Sunday, September 09, 2007

where have all the artists gone? - part 2

i wrote a post back when i first started about the art scene- and i have been having numerous discussions with my friend lately about it. it has struck me as odd that the 'art movement' or whatever these folks are calling themselves these days are so strangely silent. oh- you have the usual suspects who are out there protesting our involvement in iraq and whatnot- joan baez, neil young, the boss, etc.- but there is a glaring lack of contemporary artists out there. if there are indeed folks out there with a finger on the pulse of america- then there is a glaring lack of publicity around it.

whatever you may think of kanye west- he and the dixie chicks are the only ones with any balls i guess. it has been predominately musicians singing or rapping out- if you will- about the current state of affairs. from katrina to the iraq quagmire- where are the poets? where are the visual artists? where are the writers?

joan baez is like 60 years old for christ's sake- and she was at operation ceasefire in 2005. there was the whole artist movement during world war 2- propaganda for the war as well as protesting.

hey, britney, keep your panties on and let's make the world safer for your two sons.

wait, wait, wait.... there may be something going on after all. it also struck me as i started writing this- what about the bloggers? we all know folks who are handy with photo shop and whatnot- can that be considered 'art'? i maintain that it can. i maintain that the protest art movement has moved online. can the 'mainstream' art establishment keep up?

7 comments:

Granny said...

I just checked. Joan was born in January '41 which makes her 66. It's hard to believe until I remember that I'll be 70 in April.

Jane Fonda and I are almost exactly the same age. She looks much better.

I posted something awhile back about the folk singers of the 60's and 70's. Or maybe it was a comment on someone's blog.

We need some desperately. They brought us together.

jams o donnell said...

I suppose there's always Steve Earle, I know it's over 10 years old but Iris Dement's Wasteland of the Free is one pretty angry song

Naj said...

Speaking of protest art, do you know ?

Naj said...

Ben Hein

billie said...

i know of him through my buddy the poetryman. you can see his work at a poetic justice

http://apoeticjustice.blogspot.com/

The Future Was Yesterday said...

where are the visual artists? where are the writers?

The "fuel" that drives artists, gives them ideas, comes from society. Their art feeds off society; society feeds off their art.

Pictures of Jesus are inspirational to very few:P

And hang Britney by her damn panties!!

billie said...

true. we have all become too comfy in our lives and comfortably numb. artists included.