When did David Brooks become Ken Burns? A year of wonders.
18
First of all Gee thanks for explaining “chiasmus” to those of us in medicine who work with the optic chiasmus each day! What a guy.
Second, as a Republican you have the audacity (pun intended) to preach about the dignity of a black man when our black president has been maligned EVERY DAY OF HIS PRESIDENCY by your slimy party?
Second, as a Republican you have the audacity (pun intended) to preach about the dignity of a black man when our black president has been maligned EVERY DAY OF HIS PRESIDENCY by your slimy party?
39
Douglass’ Narrative isn’t much more than a hundred pages and yet he says it all—all that he thought needed to be said. It’s like the Book of Obadiah.
4
I am truly sorry Mr. Khan lost his son, but it wasn't at the hands of Donald Trump. If any candidates hands be dirty, it would be Hillary's and her vote for Iraq.
5
Now that you had an epiphany, Mr. Brooks, please tell your Republican philistines to support arts in the school. They're afraid of art because it tells the truth, which is something the GOP is frightened of.
23
Mr. Brooks:
is your last sentence missing a word?
should it include "just" between 'don't' and 'change'?
and should you include a following paragraph to further elaborate on your admitted life-lived-through "warped lenses"?
and then to the resulting consequences,
and to your newly-awakened and avowed need to change
your own on-going views of the world around you?
political and otherwise?
this is a fair draft-column that you have presented to us,
hope is that you will amend it and add your new-found commitments.
thank you.
4
Even cartoonists have a voice: Remember what Pogo stated...
"We have MET the ENEMY...and HE is US !!!".....
I edited this a bit...but ....one wonders when a short phrase ...told very
sincerely and truthfully by ...such a muser as Pogo....could actually be
the core of the world's discontent....Hmmmmm......????
"We have MET the ENEMY...and HE is US !!!".....
I edited this a bit...but ....one wonders when a short phrase ...told very
sincerely and truthfully by ...such a muser as Pogo....could actually be
the core of the world's discontent....Hmmmmm......????
3
Great for you to extol Frederick Douglass' vision, but was not an artist - he was a statesman. We need more like him.
8
Always amazes me that a today's Republican has any interest in art - except the art of disparaging our presidentl
Brooks and his concern for artists.
I imagine as long as the artists aren't black or female, artists could be appealing to "art-loving but civil rights hating" Republican like Brooks.
Brooks and his concern for artists.
I imagine as long as the artists aren't black or female, artists could be appealing to "art-loving but civil rights hating" Republican like Brooks.
5
Excellent column, but perhaps it really is time for Mr. Brooks to move to the book review. That seems to bring out the best in him, especially with him being politically homeless and adrift.
10
Just as some today would like to put Fredrick Douglas back into a place in society that they deem fit, so does Brooks seem to think about artists. Apparently, to "smash through" isn't a proper way for an artist to behave. I assume Brooks would be as dismissive of their artwork as their process. He has totally missed the point.
5
Today, on James Baldwin's birthday, from The Writers' Almanac: "An important moment for Baldwin came when he and his friend, the modernist painter Beauford Delaney, were standing on a street corner in the Village, waiting for the light to change. Baldwin recounts in The Paris Review that Beauford "pointed down and said, 'Look.' I looked and all I saw was water. And he said, 'Look again,' which I did, and I saw oil on the water and the city reflected in that puddle." In that moment, Baldwin felt he'd been taught how to see, and how to trust what he saw, felt that from that moment on he could see the world differently than he had before."
14
There were Ton of Artists and Musicians at the Political Conventions this year, at least at the Democratic Convention. At the Republican Convention, there was only one Artist, The CON Artist Donald Trump who can change the World for the Worse if elected.
7
It is right to assume whiteness in "Girl With a Pearl Earring," and the Garden of Eden, because this is a painting and a concept part of Western culture. What is wrong with that?
I kept waiting for Brooks to address "How Artists Change the World." He talks about how a technology - photography - helped humanize a political figure, but Frederick Douglass wasn't exactly an artist.
But then I got it. "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." Could it really be that this is a bitter response to Bradley Cooper and other artists using their voice and visibility (as Douglass did) to promote social change? Did Brooks really just imply that they should keep their mouths shut and let their art speak for itself??
But then I got it. "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." Could it really be that this is a bitter response to Bradley Cooper and other artists using their voice and visibility (as Douglass did) to promote social change? Did Brooks really just imply that they should keep their mouths shut and let their art speak for itself??
5
When we live in the GOP's and now Trump's America, why wouldn't artists feel the imperative to participate directly or indirectly by using their voice? Trump has been using his celebrity status for his political gain in his presidential campaign and dividing the country. So, Mr. Brooks, why is it OK to you that big businesses talk with $$$ to influence elections, but not artists? Is that why the GOP always work for big businesses and big hands but not support the arts (by cutting the budget for NEA?
5
Brooks, employing the word "chiasmus," a rhetorical device often called "antithesis," was used twenty-two times in JFK's inaugural address; an example from that address: "Ask not what your country can do for you--ask what you can do for your country." Frederick Douglass's use of the device is only one of the many memorable observations this brilliant thinker shared. Even high school students in America, at least traditionally, knew well this device when reading "Julius Ceasar" or "Macbeth." At their funeral orations for the mortally wounded and murdered Caesar, the educated Brutus makes strong use of the device in his rather stiff rhetoric. Antony even calls him an "orator" in a rather derogatory manner but uses the same device. And our trio of hags in "Macbeth?" "Fair is foul; foul is fair!" Pres. Obama is another great orator. Candidate Trump, hardly even coherent.
10
"But in fact perception and evaluation are the same thing." -- a great line and well worth remembering.
Kurt Freund
Kurt Freund
2
Many artists are attracted to the unvarnished truth, in politics and all parts of life. Consider all the art that flowered around Bernie Sanders, and the artists who were attracted to him.
2
I never understand why columnists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation.
10
Art takes many forms. A painting tells a story and can actually be a novel. I would recommend that Mr. Brooks revisit Picasso's Guernica and experience its power and presence and the story it tells. Artists, like other citizens, react to politics and societal problems and use their art to express their views just as do columnists. Maybe listening to Springsteen or Pete Seeger while you reread your column will provide some insight.
6
Two things these days mystify me: why people hate Hillary so much and why people hate David Brooks so much.
13
That photo looks almost whitewashed as if the intent was to show a man rather than a black man. Brilliant.
Another artist, D.W. Griffith, transformed the world as well, in 1914 his grounbreaking film of the Civil War and it's aftermath, "Birth of a Nation" portrayed African Americans as lazy, sex crazed predators coming for the white woman and glorified the Ku Klux Kan, to the degree that it was revitalized throughout the South. For many white Americans outside the south this first,
"blockbuster" was their first encounter with African Americans and helped create many of the stereotypes that remain to this day. And of course the "Mulatto" in the film was portrayed as the most evil of all. Native Americans have suffered a similiar portrait at the hands of many American film " Artists"
30 years later along would come another artist, Leni Riefensthal, and perform a similar service for the Third Reich.
"blockbuster" was their first encounter with African Americans and helped create many of the stereotypes that remain to this day. And of course the "Mulatto" in the film was portrayed as the most evil of all. Native Americans have suffered a similiar portrait at the hands of many American film " Artists"
30 years later along would come another artist, Leni Riefensthal, and perform a similar service for the Third Reich.
14
Nice try David, however that was then and now everybody seems to live in a very small internal world defined by what they see on an absurdly tiny screen. And don't forget that Kanye West is considered an "artist".
11
It is unfortunate that he, like so many, are considered as "black men" when in fact there is no difference in manhood.
2
I sense a subconscious wrestling with his own worldview on display in Brooks' training his eye on this subject. He muses that "we carry around unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience, that organize how we scan the world and how we instantly interpret and order what we see." Is David edging closer still to a realization that his conservative political lens isn't focusing clearly anymore?
Like Douglass in his portraits, so also is our dignified, brilliant, but beleaguered president "erasing old associations about blackness and replacing them with new ones." This evolution of our American story, as surely as Michelle Obama spoke of her daughters playing on the lawn of the house built by slaves, is a testament to how great we are. And yet the Republican Party has been at war with this evolution, with this president, with these new ways of seeing, and now even with the notion of American greatness.
The "mental maps" drawn by both parties have led us astray. These times are challenging all of us to open our eyes to what we have become and how we look at who we are and what we will be. May we all be alive to the possibility that this cauldron of rancor is in fact a crucible of redemption that will lead us together to a more just, fair, and loving society, and one that will "smash through the warped lenses through which we've been taught to see."
Like Douglass in his portraits, so also is our dignified, brilliant, but beleaguered president "erasing old associations about blackness and replacing them with new ones." This evolution of our American story, as surely as Michelle Obama spoke of her daughters playing on the lawn of the house built by slaves, is a testament to how great we are. And yet the Republican Party has been at war with this evolution, with this president, with these new ways of seeing, and now even with the notion of American greatness.
The "mental maps" drawn by both parties have led us astray. These times are challenging all of us to open our eyes to what we have become and how we look at who we are and what we will be. May we all be alive to the possibility that this cauldron of rancor is in fact a crucible of redemption that will lead us together to a more just, fair, and loving society, and one that will "smash through the warped lenses through which we've been taught to see."
2
Except for one bizarre paragraph, this is an unusually fine piece from someone I don't often agree with.
The bizarre paragraph? "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Why on earth would having the gift to "recorde" obviate us from the responsibility to involve ourselves in the important issues of the day? Why should artists, of all people, withdraw from active citizenship?
The bizarre paragraph? "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Why on earth would having the gift to "recorde" obviate us from the responsibility to involve ourselves in the important issues of the day? Why should artists, of all people, withdraw from active citizenship?
4
This is a relatively limited view of the impact of arts on politics and culture. For example. the DADA movement which began in Zurich spread to every continent where creative rebels brought irrationality to bear on war and injustice. DADA's influence on photography, painting, graphics, design, theater, performance still reverberates around the world. The irrationality of war, terror, and injustice as practicef by nation states still cannot be answered with rational arguments.
The present moment portraits of Fredrick Douglas remind me of the work of Edward Curtis to document native Americans. His portrait of Chief Seattle's daughter was a radical political act of rebellion appearing as traditional art.
The present moment portraits of Fredrick Douglas remind me of the work of Edward Curtis to document native Americans. His portrait of Chief Seattle's daughter was a radical political act of rebellion appearing as traditional art.
2
Quoting Dr. Bob Solomon Edmonton, Canada 6 hours ago
"David writes "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." In a nation where censorship is a long, cruel tradition and freedom of expression is something artists buy at great personal cost, David's inability to understand reveals why artists need legislation to protect them -- and enable their work to reach an audience."
And my comment . . .
Artists NEED to be involved in partisanship and legislation. I live in the SF Bay Area, where tech companies and developers, not to mention Air B&B, have been allowed nearly unbridled rein to build whatever they want, as big as they want, displace renters, increase rents to exorbitant amounts, etc. Not surprisingly, artists and musicians, since their incomes usually do not fall in the 1% range, are heavily impacted, and are slowly being driven away. Unless they participate in city council meetings and make their situations known, they are ignored or overlooked, to the immense loss of the community.
