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March 30, 2004
MISS PIGGY AND MOI
Preaching to the choir has its rewards. Easy rewards -- like a warm bath of egoism, the sort Miss Piggy takes when she preens in the mirror. It's great to get feedback from readers, even when they agree with me. I admit it. John Keene, a man with impeccable judgment, was kind enough to drop this email my way:
I am writing to express my appreciation for your arts blog, and to weigh in on Mr. Ed Ettel's comments on politics and the arts, and his critique of your column.As I need not remind you -- but will in the interests of making a brief point -- artists have, for thousands of years, used their works in part as vehicles and means of commentary, including political commentary. In fact, some of the greatest artists whose lives and works have graced us -- to name just a few, Plato, Ovid, Dante, Shakespeare, Milton, Beethoven, Goya, David, Wordsworth, Shelley, Diderot, Zola, Wagner, Hogarth, Eakins, Twain, Tolstoy, Schoenberg, Picasso, Kollwitz, Grosz, Mann, Celine, Bulgakov, Grass, Brecht, Neruda, Hindemith, Dylan, Gutierrez Alea, Soyinka, Saramago, Spero, Kruger, Gordimer, Oe, etc. -- have taken overt and obvious political stands in and through their work, and have created political artworks. That is, they created enduring works of art that were identifiable political and ideological stances, and yet not mere vessels of propaganda.
Whenever people make the argument that art and politics cannot and do not mix, I feel it's best, in addition to addressing the particular nature of their critique, as you artfully did, to point out even a few of these numerous examples, as well as to reinforce the point that all art is political (and certainly ideological), whether it proclaims its politics or not. Mr. Ettel's argument on this particularly topic doesn't hold up, especially against the verdict of the history of the arts -- and of artworks that have lasted and are still enlightening us, thousands of years -- or even just decades or years -- after they were produced.
Please keep up the excellent writing, with the 'tude (!), and let's hope that it reaches those outside the choir, including some who might just have tired of the shenanigans of the current administration, which I like to think of W Ltd. (With an emphasis on the "limited"!)
W Ltd. -- perfect. I can use it. Gracias.
Posted by at March 30, 2004 10:06 AM