Don't Blame the Words (I)

By Martha Bayles
R.C. and I were both creative kids. We drew and painted together for hours.  Being a bit older, I was a bit better.  So when R.C took up photography, I figured that, intimidated by my superior talent, he had quit.

We grew up and lost touch, and instead of becoming a visual artist I became a writer who draws the occasional quick sketch.  On impulse I recently Googled R.C. and was amazed to learn that he has become a self-educated master of oil painting, with the kind of deep, subtle style that comes not just from talent but from years of cultivating talent.

R.C. has received no commensurate rewards for his work, and I know how bitter that is.  So I agree that something needs to be changed about the larger art world and a discourse that seems self-defeating.

But the words themselves are not to blame.

Why are "art" and "culture" so loaded?  Both can be used in a non-evaluative way, as in "Don't trip over the art," or "Jersey Shore is not reflective of Italian-American culture."

But both words also have a pesky evaluative meaning that irritates people who associate artistic achievement with social privilege and economic advantage.  My question is, where does that leave R.C., who gave up conventional success, not for "expressive life" but for art?
January 25, 2010 10:24 AM | |

About

This Conversation Are the terms "Art" and "Culture" tough enough to frame a public policy carve-out for the 21st century? Are the old familiar words, weighted with multiple meanings and unhelpful preconceptions, simply no longer useful in analysis or advocacy? In his book, Arts, Inc., Bill Ivey advances "Expressive Life" as a new, expanded policy arena - a frame sufficiently robust to stand proudly beside "Work Life," "Family Life," "Education," and "The Environment." Is Ivey on the right track, or more

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