"David writes "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." In a nation where censorship is a long, cruel tradition and freedom of expression is something artists buy at great personal cost, David's inability to understand reveals why artists need legislation to protect them -- and enable their work to reach an audience."
And my comment . . .
Artists NEED to be involved in partisanship and legislation. I live in the SF Bay Area, where tech companies and developers, not to mention Air B&B, have been allowed nearly unbridled rein to build whatever they want, as big as they want, displace renters, increase rents to exorbitant amounts, etc. Not surprisingly, artists and musicians, since their incomes usually do not fall in the 1% range, are heavily impacted, and are slowly being driven away. Unless they participate in city council meetings and make their situations known, they are ignored or overlooked, to the immense loss of the community.
2
"...perception and evaluation are the same thing."
No; but "perception"--the word--presumes--evaluation.
You can't perceive what isn't there, though you can seem to. Those seemings are mis-perceptions--hallucinations, delusions, illusions, dreams.
"Perception" implies success--at processing physical input--light waves, sound waves, chemicals--gasses, liquids, solids--resistance to pressure, temperature. The "five sense" are actually many more--since seeing shades of gray is still seeing; so is color blindness. The tone deaf still hear. And so forth. But perception is normal--that is ideal--processing.
Furthermore most perception is "perception-as X or Y"--is is conceptualized. The raw sensation is indicator (like a meter reading) of reality. But the conceptual overlay is symbolic. So those with different vocabularies can "see-as" differently.
So too those with educated perceptual organs--eyes (painters), ears (musicians), noses (perfumers)--often they not only see the forest and the trees, they "see" what kind of tree and what kind of wood.
Thus the ignorant or inexperienced might not "see" what experts see--when they both look at the same thing. Maybe this is the value difference Brooks was getting at.
No; but "perception"--the word--presumes--evaluation.
You can't perceive what isn't there, though you can seem to. Those seemings are mis-perceptions--hallucinations, delusions, illusions, dreams.
"Perception" implies success--at processing physical input--light waves, sound waves, chemicals--gasses, liquids, solids--resistance to pressure, temperature. The "five sense" are actually many more--since seeing shades of gray is still seeing; so is color blindness. The tone deaf still hear. And so forth. But perception is normal--that is ideal--processing.
Furthermore most perception is "perception-as X or Y"--is is conceptualized. The raw sensation is indicator (like a meter reading) of reality. But the conceptual overlay is symbolic. So those with different vocabularies can "see-as" differently.
So too those with educated perceptual organs--eyes (painters), ears (musicians), noses (perfumers)--often they not only see the forest and the trees, they "see" what kind of tree and what kind of wood.
Thus the ignorant or inexperienced might not "see" what experts see--when they both look at the same thing. Maybe this is the value difference Brooks was getting at.
2
"The ability to recode the mental maps" is highly dependent on two things: the talent of the artist and the openness of the observer. In the Donald, we see a closed-mindedness that takes pride in decisiveness despite vast areas of what Donald Rumsfeld called 'the unknown unknowns.' Trump constantly papers over his areas of ignorance. He is a doer, not a listener, not an observer; he surrounds himself in an echo chamber of sycophants, just like Rush Limbaugh does. ('Megadittoes' to both of them.) If there is artistry to either of these two, it's in their ability to paint a mustache on the Mona Lisa; it's really akin to vandalism.
Those who are followers of these two are unencumbered by the rational process; they're susceptible to bumper sticker over-simplifications and emotional responses.
Those who are followers of these two are unencumbered by the rational process; they're susceptible to bumper sticker over-simplifications and emotional responses.
2
Maybe. But their contribution seems almost irrelevant when we have to worry about clear and present danger like the psychotic Trump who has become the torch bearer for the Republicans. Horrifying reality is our reality NOW. Trying o understand the subtle nuances of art even if there are hidden messages without solutions is a futile exercise. This art is for the elite and those with leisure, who live in a totally different stratosphere from the huddled masses who are fighting to just survive. So David, get real. We don't need your diaphanous, nebulous, feelgood, trying to be diversionary, op-eds. For they are simply grating.
2
I appreciate your exploration of both the artist, Mr Brooks, and of Mr Douglass’s expansive and visionary use of an art form brand new to the 19th century, in order to help shift American attitude and behavior.
I'd like to address your confusion about artist involvement in "partisanship and legislation."
As an artist, I act, sing, and write. I also take participatory workshops into classrooms, community centers, rehab facilities, nursing homes and hospitals throughout Louisville and counties in rural Kentucky. Powerful images are regularly created in these places.
The thing is, not all politicians, or citizens, go to the theatre or find occasion to visit schools and other community facilities to experience these images.
Sometimes, we must send the images to the House and Senate. I write personal letters to my state and national representatives in Congress. Our state arts agency and arts organizations encourage artists, parents, teachers, and students to communicate with our legislators.
These communications invite policy-makers into the creative process, engage their understanding of the value of the arts, connect them to their own humanity and ask for continued support.
Often, it's necessary to participate in "legislation" to implant the pictures of which you speak. I, we, cannot take for granted that everyone sees, experiences, or "gets" the arts. To be conscious, caring, proactive - to effect change - we blend our art-making with our citizenship.
I'd like to address your confusion about artist involvement in "partisanship and legislation."
As an artist, I act, sing, and write. I also take participatory workshops into classrooms, community centers, rehab facilities, nursing homes and hospitals throughout Louisville and counties in rural Kentucky. Powerful images are regularly created in these places.
The thing is, not all politicians, or citizens, go to the theatre or find occasion to visit schools and other community facilities to experience these images.
Sometimes, we must send the images to the House and Senate. I write personal letters to my state and national representatives in Congress. Our state arts agency and arts organizations encourage artists, parents, teachers, and students to communicate with our legislators.
These communications invite policy-makers into the creative process, engage their understanding of the value of the arts, connect them to their own humanity and ask for continued support.
Often, it's necessary to participate in "legislation" to implant the pictures of which you speak. I, we, cannot take for granted that everyone sees, experiences, or "gets" the arts. To be conscious, caring, proactive - to effect change - we blend our art-making with our citizenship.
3
I dunno, David. Maybe it's just coincidence, or my imagination, but it seems that every Republican administration's first priority is defunding/crippling The National Endowment for the Arts and similar groups that bring the arts to the hoi polloi...
7
Art is a mirror and also a window. The mirror shows us who we are—if we are willing to look—while the window shows us tantalizing or terrifying worlds we may choose to enter or avoid.
If we look through and see the best of worlds but despair of ever getting there, art may awaken us to who we truly are: beings capable of greatness. Art can encourage us to step beyond who we think we are into an infinitely greater reality. it can heal our preconceptions by nudging us into reconceiving our experience of the world.
Though we all see through a glass darkly, the finest artists continue to change the world by polishing the glass. But nothing can change for those unwilling to look, ponder and see truly. For those few, seeing is believing and believing is the beginning of that deeper freedom we all dream of.
Good art, like a good sheepdog, shepherds us toward the True, Good and Beautiful. It is where the mundane intersects the transcendent; where the weathered hand holds the brush that touches the canvass in the creaky attic studio unleashing the meaning of everything. It is our marvelous way of exorcizing the dark side while turning into the light. Art, in showing us ourselves and giving us an infinite context of meaning, may be the only thing that can save us.
If we look through and see the best of worlds but despair of ever getting there, art may awaken us to who we truly are: beings capable of greatness. Art can encourage us to step beyond who we think we are into an infinitely greater reality. it can heal our preconceptions by nudging us into reconceiving our experience of the world.
Though we all see through a glass darkly, the finest artists continue to change the world by polishing the glass. But nothing can change for those unwilling to look, ponder and see truly. For those few, seeing is believing and believing is the beginning of that deeper freedom we all dream of.
Good art, like a good sheepdog, shepherds us toward the True, Good and Beautiful. It is where the mundane intersects the transcendent; where the weathered hand holds the brush that touches the canvass in the creaky attic studio unleashing the meaning of everything. It is our marvelous way of exorcizing the dark side while turning into the light. Art, in showing us ourselves and giving us an infinite context of meaning, may be the only thing that can save us.
5
"He was erasing old associations about blackness and replacing them with new ones."
I think the President and Mrs. Obama have done this in the past 8 years for many in our country, though clearly many still prefer to cling to the old, false associations.
I think the President and Mrs. Obama have done this in the past 8 years for many in our country, though clearly many still prefer to cling to the old, false associations.
4
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
This statement positions Donald J Trump as the Supreme Artist - bar none - of USA 2016.
Discuss.
This statement positions Donald J Trump as the Supreme Artist - bar none - of USA 2016.
Discuss.
1
Most artists do not get involved in politics as artists. They get involved as citizens. They are on phone banks and street corners. They have put aside their artistic practice for a moment in order to engage in politics because they realize that "recoding mental maps" won't effect turn out this November.
2
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
If so, clearly what is needed today are face-pictures (or videos) of Republican legislators in the act of denying President Obama his birthright and citizenship, his education and intellect, his public approval and tenure, his legislative efforts, and his humanity and unblemished service to the American public. Also, the faces of right winged media and pundits decrying that Americans are fed-up with government that doesn't work because of the President, when they are clearly the obstructive drivers of our legislative collapse.
If pictures are worth a thousand words, then what is the value of the Republican so-called leaders feverishly planning to unseat Obama by any means necessary?
If so, clearly what is needed today are face-pictures (or videos) of Republican legislators in the act of denying President Obama his birthright and citizenship, his education and intellect, his public approval and tenure, his legislative efforts, and his humanity and unblemished service to the American public. Also, the faces of right winged media and pundits decrying that Americans are fed-up with government that doesn't work because of the President, when they are clearly the obstructive drivers of our legislative collapse.
If pictures are worth a thousand words, then what is the value of the Republican so-called leaders feverishly planning to unseat Obama by any means necessary?
3
I thouroughly enjoyed reading of Fredrick Douglass’s mastery of language and media for the goals of altruistism and social equality. Rightfully, he should be celebrated as an artist and early pioneer in multimedia.
The contemporary portraits of Chuck Close and Cindy Sherman, some of them immense in size, pale in comparison to the intense and majestic images of a man proud of his heritage and his position in the world. I realize that for some this is not a comparison of apples to apples, but how powerfully a simple photograph can announce so much meaning speaks volumes.
It is a pity to see how the tools that once helped right a wrong are then corrupted to broadcast vileness as many have done.
The contemporary portraits of Chuck Close and Cindy Sherman, some of them immense in size, pale in comparison to the intense and majestic images of a man proud of his heritage and his position in the world. I realize that for some this is not a comparison of apples to apples, but how powerfully a simple photograph can announce so much meaning speaks volumes.
It is a pity to see how the tools that once helped right a wrong are then corrupted to broadcast vileness as many have done.
