Shake the Dust

Two-time national slam poet champion Anis Mojgani performs “Shake the Dust” during To Write Love on Her Arms HEAVY AND LIGHT benefit.

What is slam poetry? A poet performs a poem for a live audience – a poem which is written to be heard aloud as opposed to read. It’s not hiphop (though it could be), it’s not angry screaming (though it could be), it’s just out-loud competitive performance poetry. Poets are judged and scored. More info at poetryslam.com. Still Waters Collective in Milwaukee is a local slam poetry resource.

“And if any place will not welcome you or listen to you, shake the dust off your feet when you leave, as a testimony against them.” – Mark 6.11

Art as Moral Chaos

In art, beauty has to be won, but the work becomes harder as the sheer noise of desecration drowns out the quiet voices murmuring in the heart of things.

An amazing article in City Journal taking to task the abstract and post-modern shock-art of the 21st century. While I don’t agree 100% with his position, philosopher Roger Scruton makes quite a case for reclaiming Beauty in art. For example, check out this incendiary paragraph:

Wherever beauty lies in wait for us, there arises a desire to preempt its appeal, to smother it with scenes of destruction. Hence the many works of contemporary art that rely on shocks administered to our failing faith in human nature — such as the crucifix pickled in urine by Andres Serrano. Hence the scenes of cannibalism, dismemberment, and meaningless pain with which contemporary cinema abounds, with directors like Quentin Tarantino having little else in their emotional repertories. Hence the invasion of pop music by rap, whose words and rhythms speak of unremitting violence…

His point further on is that we humans have a supernatural need for Beauty. When today’s artists desecrate Beauty they are intentionally debasing the sacred. Maybe out of fear or anger or protest. “Every now and then,” Scruton says, “we are jolted out of our complacency and feel ourselves to be in the presence of something vastly more significant than our present interests and desires. We sense the reality of something precious and mysterious, which reaches out to us with a claim that is, in some way, not of this world.” Something which is uncanny and frightening and something against which we struggle.

Is contemporary art merely “moral chaos?” Is Beauty still a worthwhile standard for artists? Is it enough to just want to express something through art? Is postmodernism a worthless dead end of anxiety? What art do you like these days?

Upgrade! Milwaukee

Art + Technology + Culture = Upgrade! International.

Upgrade! Milwaukee is a regular gathering of digital creatives – artists, musicians, performers, writers, curators and the public – that fosters dialogue and creates opportunities for collaboration within the local new media community. It features 1-3 guest speakers at each event, held at a rotating venue: informal, free, and open to all. We welcome suggestions for speakers, panels or gatherings.

Looks very interesting. Next meeting is Sunday, July 12 @ MOCT. Anyone want to go with me?

“God is my art agent.”

File under: Thomas Kinkade. Not only does he take advantage of “art”-loving moms and grandmoms, he also kicks gallery owners in their metaphorical necks. Witness this San Francisco Chronicle article. Excerpt:

Kinkade and other company officials used terms like “partner,” “trust,” “Christian” and “God” to create “a certain religious environment designed to instill a special relationship of trust” with the couple.

What the company didn’t tell them, said their attorney, was that they would have to sell Kinkade’s works at minimum retail prices while the artist undercut them with discount sales, some of which he made himself on cable television.

It was part of a plan, they claimed, to lower the value of the publicly traded company before Kinkade bought it in 2004, at steep losses to many investors. Hazlewood and Spinello put their $122,000 savings into galleries in Charlottesville and Fredericksburg, Va., that opened in 1999 and 2000 and closed in 2003.

Tricksy stuff from the painter of light. But let’s face it, businesses have been using God for centuries to separate the faithful from their coin. It’s bad enough we have to deal with religious hucksters hawking their wares. If you’re going to be loud and proud about your christian faith, please be the most ethical and kind and giving business person on the planet. Anything less and you’re dragging God down with you.

Art Wins!

So milwaukee gets its public art. The debate about whether or not taxpayers should subsidize art is worth having; i think we’re all glad this one passed. I’d hate to see the kind of performance anarchy the milwaukee arts community would engage in had it not.