Earlier in this century I took a great deal of interest in the PBS documentary series Art:21.The makers profiled artists in the act of creating and let them talk about how and why they did what they did. It was illuminating and fun.
The show was (and remains) underwritten by a number of nonprofits and NGOs, including the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation. This foundation, as is not particularly surprising, had a lot to do with the international COVID-19 response, which is still reverberating.
To be clear, I haven't started boycotting the show because of that. Since I was only watching on DVDs borrowed from the library it wouldn't be much of a boycott. And while I lost interest in it that's mainly because the later seasons got drier, doing away with the goofy celeb intros. Still, I wonder if at some level they were promoting some kind of Great Reset agenda. In the last set I borrowed an artist in Mexico City pureed a bunch of bugs and ate them on toast. (What else does he use that blender for?)
Still, this show did help familiarize me with the work of Ida Applebroog, Matthew Ritchie, John Baldessari, and Rackstraw Downes, so I can't really complain.
2 comments:
I understand how such a series would be interesting as it can be pretty fascinating to see an artist's work process and to learn a little about what they were thinking as they were creating a particular image or group of images. I must say of the artists you highlighted my favorite was seeing the painting by Rackstraw Downes (pretty interesting name) because it's obvious how much time and effort he takes in creating his paintings. I'm sure mine is an unsophisticated opinion but it's how I feel. I'm sure that listening to and watching any of the four artists would make me more open to their work. But the thing about art we remember is that in the long run it's the paintings and sculptures that are left to speak fot the artist.
From what I've read the Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation never loses money in any charitable cause their money is invested in. Jer reminded me of a very long expose written in the LA Times back in 2007 about the foundation. You can read through it at your leisure. Maybe they're nicer now.. The great reset and the wuhan flu might make us doubt it though.
You know I've wondered why they don't promote vegetarianism rather than bug eating. Talk about putting one off one's dinner.
There are a lot of different ways of being an artist or being creative in general. I think it's good to be reminded of that. Not all will be to your taste, and their work may be barely comprehensible to you, but with a close look you can see that there's a reason they do what they do. Downes is an incredible painter. He's often taken to be a photorealist, as in someone who actually works with photographs as models. But he doesn't, his paintings are just based on lengthy observation of the place. And yes, it's also true that the paintings and sculptures are what will last. They speak of both their time and the people who made them.
In recent years democracy and self-government in general have been overtaken by private players and NGOs who really find it inconvenient when the rest of us don't fall in line. The Gates Foundation isn't alone in this but is certainly prominent among the crowd. Interestingly Robin Williams had some Gates material in his later standup. And the Great Reset is not so great.
I think vegetarianism and bug eating are the good cop and the bad cop, respectively. Although in the long run, the former has its challenges but isn't gross and harmful like the latter.
Post a Comment