2
"The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
There is another, greater power that artists have, which comes from their ability to express: celebration, hope, anguish, joy, heartache, despair, peace.... The expression itself is the end, not some other thing. Art ceases to be art when its ends are merely practical. It an irony of humanity: by eschewing the practical end, artists wield the greatest power to bring humanity together and to elevate our existence.
There is another, greater power that artists have, which comes from their ability to express: celebration, hope, anguish, joy, heartache, despair, peace.... The expression itself is the end, not some other thing. Art ceases to be art when its ends are merely practical. It an irony of humanity: by eschewing the practical end, artists wield the greatest power to bring humanity together and to elevate our existence.
2
An interesting relevant aside here of the power of art is the portrayal of Lieutenant Uhura in the original Star Trek TV series. Played by Nichelle Nichols, she portrayed the communication officer on the bridge (3rd in command I believe) with simple competence, respect & dignity. Oh, by the way, she was a dark complected African woman. Dr. King praised her for doing a great service in creating an image of an African person in a leadership role and urged her to stay on the show when she was considering leaving. In a scene when she & Captain Kirk kissed, I thought nothing of it, but I understand this created a big uproar with the producers. They even wanted to re-shoot the scene.
"Race" is 99% all in our heads. There's one race, the Human Race.
"Race" is 99% all in our heads. There's one race, the Human Race.
6
"These images don’t change your mind; they smash through some of the warped lenses through which we’ve been taught to see."
This pretty much sums up Jerry Garcia and the rest of his band mates. They have been traditionally apolitical, working instead to change our culture in a thoughtful manner. They taught people how to fish in the pond of social change. I am pretty sure David would disagree but look at the culture of hate that has been spawned by politics.
This pretty much sums up Jerry Garcia and the rest of his band mates. They have been traditionally apolitical, working instead to change our culture in a thoughtful manner. They taught people how to fish in the pond of social change. I am pretty sure David would disagree but look at the culture of hate that has been spawned by politics.
2
Like most Republicans, Mr. Brooks embraces black fighters for black causes, as long as they're dead, preferably long-dead, and embraced by the society at large. Showing respect, even affection, for those people is a very handy way to prove that Republicans aren't racist, right? Meanwhile, the current policies roll on, mowing down anyone who isn't white, male, Christian (preferably Protestant), straight, etc etc.
3
In the realm of popular culture, I've always felt that HGTV had a lot to do with adjusting attitudes towards the LGBTQ community.
2
Very thoughtful and moving article. I could not help but think of the recent photograph of the female Black Lives Matter protestor standing tall, dignified and seemingly unafraid, in front of two heavily armour-clad and armed police officers, looking for all the world like a angel of justice.
I have also always felt that Frederick Douglass had one of the most powerful photographic presences that ever existed. The strength, decency, and courage of the man is electrifying.
I have also always felt that Frederick Douglass had one of the most powerful photographic presences that ever existed. The strength, decency, and courage of the man is electrifying.
2
I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world.
The reason is simple Mr. Brooke artists , at least many of them, cant stand idle while the world passes them by. That what pundits like you do.
The reason is simple Mr. Brooke artists , at least many of them, cant stand idle while the world passes them by. That what pundits like you do.
3
HRC uses Katy Perry's "Roar" because of its message: break through oppression and speak up, claim power. This embodies what HRC has done all her life. I think Perry looks up to Clinton, artist in awe of politician. I can see why artists get involved in campaigns; they become inspired by changing the status quo. Hillary is changing the game, the first woman elected to be are president. So much art aims to spur the change we are seeing. So many artists want to support it.
3
Mr. Brooks asks, "How much should artists get involved in politics?" What a question.
I guess, as human beings who celebrate beauty or express an emotion, artists also suffer the indignities and pain of thoughtless, careless, even cruel governors and they want to change that.
How many of the greatest works of literature had a political underlay?
How many films from the very first of them were directed at a social injustice, a wrong that needed exposure, a stupidity that needed satirizing?
Then Mr. Brooks says, "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Again, as human beings who cannot tolerate wrongs that needs righting, artists are drawn into the muck and nitty of partisanship and legislation. So, they both "recode mental maps" for the public and throw an elbow into politics.
Should Hollywood make more mindless shoot-em-ups, if that were possible, and never produce, say, another "Spotlight"?. Did Dorothea Lange go a overboard in her unsubtle, pointed depression era photographs? Should Picasso not involved himself in partisanship by painting Guernica? Is "Antigone" too politically pointed for Mr. Brooks? Contemporary politicians probably thought so.
I never understand prominent columnists who don't seem to understand pretty basic things.
I guess, as human beings who celebrate beauty or express an emotion, artists also suffer the indignities and pain of thoughtless, careless, even cruel governors and they want to change that.
How many of the greatest works of literature had a political underlay?
How many films from the very first of them were directed at a social injustice, a wrong that needed exposure, a stupidity that needed satirizing?
Then Mr. Brooks says, "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Again, as human beings who cannot tolerate wrongs that needs righting, artists are drawn into the muck and nitty of partisanship and legislation. So, they both "recode mental maps" for the public and throw an elbow into politics.
Should Hollywood make more mindless shoot-em-ups, if that were possible, and never produce, say, another "Spotlight"?. Did Dorothea Lange go a overboard in her unsubtle, pointed depression era photographs? Should Picasso not involved himself in partisanship by painting Guernica? Is "Antigone" too politically pointed for Mr. Brooks? Contemporary politicians probably thought so.
I never understand prominent columnists who don't seem to understand pretty basic things.
4
And, by extension, the videos of cellphone cameras are doing the same for this era's descendants of slaves.
3
Characteristically highfalutin and maybe inadvertently honest this nonetheless displays a conventionally conservative discomfort with and inability to understand art while insisting that it must be understandable and, since everybody agrees that I'm really smart, I am uniquely qualified to render understanding.
Condescendingly explaining to artists that partisanship and legislation are for other people, like op-ed writers, and that artists foolishly cede their real power when they depart from subliminal persuasion, as if that can be employed predictably and consistently.
The distillation of art into an objective unified theory has been the project of imbalanced left brains for as long as they've been paid to muse.
Everything else can be explained by sufficiently unembarrassing verbosity, surely art can be similarly reduced to simplistic algorithm.
Condescendingly explaining to artists that partisanship and legislation are for other people, like op-ed writers, and that artists foolishly cede their real power when they depart from subliminal persuasion, as if that can be employed predictably and consistently.
The distillation of art into an objective unified theory has been the project of imbalanced left brains for as long as they've been paid to muse.
Everything else can be explained by sufficiently unembarrassing verbosity, surely art can be similarly reduced to simplistic algorithm.
6
(The early cameras produced photographs with great depth of field revealing each pore, hair and blemish.)
No, actually the large format lenses have less depth of field at a given lens-to-subject distance and a given aperture than your average smart phone. What they had was sharpness and resolution. An obscure point perhaps. Could there be other inaccuracies are presented with such certainty?
No, actually the large format lenses have less depth of field at a given lens-to-subject distance and a given aperture than your average smart phone. What they had was sharpness and resolution. An obscure point perhaps. Could there be other inaccuracies are presented with such certainty?
3
'Reality' is malleable, and it is the talented and the visionary who shape it by defining and expanding the ranges of our feelings and thoughts.
Demons, however, define reality in self-interested ways that narrow rather than expand.
Sorry.... but yes, this is about he who shouldn't be named....
Demons, however, define reality in self-interested ways that narrow rather than expand.
Sorry.... but yes, this is about he who shouldn't be named....
5
Nice plug for Aperture magazine. Brooks asks a semi-relevant question about why artists should get involved in politics. They are citizens and not separated by vocation in their ability to raise their voice, so why the discourse? The unique spin on photography using Douglass was interesting, but the latest pictures of the African American experience illustrates that we haven't gotten that far. Keep the cameras rolling...we need to see it all.
6
Mr. Brooks celebrates Federick Douglass' "fierce determination," but as a conservative he would be perhaps the last to applaud the fierce determination of Douglass' 21st century heirs, the militants of Black Lives Matter, who, often at great cost to themselves, and despite the vilification and worse of Mr. Brooks' conservative confreres, are advancing the cause of freedom and human rights.
16
Precisely.
2
FREDERICK DOUGLASS, Widely known during his time, has occupied an iconic position in the culture. His gaze has the quality of a beacon of dignity, liberty and freedom. Douglass was and continues to be a source of great pride for our nation. After all, the earliest human remains have been found in Africa, meaning that ultimately we are all Africans. Hence, we are all African Americans genetically. How is it that photographic portraits hold such power over humans? It's because we're hard-wired for facial recognition. We're all born with parts of the brain reserved specifically for responding to and recognizing facial features. The survival value of facial recognition is powerful, as it enables both mother and child to recognize and to form strong powerful attachment to each other. Such characteristics of brain function are present when we look at portraits, especially those as intense and moving as those of Frederick Douglass. With our current knowledge of brain functions, we need to inquire again about the chiasma of whether art imitates life, or whether life imitates art. I'd say that both are necessary conditions for humans. The constructivists would claim that we are only able to perceive anything about the world based upon the constructs that occur within our brains. Such a formulation is clearly anti-romantic and untraditional. Often scientific discoveries change the balance of how we preceive things, including both sides of the same coin.
3
Amen, David Brooks. Civil War iconography is yet another area where art speaks a language that minimizes the institution of slavery -- that it wasn't so bad -- in the latest iteration about the White House, "..they were well-fed and housed." Rather than remove them I invariably propose the interposition of a counter-narrative -- the portraits, the painful imagery of artists such as Kara Walker and a Glenn Ligon, say, who each use satire and acid irony to tell terrors of that American institution, the legacy of which still tears the nation apart. The artists will teach and enlighten and inform that "no," this was not benign; it was evil. Your statues are mere myth.
3
The members of Congress who were debating a bill that would forbid flogging in the U.S. Navy (in 1855 or thereabouts) were each supplied with a copy of Herman Melville's book, WHITE JACKET, which described this barbarous punishment in gruesome detail. It appears that the book helped sway some members away from believing the claim that flogging was necessary for discipline, and the practice was banned.
Pablo Picasso's great painting, "Guernica," brought attention to the horror of the bombing of that Spanish town during Spain's Civil War in the 1930's. It, too, helped create an altered political consciousness in the thousands who viewed it at a Paris exposition.
Yet both Melville's book and Picasso's painting are still living works of art, after the causes they championed have been won. There is no necessary contradiction between political fervor and the calm mind necessary to produce a work of art. The one can foster the other, and Frederick Douglass's photographic portraits are additional examples of this synergy.
Pablo Picasso's great painting, "Guernica," brought attention to the horror of the bombing of that Spanish town during Spain's Civil War in the 1930's. It, too, helped create an altered political consciousness in the thousands who viewed it at a Paris exposition.
Yet both Melville's book and Picasso's painting are still living works of art, after the causes they championed have been won. There is no necessary contradiction between political fervor and the calm mind necessary to produce a work of art. The one can foster the other, and Frederick Douglass's photographic portraits are additional examples of this synergy.
5
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Surely you jest!
They cannot do both???
