ART

There is only one thing that is going to cure American culture. We have digressed so far from our social history it may be amazing if we ever recover. There have always been two choices for the future. One is to relish history. The study of Western Civilization has always been a core component of education. Why suddenly would this just disappear? Why would centuries of evolution and wisdom suddenly be chucked into the wind? If society did decide systematically to banish history, what purpose would it serve other than to facilitate the empowering of the ignorant? Wipe out art and the entire world becomes a Wild West, a frontier open to domination by the fittest. The quickest gun, the most cunning Indian, or the most ruthless bandit can carry home the gold. Anarchy. The world cannot sustain with anarchy, but that is where it seems we are headed. Can we as a race afford to allow our world to devolve centuries? Only the study of civilization can provide the proper models, and that includes art. Would any of the winners of American Idol say Stravinsky, Rachmaninoff, Tchaikovsky, or Ives’s music was useless? Why would anyone say that? These composers are dealing with music within an aesthetic that seems to be disappearing from the mainstream along with the mainstream. That means we have become so mortared in our feeble habits there is no room for evolution. For a race to be enlightened they first must be open to the prospect of understanding new human experiences. We must say to ourselves, “I am open.” That means you must be strong enough to abandon your comfort zone of the TV set, the couch, and the kitchen. For our youth that means abandoning the computer, the cell phone, and the X-Box. Have we become so selfish and jaded we must rely on pre-programmed drama in substitution of real life? The only reason this can be is because our environment has become so polluted with bad experiences we are seeking solstice in the privacy of our own homes. The social experience that existed in the l980’s has become extinct, and like Logan’s Run we are bivouacking beneath a dome of artificially created comfort. Why are we allowing game programmers, film directors, and hackers to run our lives? Is anyone in America so well off that they wish things would stay like this? Did we just suddenly become ignorant, or has the frenetic pace of media brainwashed us into believing humanity is no longer important. Humanity exists in between conversation. When the noise and hoopla stop, when commercials stop hawking their ware, and when MIDI-based music stops polluting our ears is when the soul may breathe and evolve. It will not happen in America’s current state. Something has to change, and it could come from the White House. There used to be a time when artists were revered. Presidents would invite them to the White House to perform setting an example for an enlightened existence. We learn from artists, because they are supposed to be operating at a higher level both cognitively and affectively. Their emotional states are more resolved, they are more experienced with what life has dealt, so wisdom can be gained from their in depth understanding of the human condition. That is what artists are. They deal with the human condition. They do not pitch cheap diversion and entertainment. They do not create parties for crowds of people. Crowds may come because over time an artist’s effort may come to be known as keen and insightful. The second choice for society is to continue to hide in cyberspace, further isolating our human responses from real humanity.