our neighboring countries, our allies, and our friends. We are not the cool kids who decide what is popular, or the bully who beats everyone up just to make a few bucks. We are Americans, and we are proud of it, but being proud doesn’t mean we need to whip out our guns and show everyone. We can be proud, but we can also show that being proud is also being friendly.
I think another big part of this discussion is that there are not enough places through out the world, to share our cultural differences. We see Muslims, or we hear about differing faiths, or cultural ideas and we automatically dislike it because the media tells us. We as educated adults need to wake up and realize that what we are being told may not always be the truth. It’s like the telephone game that we played when we were kids. A person says something and whispers it down the line. Somewhere down the line the message gets screwed up, and by the time it reaches the end it’s completely different from what it started as. I think that we tend to do that a lot without going to the source. We need more faiths, and cultures to reach out and help us understand. It is so wonderful to have so much diversity in the world, but without showing it to others we become just as arrogant as we are made out to be.
I think that the second article was right in the sense that we need to have more government-funded projects, such as museums and libraries, set up through out the world. Let people see just what we as Americans really are, not what our political leaders and military personnel portray us as. People tend to always be focused on the negative. This is what others see when they hear about scandals on the news. We need to get a message out that we are not all on the warpath. That we too have culture, and are not all egotistical macho bullies. We need to let artists from around the country donate their works, and for once without censorship. Let us through our art show the world that we do not agree with what is going on in our country. Not only that but let us show the world that we are not so different, but that we just have weak spokesmen.
I also think that as we put our art, and our voice’s out there, we can change the thinking coming from our political leaders. We need to embrace these artists as people and let them use their voices. This is not to say that we should support all art, but what is good and has a tasteful message we should embrace. Help these artists get the message to, not only the world, but to our government leaders as well. I think most of the time our leaders try to do what’s best for us, much like a parent. If we never raise our voice we become what that leader wants us to be, most of the time unintentionally. We should help to support the idea of having American based museums worldwide. In conclusion, I am in strong favor of the second article. At times we do tend to gourd ourselves at the trough of tragedy, but let us not turn a greedy profit and let us lend a helping hand instead. Most of us can say that we can’t help, or we won’t help. I say if the cause is just, let us unite to support it. We at times may feel like we are so helpless, and anyone that has traveled abroad has felt this way. Let us support our local and national artists to get what we as Americans represent out there.
Without struggle there is no progress!