First completely stupid thing i have ever read from you!
Surely you jest!
They cannot do both???
First completely stupid thing i have ever read from you!
3
If interested, dave nelson, a library shelf full Brooks gaffs and non-sequiturs can be provided, to many readers it seems almost his most ample stock in trade.
2
This essay is mis-titled, since it's entirely about how the SUBJECT (Douglas) utilized the artistry of photographers. We're still waiting for anyone in the political arena to understand what we artists do to shape and influence the society we live in. But, when the generals and political "leaders" are long forgotten, what remains of any culture is what artists have observed, and sometimes even shaped during their lifetimes. Countries older than ours, and less materialistic, realize the legacy that artists leave and do SOMETHING to support them (us) while alive. But since money and commerce are not at the heart of almost any artistic enterprise, support in America is regarded as wasteful, irrelevant, and frivolous. Most politicians have zero personal interest in artistic matters. One of the reasons Justice Ginsberg remains a hero in my eyes... being an exception.
3
David Brooks has some of the most convoluted reasoning and broadest assertions around. despite all of that I like to read his pseudo intellectual rambling. He is the great pontificator, as here: "But in fact perception and evaluation are the same thing. We carry around unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience, that organize how we scan the world and how we instantly interpret and order what we see." So no heed evaluate, just perceive. What a crock.
4
Reread the very passage that you cited Joey. Brooks isn't saying "no need (to) evaluate, just perceive". He's saying that they both happen simultaneously. Seems accurate. In any case, you can't refute his point simply by insulting him personally.
Nowadays, black and white folks with cellphone cameras are doing something similar.
3
In The Meaning of Human Existence, evolutionary biologist E. O. Wilson writes that our brains are hard-wired for narrative. Scientists alone, he says, will not persuade us to take the urgent actions needed to save the planet. The job of saving humanity (and life on Earth), he says, will ultimately fall to the artists.
For the reasons stated by Dr. Wilson, I urge you to enlarge your concept of art to encompass the political.
For the reasons stated by Dr. Wilson, I urge you to enlarge your concept of art to encompass the political.
6
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation."
Yeah, it stinks. Politics and the whole flood of invective, stupidity and twisted truth that one must wallow in makes for a crummy artist's day.
The problem is the other voices are louder, more persistent. The right in America is one of the most determined political forces known to the world. Republicans have a whole organization, ALEC, that never stops trying to reverse the course of America, one state legislature at a time, one retrogressive legislative proposal at a time. The right is not happy to control governorships, legislatures, city councils, school boards, the House and Senate. Its gotta have the presidency, too, and while they are at it, media. The choice for news outlets is either be quiescent and timid or be replaced by Fox Faked News (FFN), thousands of talk radio stations, never ending rumors and outright manufactured lies.
Politics, like most things, is a lesser calling than artistry and art, but most artists have only a vague idea, and their own self created reassurance, of their influence on the world. Decency in the world is sustained and encouraged by art, but the ugly, smelly effluence of politics tends to obscure these facts.
Yeah, it stinks. Politics and the whole flood of invective, stupidity and twisted truth that one must wallow in makes for a crummy artist's day.
The problem is the other voices are louder, more persistent. The right in America is one of the most determined political forces known to the world. Republicans have a whole organization, ALEC, that never stops trying to reverse the course of America, one state legislature at a time, one retrogressive legislative proposal at a time. The right is not happy to control governorships, legislatures, city councils, school boards, the House and Senate. Its gotta have the presidency, too, and while they are at it, media. The choice for news outlets is either be quiescent and timid or be replaced by Fox Faked News (FFN), thousands of talk radio stations, never ending rumors and outright manufactured lies.
Politics, like most things, is a lesser calling than artistry and art, but most artists have only a vague idea, and their own self created reassurance, of their influence on the world. Decency in the world is sustained and encouraged by art, but the ugly, smelly effluence of politics tends to obscure these facts.
10
It seems to me you are describing the approach of the Occupy Wall Street and Black Lives Matter. To create an image that makes a point.
9
I just can't get the image of Mr. Khan holding up the US Constitution out of my head. Something amazing happened in the picture. It is both healing and heartbreaking at the same time.
Of course Trumps response was horrific.
Of course Trumps response was horrific.
14
Brooks has left politics behind and politics has left Brooks behind.
11
He was wrong, dense, and shameless column after column when he was Bush's faithful Squealer. He has to pretend that none of that ever happened. Hence these little petite-fours he makes now. He's not up to making anything but empty calories.
3
Artists change the world by taking the viewer/audience into a different world.
A conservative, in contrast, wants to conserve the current world, the status quo.
The artist thus threatens the conservative.
The artist does art by genius, courage, and seeing a piece through to the end, sometimes risking his/her sanity. Not all art takes, is good, stands the test of time. The same is true of pure science.
But if art and science are snuffed out, we are snuffed out.
Humorous it is that a conservative shill is wrapping himself today in an artistic cloak when his life's work is runs counter -- and his party's 'Frankenstein' is alive and on the march.
A conservative, in contrast, wants to conserve the current world, the status quo.
The artist thus threatens the conservative.
The artist does art by genius, courage, and seeing a piece through to the end, sometimes risking his/her sanity. Not all art takes, is good, stands the test of time. The same is true of pure science.
But if art and science are snuffed out, we are snuffed out.
Humorous it is that a conservative shill is wrapping himself today in an artistic cloak when his life's work is runs counter -- and his party's 'Frankenstein' is alive and on the march.
9
Thinking a couple steps ahead Mr. Brooks, I'd like to offer a word of appreciation for a man who extends his hand by way of acknowledgement of the greatness that has existed in the African American community. I appreciate the shout out to H L Gates, Jr who has done so much to inform us about our interconnectedness. Articles like this one have the potential for mobilizing African Americans to thoughtfully step up in the current political turmoil. Keep it up.
3
A wide selection of the Douglass portraits can also be seen in an exhibit running at the Museum of African American History on Boston's Beacon Hill. The museum, a somewhat hidden treasure that is working to become better known, is located in what was the first public school for black children in the United States (founded in 1835), and is adjacent to the African Meeting House, constructed in 1806 as the first place of black worship in the country. The Meeting House and the Abiel Smith School building were beautifully restored a few years ago and are the sites of significant and elegantly presented exhibits, educational programs, concerts, talks, and other means of expressing black history in this part of the world. It works with the National Park Service, whose Rangers provide tours of the Black Freedom Trail.
The Douglass exhibit is fascinating from many points of view, but one is how Douglass used advances in photographic technology to illuminate the ideas he wanted to communicate. I was also struck by the information that he didn't smile in a portrait until six months before his death.
I've been a member of the museum for many years and would urge my fellow Bostonians and visitors from other cities and parts of the world to see this special place. Right now you can see the Douglass exhibit: a few years ago, there was an equally impressive exhibit on black baseball. Fun and games one year, a world of ideas the next. We're lucky to have this resource in our midst.
The Douglass exhibit is fascinating from many points of view, but one is how Douglass used advances in photographic technology to illuminate the ideas he wanted to communicate. I was also struck by the information that he didn't smile in a portrait until six months before his death.
I've been a member of the museum for many years and would urge my fellow Bostonians and visitors from other cities and parts of the world to see this special place. Right now you can see the Douglass exhibit: a few years ago, there was an equally impressive exhibit on black baseball. Fun and games one year, a world of ideas the next. We're lucky to have this resource in our midst.
8
lots of ideas in baseball as well.
2
Artists want to be involved in the nitty-gritty of politics for the same reasons they make their "pictures" in the first place. These include deeply-held convictions and maybe a sharper vision of society's direction than the average non-visual citizen. It always amazes me how little-understood artists are. A vision always precedes action and artists often get there first.
6
First, photographs, as we all know, can now be altered in many ways in order to project any message the photographer wants to send. Second, remember Hitler? His public relations manager, Leni Riefenstahl, was a very successful creator of propaganda, using this power of "art"!
My conclusion is that even art, that jewel of the human spirit, can be the servant of evil. Whatever can be corrupted, will be.
My conclusion is that even art, that jewel of the human spirit, can be the servant of evil. Whatever can be corrupted, will be.
6
Most of the "artists" at the Republican convention made their appearances in the form of music used without permission, stolen, to be frank.
5
Mr. Brooks, is this a change of heart or a misdirection to make us think you have a kinder, gentler conservative soul? Everything you say is true, but I find it hard to believe that in your conservative heart of hearts, you truly embrace what you're saying. Perhaps the ugly conservative backlash of the last 8 years has finally brought you around to a point where you can separate the rhetoric from the truth, or is this just another ruse?
A beautifully written and inspired piece, but one which also brings up painful memories of conservatives gleefully attacking and slashing funding of the Arts in this country. It makes me wonder if Mr. Douglas could have gotten his pictures funded in today's political climate.
A beautifully written and inspired piece, but one which also brings up painful memories of conservatives gleefully attacking and slashing funding of the Arts in this country. It makes me wonder if Mr. Douglas could have gotten his pictures funded in today's political climate.
5
I cannot say it any better than Bertolt Brecht did:
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality
but a hammer with which to shape it.”
“Art is not a mirror held up to reality
but a hammer with which to shape it.”
5
Great quote. Actually, I think it is both. Artists, through their medium, have the ability to show us to ourselves, the good, the bad, and the ugly. They can offer us narratives of hope and of despair...we can choose how to interpret the art.
What a wonderful use of the art of photography by Douglass. How those seeing the photographs, at the time, chose to interpret them or be changed by them is an individual process some call critical thinking. As Edward Hess (2014) writes, "Defining everything we know as conditional - subject to change based on new evidence - can help us decouple our egos from our beliefs."
It seems to be we are in short supply of critical thinking in our time - we are too attached to a position or point of view - and cannot take the time to step back and allow ourselves to be fully informed.
Hess, E. (2014). Learn or Die. Columbia University Press: NY, NY.
What a wonderful use of the art of photography by Douglass. How those seeing the photographs, at the time, chose to interpret them or be changed by them is an individual process some call critical thinking. As Edward Hess (2014) writes, "Defining everything we know as conditional - subject to change based on new evidence - can help us decouple our egos from our beliefs."
It seems to be we are in short supply of critical thinking in our time - we are too attached to a position or point of view - and cannot take the time to step back and allow ourselves to be fully informed.
Hess, E. (2014). Learn or Die. Columbia University Press: NY, NY.
2
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation."
How about religious leaders? Do you have the same confusion about why they get involved in partisanship and legislation? I doubt it, since they support your causes.
How about religious leaders? Do you have the same confusion about why they get involved in partisanship and legislation? I doubt it, since they support your causes.
8
Trump has an extensive art collection. It certainly hasn't affected him.
3
It is amazing that such pulp and blather about art has so much space in this paper today. Isn't there already a section for Arts in this paper that is covered by people who know what they are talking about? I admit, the only reason I ever read Mr Brooks' column is out of morbid curiosity about what the GOP is saying to justify it's existence. Often he just tries to divert attention from the latest GOP endorsed horror.
