akchually, all art is political. and your choice of not writing about politics is rooted in your privilege of you not being affected by it. this, is the most political post you have ever written.
I think I understand what you're saying on a surface level, so I'd like to address deeper structural issues with this idea: "Be creative with your life. Write your own story. Live in a way you sincerely want to." For me, living sincerely might mean something like milking goats. But, I have a student load to repay, a boss, a child to raise, and a range of both visible and invisible restrictions that make this idea feel out of reach rich now. Beyond these, there are structural, social barriers (i.e. related to race, gender, socioeconomic class) as well as personal, mental barriers that can make following my true desires significantly harder, if not impossible.
Considering politics in its broadest sense, as "how we collectively decide what to do with our shared resources", it becomes clear that one way to be 'political' is by advocating for and fighting to remove these barriers. One way of to do this is through art.
I also see art as a form of commentary, and I believe all art is political, whether intentional or not, in that it reflects the experience of someone living in a specific time and place. Could we still call something 'art' if it were created by someone who had spent their entire life in a void, detached from the world?
“artists” nowadays are making things for an audience instead of making things for themselves which is why i think no modern art really stands the test of time anymore
Appreciate this! I feel you were on the cusp of making a political denouncement of extremism, but you were very careful to delineate what you did not want to say and I appreciate that nuance. I feel I share a similar view as you, maybe deep down below what was stated here. I started examining the roots of my own ideas years ago when I started noticing increasing polarization, and the suffering that the individuals close to me have for allowing those more extreme ideas to ‘have them’ as Jung might say. I too wanted to sanitize my ideas from all ideology. Now I think I try to have courage to just let my ideas cook from faith that some higher power will protect me as long as it’s my truth.
akchually, all art is political. and your choice of not writing about politics is rooted in your privilege of you not being affected by it. this, is the most political post you have ever written.
I think I understand what you're saying on a surface level, so I'd like to address deeper structural issues with this idea: "Be creative with your life. Write your own story. Live in a way you sincerely want to." For me, living sincerely might mean something like milking goats. But, I have a student load to repay, a boss, a child to raise, and a range of both visible and invisible restrictions that make this idea feel out of reach rich now. Beyond these, there are structural, social barriers (i.e. related to race, gender, socioeconomic class) as well as personal, mental barriers that can make following my true desires significantly harder, if not impossible.
Considering politics in its broadest sense, as "how we collectively decide what to do with our shared resources", it becomes clear that one way to be 'political' is by advocating for and fighting to remove these barriers. One way of to do this is through art.
I also see art as a form of commentary, and I believe all art is political, whether intentional or not, in that it reflects the experience of someone living in a specific time and place. Could we still call something 'art' if it were created by someone who had spent their entire life in a void, detached from the world?
“artists” nowadays are making things for an audience instead of making things for themselves which is why i think no modern art really stands the test of time anymore
Appreciate this! I feel you were on the cusp of making a political denouncement of extremism, but you were very careful to delineate what you did not want to say and I appreciate that nuance. I feel I share a similar view as you, maybe deep down below what was stated here. I started examining the roots of my own ideas years ago when I started noticing increasing polarization, and the suffering that the individuals close to me have for allowing those more extreme ideas to ‘have them’ as Jung might say. I too wanted to sanitize my ideas from all ideology. Now I think I try to have courage to just let my ideas cook from faith that some higher power will protect me as long as it’s my truth.