Saturday, April 26, 2008

African Justice.


Should art be political?
No.

Can art be political?
Yes.

How can art and politics fit together?
As propaganda (from Latin, to propogate)... by growing meaning, where the message is all important--message without argument.
As dissemination (from Latin, to seed)...by spreading information, where the message can be challenged.
As vision (from Latin, to see)...by showing ideas, where meaning works in harmony with symbols, where the message is transfused (like living blood).


Can the artist who draws the human body do so without touching body politics?
Perhaps.
But my art reaches out to touch, to paint the politics of the body, and the mind inside the physical.
Often, my art is political in two ways: it offers, through the body, a vision of the body politic, the dream that might be.

3 comments:

Afriboy said...

?
PropUganda?

BronzeBuckaroo said...

What is written can be applied to craftmanship of a wordsmith as well I think.

BronzeBuckaroo said...

I know Langston Hughes did it!