1
Artists are mostly Egoists. Or, more likely, propagandists.
If there ever were an Adam and Eve they were Black Man and Black Woman. We know that as our species evolved it did so in Africa. Those people were not white, that came much later. Jesus was not white either, nor was he a Catholic. White people have refined history to make it more acceptable to themselves.
1
The function of an artist is to enable us to see the world differently. It sounds simple but it is a difficult as any scientific work.
5
More enduring and meaningful than his photographs are the Frederick Douglass autobiographical tales of his life which he regularly renewed, revised and released. Each one a time capsule of his times.
Douglass did not change his nation. In the wake of Frederick Douglass life and death Jim Crow was born leading to Plessy v. Ferguson, segregationist Confederate icon President Woodrow Wilson and the rise of the KKK lynching.
The real artistic change makers would come later.
At the dawn of the 20th Century W.E.B. DuBois wrote his iconic 'The Souls of Black Folk". While James Van Der Zee photographed black life and Zora Neale Hurston wrote about black life and Aaron Douglas painted black life. In the middle of the 20th Century Ralph Ellison wrote "Invisible Man", Lorraine Hansberry wrote "A Raisin in the Son", Gwendolyn Brooks wrote "Annie Allen" and Gordon Parks photographed black life.
Douglass did not change his nation. In the wake of Frederick Douglass life and death Jim Crow was born leading to Plessy v. Ferguson, segregationist Confederate icon President Woodrow Wilson and the rise of the KKK lynching.
The real artistic change makers would come later.
At the dawn of the 20th Century W.E.B. DuBois wrote his iconic 'The Souls of Black Folk". While James Van Der Zee photographed black life and Zora Neale Hurston wrote about black life and Aaron Douglas painted black life. In the middle of the 20th Century Ralph Ellison wrote "Invisible Man", Lorraine Hansberry wrote "A Raisin in the Son", Gwendolyn Brooks wrote "Annie Allen" and Gordon Parks photographed black life.
1
"in the Sun....."
1
In her 2000 NY senatorial campaign, HRC promised artists, in return for their support, that she would ensure federal money after her victory. The artists supported her, and after she became a senator, she did nothing for them. WSo much for Clintonian loyalty to anyone other than themselves and wealthy backers.
2
It worries me so much and makes me sad that the arts have to struggle for every penny of support they get. I don't have anything against sports, but it is still painful to watch the tsunami of money that pours into high school, college and professional sports, while the arts do without.
7
dear david
you would come off better if you just admitted your guilt over your privilege instead of trying to suddenly appear to support the integrity of men of color. if you somehow understand now how your conservatism is based in protecting white supremacy, just say it. the truth is much more powerful and enlightening than anything else. be like the stong example you are writing about.
you would come off better if you just admitted your guilt over your privilege instead of trying to suddenly appear to support the integrity of men of color. if you somehow understand now how your conservatism is based in protecting white supremacy, just say it. the truth is much more powerful and enlightening than anything else. be like the stong example you are writing about.
4
Yes indeed Mr. Brooks. Now that you understand that how about asking your Republican friends to financially support artists.
39
mizaliza.....doesn't take long at all
to go from art to partisan, does it?
to go from art to partisan, does it?
1
Ah, but they do. Especially after they are dead, when they buy their work and hide it in warehouses until it increases in value so as to line their deep pockets even deeper.
3
As a working artist the thought that you would speak for me is appalling. Equally appalling is your use of Fredrick Douglass's work to accredit your own.
27
Z....thousands stand with you in appalled solidarity.
13
How dare you speak for all artists. And then hide your name.
1
Apparently some people find it hard to forgive (David's R leanings). Today, even though he is "seeing the light," for some people nothing David says has merit. If someone else had written this essay, I doubt you would be so enraged. Sad.
1
Artists, however interpreted, preen themselves on the notion that they operate against those powerfully in charge
Sadly, this is seldom the case.
From Greek playwrights to Roman poets to German philosophers (Heidegger), thru our current crop of Hollywood 'artistes' and downtown 'bomb-throwers' hard to find many who deliberately oppose the prevailing power structure in any potentially costly degree.
Sadly, this is seldom the case.
From Greek playwrights to Roman poets to German philosophers (Heidegger), thru our current crop of Hollywood 'artistes' and downtown 'bomb-throwers' hard to find many who deliberately oppose the prevailing power structure in any potentially costly degree.
7
If you want to change the world, be an artist beloved by children. Dr. Seuss's many works have imprinted two generations of children with the values that are now rising up to challenge Donald Trump.
3
And you know that empirically? How?
1
"There are so many images that startlingly put African-American models in places where our culture assumes whiteness..."
I can't imagine any image in this collection being more powerful than that of Barack Obama in the Oval Office, speaking and acting with the thoughtful grace he's shown over eight years.
I can't imagine any image in this collection being more powerful than that of Barack Obama in the Oval Office, speaking and acting with the thoughtful grace he's shown over eight years.
71
I am surprised by this article although love the photos and spirit of Frederick Douglas. Artists have had a very uneven impact on the world at times totally wrong but mostly no impact or change. When it comes to wrong, If I had to pay attention to artists' political views I would avoid looking at Cezanne who was an anti Dreyfus supporter, Ezra Pound a fascist sympathizer, Degas who was antisemitic, Wagner also antisemitic, and so many other examples. It's convenient to only focus on the wonderful examples which should also includes the Picasso Guernica, but alas changing the world is not a primary focus of art. Art is a reflection of the world so it's like asking a mirror to change something about you.
16
Art is powerful, ironic, sincere, subversive, funny, searing, tragic, fun, revelatory. It is who we are. It is censored by the market, but the market, in pursuit of profit, will jump behind the subversive work that is selling. Art is uncontrollable, frightening, exhilirating, the bane of dictators and demi-gods. Bring it on.
10
May I suggest to the artists out there a fitting update to the wonderful photos of Fredrick Douglass?
Photos of Americans denied the right to vote by new GOP legislation in gerrymandered states.
Photos of "moochers", those unproductive people who live on the work of real Americans. You'll find most of them in Alzheimer's units and publicly funded pre-schools.
Photos of the families of those who died in assault rifle shootings, by the hands of the mentally ill who could not get treatment.
All these people have their own profound dignity. Show it, lest we ignore it.
Photos of Americans denied the right to vote by new GOP legislation in gerrymandered states.
Photos of "moochers", those unproductive people who live on the work of real Americans. You'll find most of them in Alzheimer's units and publicly funded pre-schools.
Photos of the families of those who died in assault rifle shootings, by the hands of the mentally ill who could not get treatment.
All these people have their own profound dignity. Show it, lest we ignore it.
24
In the denial of the right to vote campaign, you could recycle the photos of Frederick Douglass. Most African Americans were denied the right to vote in the deeply conservative regions of the country. Conservatives legislators today continue to try to restrict the black vote. I think this is what they mean by "make America great again."
3
You've supported the Republican Party trying to "redraw mental maps" for several decades now, Mr. Brooks.
You've endorsed and supported candidates who use racism to divide people, support trashing Social Security, Medicaire, Obamacare, ending school breakfast and lunch programs for poor children.
I get bored with you promoting all this spiritual uplift you're so fond of when you care so little about the welfare of many of our fellow citizens.
You pretend to be for things you've actually worked for years to undermine and destroy, including a sense of welfare and a commitment to decency. Trump's the end result of the policies you've supported.
It's disingenuous for you to be horrified by him now.
You've endorsed and supported candidates who use racism to divide people, support trashing Social Security, Medicaire, Obamacare, ending school breakfast and lunch programs for poor children.
I get bored with you promoting all this spiritual uplift you're so fond of when you care so little about the welfare of many of our fellow citizens.
You pretend to be for things you've actually worked for years to undermine and destroy, including a sense of welfare and a commitment to decency. Trump's the end result of the policies you've supported.
It's disingenuous for you to be horrified by him now.
51
Is it generous, thoughtful, decent to reject converts because of their past history?
I respect Mr Brooks's derision for Trump, and his respect for Frederick Douglass.
We need a decent two party system, within which citizens agree to differ on many matters of policy but unite against an internal fascist threat such as Trump.
I respect Mr Brooks's derision for Trump, and his respect for Frederick Douglass.
We need a decent two party system, within which citizens agree to differ on many matters of policy but unite against an internal fascist threat such as Trump.
Golly, give the poor guy a break. It's not easy reformulating snake oil.
2
Thanks Mr. Brooks, this piece is full of illuminating and timeless details which I will remember for the next time I want to change the subject from something heinous and timely, like an impending train wreck or the self-immolation of a major political party.
13
Fredrick Douglas? You should be using your column inches cutting Donald Trump's heart out, journalistically speaking. But considering you're a conservative Republican, hiding behind the heroics of Fredrick Douglas is a sure fire way for you to suggest that your conservative views are rationale (when ther're not). You might read today's Editoral Review Board in the New York Times for ideas on how to spend (and not waste) your (free) space in the paper. And, I just saying, GOP racism (of all ilks) offends me, and having you write about Douglas implies that ther are no GOP racism.
14
Good, thought provoking article. Thank you, David.
8
Like Douglas, "Black Lives Matter" movement is being "punished and beaten"for "looking dissatisfied because (they) feel dissatisfied."
Trump speaks for those who are ticked off by that dissatisfaction. And Bill O'Reilly (like Cliven Bundy), declare that slavery wasn't so bad -- full employment (Bundy) and, at least in the construction of the White House -- slaves were "well fed and had decent housing."(O'Reilly)
Trump speaks for those who are ticked off by that dissatisfaction. And Bill O'Reilly (like Cliven Bundy), declare that slavery wasn't so bad -- full employment (Bundy) and, at least in the construction of the White House -- slaves were "well fed and had decent housing."(O'Reilly)
23
The juxtaposition that David writes about has a double edge to it. Great photos have the ability to portray a universal level of humanity even though their subject is quite singular and specific. When we really look at a photo we see what we see, and then we see what the photo evokes.
Unfortunately for African Americans we are still creating images that evoke a sense of surprise as the social image that is evoked clashes with the simplicity of the visual image of the photo. Beyond Othello we are still surprised when a Shakespearian character is played by a black. Or when the primary dancer in a ballot is a talented African American. Despite their long careers, the William's sisters still seen as an anomaly whereas a black person in a boxing ring or basketball court is seen as normal.
But what art, especially photographic art can do is slowly close this gap between social perception and the visual experience of a human connection. We can certainly use more of that these days.
Unfortunately for African Americans we are still creating images that evoke a sense of surprise as the social image that is evoked clashes with the simplicity of the visual image of the photo. Beyond Othello we are still surprised when a Shakespearian character is played by a black. Or when the primary dancer in a ballot is a talented African American. Despite their long careers, the William's sisters still seen as an anomaly whereas a black person in a boxing ring or basketball court is seen as normal.
But what art, especially photographic art can do is slowly close this gap between social perception and the visual experience of a human connection. We can certainly use more of that these days.
41
See "Without Sanctuary: Lynching Photography in America" James Allen et.al
And "Gone With the Wind".
