Censorship in Western Society & Losing Our Freedom
Posted by Franziska on May 11, 2012 in Art, Blog | 5 commentsI was just reading a blog post by my artist friend Janice Tanton about a tax audit that she just recently had to go through. It was painful for her. Please read her post, it’s passionate and I love how she is speaking the truth.
Most of the times, auditors do not understand what visual artists do. And it’s everyone’s fault why that is. Now my thought went even further: we are losing our freedom that our ancestors fought for. Maybe we have already lost it?
How do we lose our freedom? By ignorance, a meaningless life, uniform cultures, convenience and censorship. It’s slowly creeping up on us and we let it happen and participate in it. You may ask: censorship? Not in the free world. In fact, it happens every day and the problem is that it is not loud, it is quiet and sneaky. WE, the people censor by our behavior and ignorance.
Visual artists have a message. We don’t just make pretty things that can be reproduced and hung on walls to match our styled homes.
WE
criticize
analyse
deliver messages
philosophize
express emotions
revolutionize
tell a story
dare to dream
point out problemsIN
society
culture
politics
religion
human behavior
This week, I participated in an art competition and my artwork got disqualified by a one-man-jury (?) who had 100 paintings to evaluate in 3 days. The event was sponsored by a few people whose names were all over the local media. Additionally, a participation fee was required. Neither did the jury know the background of the artists, their messages, philosophy and work process, nor did they ask for a written explanation of the artwork.
This is the ignorance I am talking about:
- Art is used to polish the image of a few people (who should rather put their logos & names on shopping carts)
- Art is like golfing when we retire and there’s nothing else to do
- Art is decoration
- Art is exclusive for people who eat caviar and sip champagne
- Art should be pleasant and be “eye-candy”
- Art is entertainment
- Art can’t be taken seriously
- Art is a hobby
While this can be true, most of the time it is NOT.
Why am I painting on recycled material? Why do I build frames from scrap wood? Why do I use natural earth pigments? Why am making my paint from scratch? Don’t you think there is a message behind the scenes? A mission? A demand?
A mission to deliver a message…
to
Enjoy life
Be different
Do what you love
Be meaningful
Be happy
Laugh
Be resourceful
Respect nature
Respect others
Respect yourself
Save the environment (therefore us & the world)
Be passionate
Be critical
Question everything
Be curious
Learn more
Love
A demand…
to
Stop polluting
Think before act
Save the world
Stop wars (and fights over resources)
Freedom of speech (in writing, acting and expression)
We are individuals living in a society which is part of the world and the universe. We are one and all, yet alone together. And when we stop being individuals, then we become mashed potatoes with cheese on top and we have lost our freedom.
Stop censorship now and stop allowing us to take our freedom of speech away!
Fran – Thank you so much for so thoughtfully composing a brilliant addition to this discussion. Distilling this to a form of censorship is exactly correct. Knowing, naming and standing up for what it is that we do is one of the most important things as artists that we need to do with our governments, colleagues and collectors.
Recently, Canadian artist Allan Harding MacKay, a war artist whose work is highly regarding and in the collections of the National Gallery of Canada, Glenbow Museum and many other prestigious public and private collections destroyed five of his works to protest the Harper-led Conservative government’s abuse of power.
As artists, we have the ability and responsibility to speak up and speak out – to shine light upon the contemporary culture, and not just make “ornaments” for personal enjoyment and commodification.
Thanks for adding to the conversation, and for speaking out and speaking up!
Here’s a link to Allan’s site and work: http://www.allanhardingmackay.ca/
Thank you Janice for starting the discussion! It woke me up in my comfortable world that I started establishing not too long ago. I am a peace-seeker, I love harmony and agreement but I just realized once more that I am actually very frustrated about how we develop (and I am actually not the person who is this comfortable). In the last three years, I thought that things actually aren’t going too bad because I see some change happening. I enjoyed watching people going on the streets and protesting but where was I?
Naively, I thought that making my art is enough and the message is there but I was very wrong. It is not enough and people do not see the message. MacKay’s action is exemplary and absolutely brave. Thank you for emphasizing him!
I truly believe that a change can only happen initiated by people, never by governments. Governments reflect us, they are the mirror to society. And when we just let them do, they will do whatever is best for their own profit.
Once again, I thank you for speaking up. Who would have thought a tax audit in Canada would be my wake-up call?!
Franziska
Franziska San Pedro recently posted..Censorship in Western Society & Losing Our Freedom
Wonderful and beautifully written post. Love this: “We are individuals living in a society which is part of the world and the universe. We are one and all, yet alone together. And when we stop being individuals, then we become mashed potatoes with cheese on top and we have lost our freedom.”
Great post and also very interesting to read it. Also its an informative and knowledgeable post. Thanks for sharing this with us.
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Love this: “We are individuals living in a society which is part of the world and the universe. We are one and all, yet alone together. And when we stop being individuals, then we become mashed potatoes with cheese on top and we have lost our freedom.” Thanks for the inspiring blog.
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