for going 'rogue' ...
can't seem to loosen my bite on the previous entry - maybe its because a simple shift in thinking - or lack thereof - can have - and has had serious consequences in the development of the arts in this country - maybe the world - but I'm not sufficiently informed to comment about global affairs and my sources aren't as reliable as they could be ... but i have reasonable suspicions ...
i do however, know an extraordinary amount of highly talented writers, musicians, and artists who struggle to make ends meet - and I'm not talking about dilettantes looking for social or therapeutic networking opportunities to compensate for their latest identity crisis - I'm talking the real deal - people who sweat blood and sacrifice what they must in service to what they love and were drawn to the vocation with a commitment comparable to a spiritual calling ...
there's absolutely no reason, with the amount of disposable wealth in this country, why excellence and expertise like this should have to struggle and pander for survival ...
or, to put it in functional terms, we are the Research and Development Division of Cultural Consciousness - and if our jobs are ill-funded or move to redundancy, the "company" will lose product viability to sustain itself in a competitive, global marketplace - sound familiar ?
[face it, some of the pipe dreams of the "Whole Earth" culture are exactly what is trying to be resurrected for economic recovery and sustainable energy resources - all the impracticalities suddenly become necessary for future development - even urgent] ...
we've seen it time and again with hostile takeovers - where economists and lawyers adept at loop-holes assert their pretentiousness in areas they have no qualification [ie., music, entertainment, and energy industries, etc] and create some bastardization of a good idea so the numbers align with their profits - its snake-oil salesmanship to the nth degree - no wonder guys like Bernie Madoff succeed - our greed manifests them ...
once again, to a lesser degree, I've experienced this mean-spirited manipulation first hand from power-brokers that would go to any length to validate the chip on their shoulders - people that would rather insult and destroy you than consider another opinion - whatever the cost; since self-righteousness and victory are crucial assets for the Gordon Gekkos' of the world ... ["Wall Street" the movie] ... and because so many people are beholding to the scraps received from the tables of the entitled, their need to compensate for whatever hole in their soul is tolerated ... [the indiscretions of some of our political leadership is an easy example - we're only human, but its the spirit that concerns me most] ...
off point: i recall one endowed friend telling me he spent more on annual dues to a country club he doesn't attend than i do on my yearly mortgage - and another, more on suits in one year he didn't wear, than i did on a vehicle i had to finance - and both required significant discounts on paintings - but there are things you have to do to keep up appearances - including being grateful ...
I've often characterized a shift in consciousness occurring during the rise of Pop Art - a movement that in part, addressed the banalities of popular culture, but i doubt they expected the mundane aspects to be elevated to such a respectable status - they simply took advantage of it - and if you think about it, the avalanche of mediocrity has escalated ever since - with the exception of a few aberrations - [or as they like to say on Wall Street - "market fluctuations"] ...
i believe Pop Art made it possible to know less about art to appreciate it - and to reduce the depth of history associated with it - and it all happened at a time when the exploding middle class became the primary accelerant for big business - including the lowering of higher educational standards ...
a fragile period, when the corruptions of abundance were gradually undermining the values of high achievement and excellence and infiltrating a vast pool of resources - namely, the population of middle America - where the back alley opiates moved to nearly every home with televisions, newspapers, magazines and status quo routines advertised as the American dream - the luxuries of free time and diminishing ambitions, consumerism and wanna be's ...
a line was drawn, which subsequently eroded into chasm -
between 'the establishment' and 'the other' ...
the 'haves' and the 'have-nots' ...
the 'winners' and 'losers' ...
the 'left' and 'right' - and the 'right' and 'wrong' ...
so the games began - interpretations of inclusion, modified for exclusivity; common sense numbed by political correctness; herding of individuality through stereotyping by conglomerate agendas; and sanctification of hostility by a religious 'right' ...
Now we're at a point, after all the posturing and illusions of self assuredness are laid to rest -wondering where all the genius, spirit, and pioneering character has gone - what happened with the 'dumbing of America' and the 'taming of the shrewd' - and how do we, "get back" ?
It's going to take some healing time after being paralyzed and asphyxiated by modernity - but i've always believed its in the creative spirit of individuals who haven't had their chance - but i'll light that fuse later - for now, it's late ...