There is no national artistic nor other museum marking the twin American holocausts of African enslavement and Jim Crow that were perpetrated in America by Americans against other Americans.
And "Gone With the Wind".
There is no national artistic nor other museum marking the twin American holocausts of African enslavement and Jim Crow that were perpetrated in America by Americans against other Americans.
1
Very good piece. The lasting, transformative, power of true art certainly exceeds the volatility (and sometimes silliness) of politics. Not to mention the modern manipulation of the mind, in which art is replaced by propaganda.
10
Edwin Curtis also accomplished much with his essays and photographs of Native Americans in the early 20th century. I'm have been very much moved by Timothy Egan's fine book detailing Curtis's mission, Short Nights of the Shadow Catcher.
5
I read your article and wonder (again) if you are trying to give yourself a pass. Sure pictures of aggrieved and suffering people change perceptions. But I think the picture of Willy Horton resonates more powerfully in modern times than any picture of Frederick Douglas.
You simply will have no credibility with me until you acknowledge the error of your silence while your party pursued its Southern Strategy. Artists do not bear the burden of clearing away the befouled mental images created by GOP politics. As a Republican opinion writer of note, you do.
You simply will have no credibility with me until you acknowledge the error of your silence while your party pursued its Southern Strategy. Artists do not bear the burden of clearing away the befouled mental images created by GOP politics. As a Republican opinion writer of note, you do.
14
We must challenge ourselves not just to look at different images but force ourselves to look beyond the stereotypes and mental clutter to see the world, to see its diversity and to see that despite all the variability of life that there is also a common bond. It is in that common bond that we can love one another as ourselves. Then we need to act in our lives on that love. The more we refuse to look and see reality and the more we hide in the narrowness of our existence becomes the more we allow hate to grow and consume us. So pull off the blinders; pull off the lenses; look and see and celebrate the life that surrounds us and immerse yourself in its diversity to find love.
6
Thank you for an informative departure from the intensity of this year's (horrifying) campaign season. A brief respite is much appreciated.
6
Keep learning, Mr. Brooks, you're on a roll. Whenever you write of 'arts' I find your clarity regarding humanness to be especially inviting.
There's a vast yet untapped art library still out here among us who speak from the heart without having a pressing need for an immediate response to our various forms of 'symbolic discourse.' Discovery through 'art' is the food of life: Mr.Douglass knew that; we all know that.
There's a vast yet untapped art library still out here among us who speak from the heart without having a pressing need for an immediate response to our various forms of 'symbolic discourse.' Discovery through 'art' is the food of life: Mr.Douglass knew that; we all know that.
3
And David Brooks is still a member of a political party that seeks to disenfranchise people of color?
10
David Brooks : I watch you on PBS news hour every night:
Bring some photos with you next time; and then make your point...very very
succinctly ...and why...because this view of yours today should be broadcast
and it will be lost to those who need to hear your thoughtful message:
Artists : DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in a political way...and show what
and how and why we need to be ...thoughtful...and yes...just let the
influence of a portrait or even a cartoon let us find our way...because
WE need to reflect on what our own judgment tells us to act on.
There is such a need now to ...disassociate ourselves from the media
addiction ; from the global addiction to immediacy of I pads of snap judgments
produced by need to answer...to...tweets or cell phone messaging...and
all that is ...what I call the electionic trash ...similar to what we throw out in
the US mail..
So bring this photo of Frederick Douglass to the next PBS news hour...and
let Judy and Gwen and Mark know about it...so they can be prepared to
respond...and maybe others might catch on...
A picture really is worth a thousand words..isn't it...BRAVO David good work !!!
More of the SAME..!!!
Bring some photos with you next time; and then make your point...very very
succinctly ...and why...because this view of yours today should be broadcast
and it will be lost to those who need to hear your thoughtful message:
Artists : DO MAKE A DIFFERENCE in a political way...and show what
and how and why we need to be ...thoughtful...and yes...just let the
influence of a portrait or even a cartoon let us find our way...because
WE need to reflect on what our own judgment tells us to act on.
There is such a need now to ...disassociate ourselves from the media
addiction ; from the global addiction to immediacy of I pads of snap judgments
produced by need to answer...to...tweets or cell phone messaging...and
all that is ...what I call the electionic trash ...similar to what we throw out in
the US mail..
So bring this photo of Frederick Douglass to the next PBS news hour...and
let Judy and Gwen and Mark know about it...so they can be prepared to
respond...and maybe others might catch on...
A picture really is worth a thousand words..isn't it...BRAVO David good work !!!
More of the SAME..!!!
4
Thank you, David Brooks, for your thoughtful observations. I'm hoping you will expand the view. So many other artists to be considered in this conversation...Dawoud Bey, Amy Sherald, Sheila Pree Bright, and the timely For Freedoms project by Hank Willis Thomas and Eric Gottesman, to name a few.
-Cathy Byrd, Director/Producer, Fresh Art International podcast
-Cathy Byrd, Director/Producer, Fresh Art International podcast
2
Does "the Art of the deal" fit into this? Trump certainly is "smashing lenses through which we've been taught to see".
I thought the Democratic Convention was a brilliant corrective - was it art?
I thought the Democratic Convention was a brilliant corrective - was it art?
4
As Frederick Douglass, wrote in his Narrative, 1845: “You have seen how a man was made a slave; you shall see how a slave was made a man.”
Shortly after the publication of the Narrative, Douglass undertook a speaking tour of the United Kingdom. The highly favorable reaction to his speeches overseas aroused the ire of his many detractors in the U.S., including the publishers of the New York Express.
“All are enemies of their country, who, in a foreign land calumniate it; but the meanest kind of calumny is, that which speaks through the tongue of a runaway slave” (February 12, 1846).
According to the Express, a “runaway slave” had no business participating in the public sphere. Through his numerous portraits, beginning with the frontispiece to the 1845 Narrative, Douglass demonstrated that he was indeed a man. Essentially, Frederick Douglass taught America that Black lives matter. Remarkably, more than two centuries after his death, that’s a lesson America is still learning.
Shortly after the publication of the Narrative, Douglass undertook a speaking tour of the United Kingdom. The highly favorable reaction to his speeches overseas aroused the ire of his many detractors in the U.S., including the publishers of the New York Express.
“All are enemies of their country, who, in a foreign land calumniate it; but the meanest kind of calumny is, that which speaks through the tongue of a runaway slave” (February 12, 1846).
According to the Express, a “runaway slave” had no business participating in the public sphere. Through his numerous portraits, beginning with the frontispiece to the 1845 Narrative, Douglass demonstrated that he was indeed a man. Essentially, Frederick Douglass taught America that Black lives matter. Remarkably, more than two centuries after his death, that’s a lesson America is still learning.
16
"In fact perception and evaluation are the same thing"--they are NOT the same thing. We do have unconscious mental maps, but the power of the artist, and each of us, is making CONSCIOUS choices about what we perceive and thereby reshaping some of the biases held within our old mental maps. It is entirely possible that many people saw many of Douglass's portraits and did not make a conscious pause to reconsider their meaning, as you have. Douglass, and you, and I, are awake to the meanings. Let's hope many of our fellow cultural somnambulists awaken and make new meanings of what we are seeing happen in our culture, and the radical intersection of politic, social change, and art.
29
In addition to helping people see the reality through creatively constructive and humane way, the artists also do play a creative destructionist's role by highlighting the systemic injustices and arrogance and through this mobilising collective dissent and support for change in society. How could an artist abandon commitment to society and its wellbeing for being just away from the hurly-burly of the mundane world?
4
Speaking of changing images... will you please examine the way you constantly paint Hillary as boring, distant and wonkish. I'm an artist and I see her as brilliant, warm, caring and incredibly strong, vibrant, knowledgable, forthright and gracious.
She has struck a balance few women have achieved. You seem to miss how she is judged in a way no a man will every be judged... she is forging a brand new image but I think for a very serious person she has done incredibly well. Take another look with an artist's eye and see what she's been painting....
She has struck a balance few women have achieved. You seem to miss how she is judged in a way no a man will every be judged... she is forging a brand new image but I think for a very serious person she has done incredibly well. Take another look with an artist's eye and see what she's been painting....
7
I am not angry David. Sadly, you bought into the Faustian bargain, although your writing is beautiful and you have argued that the liberal arts are fundamental to a well-rounded education, it is meaningless - in my opinion. At least your colleague, Krugman, fully acknowledges the fact (that he's a Faustian).
However, I'll probably read your latest book.
However, I'll probably read your latest book.
3
"How much should artists get involved in politics? How can artists best promote social change?" Strange, that word, should. Isn't that a decision best left to each person? Do artists not strive to be good citizens?
And then this ... "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world." Some artists may strive to express (in their art) that which transcends the generally perceived outward reality, but those insights, taken a step further, can lead to practical ideas of how to improve the human condition. Conceptualizing ideals and working for their outward manifestation are not incompatible processes. Do citizens not strive to be artists?
And then this ... "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world." Some artists may strive to express (in their art) that which transcends the generally perceived outward reality, but those insights, taken a step further, can lead to practical ideas of how to improve the human condition. Conceptualizing ideals and working for their outward manifestation are not incompatible processes. Do citizens not strive to be artists?
3
Mr Brooks is referring to Schema Theory. Schemas are cognitive structures for organizing information we take in about the world, events and people. They are typically resistant to change, but repetition is effective when it comes to memory.
Artists do in fact have some power to change or reinforce our cognitive schemata. Unfortunately, so do the political spinsters. Frank Luntz is the current master. He knows that republican lies only need to be repeated, not truthful. But don't get me wrong, it's a bi-partisan problem.
Artists do in fact have some power to change or reinforce our cognitive schemata. Unfortunately, so do the political spinsters. Frank Luntz is the current master. He knows that republican lies only need to be repeated, not truthful. But don't get me wrong, it's a bi-partisan problem.
32
Sojourner Truth similarly used formal photographs of herself, even selling them to abolitionists to support herself.
3
Your effort to define identity in terms of emotional responses to pictures is a tribute to your devotion to the social sciences and their underlying evolutionary biological framework. Only problem is it's a world view which rejects the power of reason as man's highest virtue.
11
The power of reason, man's highest virtue?
Highest as most elevated? most evolved? most valued or most valuable?
Let's not forget consciousness, not to mention integrity.
without either of which reason is - well, reason.
Highest as most elevated? most evolved? most valued or most valuable?
Let's not forget consciousness, not to mention integrity.
without either of which reason is - well, reason.
2
My experience has convinced me that we must listen more carefully to artists and mystics.
But we don't necessarily want to elect them.
There is a difference is skill sets between speaking truth to power, and wielding power wisely.
But we don't necessarily want to elect them.
There is a difference is skill sets between speaking truth to power, and wielding power wisely.
5
What does this comment suggest about the current trend to dress down? Images from the 60's civil rights movement show beautifully dressed activists representing their generation. Try to get a picture like that now!
2
Which brings to mind Anaïs Nin's famous quote, "We don't see things as they are; we see things as we are." That is, until an unusual image is powerful—which can happen in the visual arts: "_significant_ form", as Clive Bell had it. Very few visual artists achieve this, but that's their job, and why we need them.
