Thursday, August 15, 2002
Nazism = Cubism?
Okay, I understand that in the art world, there are a lot of people who are out there. Who's creative impulses necessarily remove them from societal norms of behaviour and perception of the world.
But this makes me sick. I’d hate to think I have ANYTHING in common with these people. They have put together a collection of Hitler’s artwork (yes, WW2 insane dictator Adolph Hitler). Okay, that’s fine, art is art I suppose.
But they go further, hypothesising how his art influenced his life, and what secret workings of his mind might be revealed by studying his art.
Okay, I guess that’s one way to go. It’s important to understand where such evil can arise.
But they’ve concluded that his efforts were simply for artistic effort.
That’s right. He released a scourge on civilisation, he massacred millions of people, all to satisfy his artistic aesthetic.
Art is a hard concept to pin down, to explain in exhaustive detail. There are lots of things that are art to a small group, or even individuals that are nothing to other people. A filing cabinet can be art to a bureaucrat. A pipeweld can be art to a plumber. Making that final stride in a race can be art to an athlete. Creating an elaborate ceremony to appease a bloodthirsty god, as despicable and misguided as it may be, can be art to the masons who build the altar.
Killing people is not art.
Destroying civilisation is not art.
Okay, I understand that in the art world, there are a lot of people who are out there. Who's creative impulses necessarily remove them from societal norms of behaviour and perception of the world.
But this makes me sick. I’d hate to think I have ANYTHING in common with these people. They have put together a collection of Hitler’s artwork (yes, WW2 insane dictator Adolph Hitler). Okay, that’s fine, art is art I suppose.
But they go further, hypothesising how his art influenced his life, and what secret workings of his mind might be revealed by studying his art.
Okay, I guess that’s one way to go. It’s important to understand where such evil can arise.
But they’ve concluded that his efforts were simply for artistic effort.
That’s right. He released a scourge on civilisation, he massacred millions of people, all to satisfy his artistic aesthetic.
Art is a hard concept to pin down, to explain in exhaustive detail. There are lots of things that are art to a small group, or even individuals that are nothing to other people. A filing cabinet can be art to a bureaucrat. A pipeweld can be art to a plumber. Making that final stride in a race can be art to an athlete. Creating an elaborate ceremony to appease a bloodthirsty god, as despicable and misguided as it may be, can be art to the masons who build the altar.
Killing people is not art.
Destroying civilisation is not art.
// posted by Charlotte @ 10:27:00 AM 
