OK, I admit it, Madame Bovary is me.
But I do think this is a "big idea". It's still inchoate, maybe more a vision than an idea. That's why we can only see a rupture, rather than a path from here to there. Still, we gotta try. I was taught the subversive strategy in art school, and you can be sure that once it's reached that point, it's over. What started as a formal observation of the way in which art styles change became a prescription, demanding constant change, even if based on nothing but reaction. The result was a lot of really boring, academic art, which lead to a real reaction, which produced even worse art. Much the same with politics. Marx's critique rings as true as ever, but the prescription derived from it failed. At least in the art world not so many people get killed in the process.
I believe in humor, but the funniest jokes are always at our own expense.
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But I do think this is a "big idea". It's still inchoate, maybe more a vision than an idea. That's why we can only see a rupture, rather than a path from here to there. Still, we gotta try. I was taught the subversive strategy in art school, and you can be sure that once it's reached that point, it's over. What started as a formal observation of the way in which art styles change became a prescription, demanding constant change, even if based on nothing but reaction. The result was a lot of really boring, academic art, which lead to a real reaction, which produced even worse art. Much the same with politics. Marx's critique rings as true as ever, but the prescription derived from it failed. At least in the art world not so many people get killed in the process.
I believe in humor, but the funniest jokes are always at our own expense.
- alex 7-20-2001 12:59 am