4
A painting has never made me cry though music and a song often does. Why is that?
4
Mr. Brooks, I invite you to reorder your own "unconscious mental map" and re-examine your assessment of Hillary Clinton's speech at the Democratic convention.
You very cavalierly assessed it as, and I paraphrase, workmanlike and another list of programs. No soaring rhetoric here. Indeed you prove your assertion in this article that "perception and evaluation" are the same thing" You "instant(ly) ordered and interpreted...to fit your own world view.
What I and others heard was a brilliant, thoughtful, hardworking woman, dressed in white, and laying out what she would do to improve the lives of real, actual Americans. In an election such as this, it was music to my ears. No excluding, no insulting, no...blathering.
Mrs. Clinton, by her very being, demeanor and appearance (yes, appearance) transcended the business as usual and unusual of this 2016 campaign.
So again, I invite you to lift your world-weary head and really listen and look.
You very cavalierly assessed it as, and I paraphrase, workmanlike and another list of programs. No soaring rhetoric here. Indeed you prove your assertion in this article that "perception and evaluation" are the same thing" You "instant(ly) ordered and interpreted...to fit your own world view.
What I and others heard was a brilliant, thoughtful, hardworking woman, dressed in white, and laying out what she would do to improve the lives of real, actual Americans. In an election such as this, it was music to my ears. No excluding, no insulting, no...blathering.
Mrs. Clinton, by her very being, demeanor and appearance (yes, appearance) transcended the business as usual and unusual of this 2016 campaign.
So again, I invite you to lift your world-weary head and really listen and look.
6
Frederick Douglass was something that Donald Trump and most of today's GOP are not, a mensch. He was a man when it was hard to be a man of color. He refused to accept his lot in life and made something of himself in spite of the odds against him. People like Paul Ryan, Mitch McConnell, Ted Cruz, Marco Rubio, and yes, Donald Trump have had far more working in their favor all their lives than Frederick Douglass ever had but they, instead of trying to help their fellow citizens, have gone ahead and hurt them.
What Lord Brooks keeps on tiptoeing around are the facts of the last 8 years and how badly the Repellicants have hurt middle and working class Americans of all colors. The Repellicants refused to work with Obama before he took office. They shut down the government. They have promoted social regression, social Darwinism, and looked the other way as our standard of living declined or looked and blamed us for corporate disinterest in investing in Americans and America.
Lord Brooks would do better writing a column on the topic of Repellican suckers because they believe in discredited economic theories that sound great, responsibility as long as it isn't corporate, and welfare that helps their campaign donors rather than their constituents.
What Lord Brooks keeps on tiptoeing around are the facts of the last 8 years and how badly the Repellicants have hurt middle and working class Americans of all colors. The Repellicants refused to work with Obama before he took office. They shut down the government. They have promoted social regression, social Darwinism, and looked the other way as our standard of living declined or looked and blamed us for corporate disinterest in investing in Americans and America.
Lord Brooks would do better writing a column on the topic of Repellican suckers because they believe in discredited economic theories that sound great, responsibility as long as it isn't corporate, and welfare that helps their campaign donors rather than their constituents.
26
Art transcends politics.
17
“In a camp like this, one draws one's menials from a small and brackish pool.”
--- E.B. Farnum on the television series Deadwood.
Look at Trump.
Look at the entire crop of Republican Presidential candidates we’ve had this year. Second or third rate men every one of them.
I am not talking here about successful people. That some of them are.
I am talking here about first rate men or women in the way that Frederick Douglass described self-made men in a famous speech in 1859.
“Self-made men […] are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education; who are what they are, without the aid of any of the favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results.”
We have many such people in this country. It would not be difficult to find them. We should
start looking.
--- E.B. Farnum on the television series Deadwood.
Look at Trump.
Look at the entire crop of Republican Presidential candidates we’ve had this year. Second or third rate men every one of them.
I am not talking here about successful people. That some of them are.
I am talking here about first rate men or women in the way that Frederick Douglass described self-made men in a famous speech in 1859.
“Self-made men […] are the men who owe little or nothing to birth, relationship, friendly surroundings; to wealth inherited or to early approved means of education; who are what they are, without the aid of any of the favoring conditions by which other men usually rise in the world and achieve great results.”
We have many such people in this country. It would not be difficult to find them. We should
start looking.
52
Wonderful, although, A. Stanton, there are exceptions, FDR and Mrs. Roosevelt and the Kennedy Brothers. Granted, common decency gets buried in the privileged, but some transcend it.
2
Brooks' piece is a strong case on the power of art opening new windows to our dark worlds. It helps us see more of what is outside.
However, art alone is not sufficient. We can open as many windows as possible, but without followers, admirers, risk takers looking through them, art is simply a means of self satisfaction.
And, here comes the power. Power of influence, money, and means to take art to the masses. How does a society connects creative minds with influence? If one can solve this, than I can really see a bright future.
Currently, powerful tend to look through the same windows, same approaches, same thoughts. As that's how they come to acquire power. It's a bit of habit change...
However, art alone is not sufficient. We can open as many windows as possible, but without followers, admirers, risk takers looking through them, art is simply a means of self satisfaction.
And, here comes the power. Power of influence, money, and means to take art to the masses. How does a society connects creative minds with influence? If one can solve this, than I can really see a bright future.
Currently, powerful tend to look through the same windows, same approaches, same thoughts. As that's how they come to acquire power. It's a bit of habit change...
6
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
As an artist, I don't understand why you have a need to even ponder the question of what artists should or should not get involved in. I don't understand why you have to see everything through a political lens. I do not understand why coming out with this piece, no doubt an action to chip away at the bigotry the conservativism you've helped create, still comes spouted from on high.
Here's what you will have to do to break out of this prison of stolen authority now wielded by the likes of Trump, but also Ryan, McConnell, Limbaugh, Beck and Riley.
You will have to be a courageous as Mr. Douglass was to face the camera directly as a single, vulnerable human being offering up his physical appearance for others to do with as they will. That is the reason his portraits succeed at every attribute you mention here--
but you fail to do yourself.
Instead, pull from your "unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience, that organize how we scan the world and how we instantly interpret and order what we see." Show us the real David Brooks, rather than the pontificating mouthpiece that calls to mind Toto pulling back the curtain on "The Great and Powerful Oz."
In art, doing so is the bare minimum. I'm infinitely more interested in that David Brooks than the one I see column after column.
As an artist, I don't understand why you have a need to even ponder the question of what artists should or should not get involved in. I don't understand why you have to see everything through a political lens. I do not understand why coming out with this piece, no doubt an action to chip away at the bigotry the conservativism you've helped create, still comes spouted from on high.
Here's what you will have to do to break out of this prison of stolen authority now wielded by the likes of Trump, but also Ryan, McConnell, Limbaugh, Beck and Riley.
You will have to be a courageous as Mr. Douglass was to face the camera directly as a single, vulnerable human being offering up his physical appearance for others to do with as they will. That is the reason his portraits succeed at every attribute you mention here--
but you fail to do yourself.
Instead, pull from your "unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience, that organize how we scan the world and how we instantly interpret and order what we see." Show us the real David Brooks, rather than the pontificating mouthpiece that calls to mind Toto pulling back the curtain on "The Great and Powerful Oz."
In art, doing so is the bare minimum. I'm infinitely more interested in that David Brooks than the one I see column after column.
77
Lol, there is less there than meets the eye.
3
What a wonderful reply. As a fellow artist (classically-trained composer), I completely agree with your comment here. Bravo/a.
7
Thank you for this letter so eloquently calling out David Brooks by asking him to dig deep enough to find the truth in himself. I wish I could recommend your letter twice. I'm also an artist, who has dedicated my life to teaching classical drawing. I find myself so angry and disgusted with Brooks because I always expect better of him. He has the intellect, the education, and every privilege imaginable to do honest social and political analysis. He has a public forum from which to speak yet he squanders it with sentimentality and disingenuousness.
21
Douglass was indeed an artist. For a man of color, at that time in history, to be photographed, and photographed frequently, had meaning far beyond recording his "lionlike gaze" (totally beside the point, actually.) Douglass knew and understood the power and meaning of what he was doing. The photographer(s,) may or may not have understood - they were simply hired to push a button.
3
I don't know any self-respecting artists (and I know a few: painters, dancers, poets, writers, and musicians) who would sit still while David Brooks told them they were "recoding mental maps." The description sounds like: computer science meets neuroscience. The great story of Frederick Douglass and his photographic portraits has more to do with public relations and the skill of portrait photographers than art. It's true that some artists set out with a "mission" for social change. But it never works that way. The process can't be controlled like that, not like it can in the political and corporate worlds of messaging, which does involve explicit goals and is something else entirely.
6
As I read this, I am thinking of the Khans speaking at the Democratic Convention. They are also challenging the image of Muslims as bloodthirsty terrorists and offering the reality of themselves and their dead son as an alternative. It is powerful and those who want us to hate all Muslims would like to somehow keep us from accepting that reality.
39
Fine work overall, but this part made me wince:
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Let me help you out: In addition to wanting to "recode mental maps," many artists are responsible, informed citizens who live on an actual planet.
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Let me help you out: In addition to wanting to "recode mental maps," many artists are responsible, informed citizens who live on an actual planet.
285
Yes, thank you! It has been an interesting process to see Mr. Brooks come to certain realizations about his deteriorating party that were evident to the rest of us for so long.. and for him to take the view that artists should stick to their paintbrushes and violins and not sully themselves with civic action reminds one of the condescension shown towards women who aspired to influence beyond the household... "Why should you want to lose all of your feminine qualities and be more like men, i.e., exhibit unseemly ambition, attain education, speak in public, etc." Mr. Brooks, I applaud your evolution, but seriously, hurry up, man.
3
I am an artist and yes, I winced too.
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Does this even mean anything? Mr. Brooks, do us all a favor and don't write about art, ever.
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
Does this even mean anything? Mr. Brooks, do us all a favor and don't write about art, ever.
4
Brandon...maybe it's not 'fine work overall' after all.
If Brooks can't see why "artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation", there's a good chance he just doesn't understand basic humanity.
If Brooks can't see why "artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation", there's a good chance he just doesn't understand basic humanity.
3
Able to reveal the truth hiding within its subjects, art alters perception as much as it reflects those essential truths and that is why it has been appropriated by those who would seek to use it to obscure the truth by painting a false narrative. The uber example of this is the Nazi's use of cinema as propaganda. And while it seems that over time the truth will out, the intervening pain the misuse of this powerful medium can cause is unbearable. The leonine visage of Frederick Douglas, with its fierceness of gaze, conveys above all the dignity of mankind, and yes, a Black man is a man possessed and worthy of human dignity (a radical concept in the 19th Century), yet pride seems clearly sublimated. Contrast that with say the image of a boastful man in which pride quite literally trumps dignity. There is a reason pride is one of the seven deadly sins while dignity is a virtue. And there is a reason why art and its appreciation is taught in schools. The next time you are tempted to vote for a school budget making cuts to the arts, ask yourself whether you would gouge out your eyes to save money on glasses.
