26 September 2007

Notes for a Manifesto, #1

(emphases added)

"In all affairs it's a healthy thing now and then to hang a question mark on the things you have long taken for granted."
~ Bertrand Russell (British philosopher, 1872-1970)

"So long as a majority of Americans believe in and keep alive the national myths that hold us in check, we're fucked, and we'll be continually fucked as war expands, debt piles up, elections bought in advance when not simply stolen, and those who can cash in on the madness will have the most breathing room while the rest are left to scramble, eat fast food, drink cheap beer, and watch 'reality' on TV."
~ writer Dennis Perrin (who also has a fascinating series, "The Warmonger Within": Part I, Part II, Part III)

Meanwhile, at Deborah Fisher's blog:
  • To imagine a world in which ambiguity is not just tolerable but delicious;
  • to find beauty in imperfection;
  • to dream of a bright future that does not depend on an apocalyptic clean slate and a present in which humanity has the fortitude to bear inevitable cataclysm without collapsing from fear
--this is the most important political work an artist can do right now.

"All of the work is mannered, overly romantic, infused with a suggested meaning that feels obvious and trite. There are lots of painters working these veins. Part of the problem here is subject -- it's like these painters have no politics or religion or other belief, even barely science, in their work, so they turn to the personal, the moment; when you look at Courbet, you see that he is battling his culture."
~ commenter "Chris" at Artblog.net (13 Sept 2007, 11:14am)

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