8
G.James writes: " Contrast that with say the image of a boastful man in which pride quite literally trumps dignity."
This, and David Brooks' subject - and for that matter, Mr. Donald Trump - bring to mind Henry James' haunting and timeless short story THE LIAR.
And those Roman busts, those portraits of self-importance.
This, and David Brooks' subject - and for that matter, Mr. Donald Trump - bring to mind Henry James' haunting and timeless short story THE LIAR.
And those Roman busts, those portraits of self-importance.
2
Good luck trying to find artists in any medium that support Trump. And Republicans are notorious for cutting arts funding - after all, it may involve taxes, and the GOP is relentlessly opposed to them. Time to pull the Democratic lever, David.
20
David fiddles while his Republican Rome burns.
11
And, unfortunately, threatens to take the rest of us with them...
2
We forget how important photography was at that time. Anyone who could afford it had their photograph taken to pass on to the future. Before that only portraits
could be painted.
could be painted.
4
Yes, artists can remake the way people view the world. Why, for decades, Dave here has been trying to make the downtrodden look like they are themselves responsible for the ill treatment they suffer at the hands of the likes of Dave.
4
Focus! How a con artist changed the world is most important. A crazy man is threatening our country and Brooks fiddles. Look at Trump's attempt to look dictatorial and weep.
3
This column is a pretty good demonstration of the power of a fine art, photography, and a liberal art -- persuasive argument -- conjoined as one. Brooks hits all the points: Douglass's personal and social history, the rise of a new art and its social utility, a set of interpretations of the photographs that Douglass sat for, a turn in the argument toward the use of artists and artistry in the political world, and, so, a final speculation on the effects of artistic images (and, thus, art) on the social, yet personal, imagination. Brooks had a liberal arts education at the University of Chicago. The piece is not a "measurable outcome" of a liberal education, but the column is witness, I think, to that education's value.
5
It is interesting that the word "stereotype" is used in the article. Also interesting is the fact that the photo shown is for viewing through a steroptican.
3
You write eloquently about the power of art. Thank you for that. It hurts us as a society that it is not truly valued as it should be, but instead is generally seen as just another commodity. The practice of art in any of its forms should be taught as the essential activity that it truly is.
4
Art is powerful, but artists are mostly powerless. Only very few artists manage to make money from their art. Most work menial jobs, and are being pushed out of their studios and homes in places like NYC and DC. Artists in the past could count on jobs at colleges teaching future artists. But, with all the cuts in education and the arts most are left without the means survive. The art of today finds little outlet with a public that has lost interest in the arts as everyone spends too much time trying to find a means of survival. As a voice of the right for many years, you have contributed to this loss of today's artist. They still make their work and make their political statements and contribute deeply to our society and our society gives them very little in return.
15
SB of NY writes "They still make their work and make their political statements and contribute deeply to our society and our society gives them very little in return."
That's one way of looking at it.
Another would be to omit 'and make their political statements' and to end the sentence after 'deeply'.
Work made in the service of commerce looks like what it is: a commodity.
And you can tell by looking whether the subject of a portrait is a soul or a face.
That's one way of looking at it.
Another would be to omit 'and make their political statements' and to end the sentence after 'deeply'.
Work made in the service of commerce looks like what it is: a commodity.
And you can tell by looking whether the subject of a portrait is a soul or a face.
13
Brooks says "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." But he gives us Douglass as an overtly political artist who opposed the partisan belief that blacks were not human. Conservatives see the overthrow of yesterday's conservatism as a victory for common sense and humanity but are unable to view contemporary political struggles through the same lens. They see their opponents as "othering" their views (a sad misunderstanding and misuse of the concept of the Other), as "making everything about race" and otherwise poisoning the well that is the sweet water of the status quo. It's time to remind Brooks and those who are consoled by his self-regarding and wishful world view of another of Frederick Douglass' quotes: "Power concedes nothing without a demand. It never did and it never will."
10
I wonder what today's conservatives would be if they'd been exposed to art. It seems to be what they are missing, that sense of beauty or truth. the kind that takes is beyond ourselves and our pettiness.
Let us hope that more artists get involved in partisanship and legislation. For the rest of us our job is make them look at art and understand it.
Let us hope that more artists get involved in partisanship and legislation. For the rest of us our job is make them look at art and understand it.
7
Interesting piece, but omitting the most obvious connections to our current political divide.
David, you're a very smart guy but you now share with Maureen Dowd this dubious distinction: I read the comments first, as they're more likely to provide context and illumination.
David, you're a very smart guy but you now share with Maureen Dowd this dubious distinction: I read the comments first, as they're more likely to provide context and illumination.
38
Hear, hear!
2
In terms of bringing some definition to the last 30 years I have found that ubiquitous tapestry of dogs engaged in a card game to be most instructive.
2
Let's not be too harsh on ourselves, David. All our lenses are warped in one way or another.
Let's move beyond the reality of the photograph. It worked for Douglas because of who he was. It does not work for everyone, irrespective of race, color, creed and all the other shadings of our differences.
But we can "fool" the eye....what the French artists called "Trompe L'Oeil." It is not demeaning, but creatively uses two dimensions to show us a third....like the color-chalk drawings on a Manhattan sidewalk can look more real than reality itself.
The secret of the "trompe" is to look at the "reality" itself. If it's a black man, see the real man not the black. Look beyond the color. See the eyes. Note the brow, the determination or the love.
Fool your own eyes and your prejudices. Why, it's another human, just like us.
Let's move beyond the reality of the photograph. It worked for Douglas because of who he was. It does not work for everyone, irrespective of race, color, creed and all the other shadings of our differences.
But we can "fool" the eye....what the French artists called "Trompe L'Oeil." It is not demeaning, but creatively uses two dimensions to show us a third....like the color-chalk drawings on a Manhattan sidewalk can look more real than reality itself.
The secret of the "trompe" is to look at the "reality" itself. If it's a black man, see the real man not the black. Look beyond the color. See the eyes. Note the brow, the determination or the love.
Fool your own eyes and your prejudices. Why, it's another human, just like us.
2
Whoa, Mr.Brooks. True that, and then some. Suprematism, Expressionism, Bauhaus School, Paris before the war, and, Chick Austin!
I've been watching that Mr. Robot show of characters who want to change the world with laptops, thanks for this!
I've been watching that Mr. Robot show of characters who want to change the world with laptops, thanks for this!
4
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation."
Artists continually use their art as commentary on what is happening in the world, whether it be war, poverty, religion, politics, and yes, even legislation. Those that use their art to reflect what is happening in the world are usually the most widely recognized and acclaimed because people see in their art a confirmation of what they themselves may attempting to make sense of.
Where would we be without Picasso's Guernica, for example. or Steven Spielberg's film, Schindler's :List. I could go on and on about how art has informed and shaped me and altered in many cases, the way I think about things and that includes politics and legislation. Aren't those two things the very things we should be thinking about right now as we face an election where the wrong choice (Trump) may throw the world into untold chaos?
Artists continually use their art as commentary on what is happening in the world, whether it be war, poverty, religion, politics, and yes, even legislation. Those that use their art to reflect what is happening in the world are usually the most widely recognized and acclaimed because people see in their art a confirmation of what they themselves may attempting to make sense of.
Where would we be without Picasso's Guernica, for example. or Steven Spielberg's film, Schindler's :List. I could go on and on about how art has informed and shaped me and altered in many cases, the way I think about things and that includes politics and legislation. Aren't those two things the very things we should be thinking about right now as we face an election where the wrong choice (Trump) may throw the world into untold chaos?
6
Nice piece. Without artists to create metaphors - a way of experiencing a sense of meaning by reordering the parts, Douglass's meaning was both inside and outside the photograph's frame. Pictures elicit an instant reaction while text and speeches happen over time. Yet, the once the media gets a hold of text it makes it seem like a picture, a snapshot, a soundbite. Language, which used to require time and reflection, has been conquered by the surface interests of media, which is surface language. Trump reacts, without governing himself, not to pictures but to ideas. The artist who lives in order to get people to reflect has been replaced by the image manager. Each subsequent image cancels the one before it. Language isn't supposed to do that to our minds. It's what Nietzsche tried to illustrate as the difference between Art and Propaganda - Wagner being the propaganda end. Amazing how Trump follows the Wagner-Hitler legacy, when compared with what Art can do.
3
It is curious that Mr. Brooks chose to examine photographs taken in the 19th century, when they were limited by the technical requirements of the medium: long exposure times, arduous processing procedures, and clumsy equipment. These photographs, up until almost the turn of the century, were necessarily static and formal; every sitter dressed up for his or her photograph and tried to look their best. Naturally, some people such as Lincoln and Douglass, looked a certain way because they actually were forceful personalities.
It wasn't until the invention of small, fast cameras like the Leica, and the simultaneous advance of printing and magazine distribution that photographs could actually have an effect on the public. Erich Salomon's work, for instance, had an enormous influence on public understanding of political issues in the early years of the 20th century.
It wasn't until the invention of small, fast cameras like the Leica, and the simultaneous advance of printing and magazine distribution that photographs could actually have an effect on the public. Erich Salomon's work, for instance, had an enormous influence on public understanding of political issues in the early years of the 20th century.
2
Mr. Brooks asserts that photographs "...smash through some of the warped lenses through which we've been taught to see." That same media can also warp lenses.
There is little question that photographs are powerful and emotional vehicles. They also lie: http://www.salon.com/2011/08/28/believing_is_seeing/ and http://www.cnet.com/pictures/pictures-that-lie-photos/ . In this age of digital photography and resulting capacity to manipulate the image, to twist the truth, is a major concern for serious photographers: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12021925/Don-McCullin-Digi... .
There is little question that photographs are powerful and emotional vehicles. They also lie: http://www.salon.com/2011/08/28/believing_is_seeing/ and http://www.cnet.com/pictures/pictures-that-lie-photos/ . In this age of digital photography and resulting capacity to manipulate the image, to twist the truth, is a major concern for serious photographers: http://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/celebritynews/12021925/Don-McCullin-Digi... .
2
The headline is right David so far so good. Yeah Dive you wrote something I can applaud.
And Donald Trump undid all of the artist's work.
Artists get involved in partisanship because they are passionate thinkers and feelers. They need outlets for the burning feelings inside. So it isn't a stretch to record a song or paint a portrait and also jump into a rally for social justice. Often, the theme or meaning driving their creative work is an expression of a conflict in society. I know this because I'm an artist.
5
For some reason I am concerned this morning about George Custer being the second most photographed American of the 19th century.
5
Photography definitely influences how the public sees the world. Unfortunately, I do not know if people have the patience to truly look at the world through photography.
2
I have a feeling Mr. Brooks hardly considers contemporary art. Check out Social Practice, Tania Bruguera, the Queens Museum, Thelma Golden's Black Male exhibition, Identity Politics, Gran Fury and the exhibitions on AIDS in America at the Bronx Museum, Leslie-Lohman Museum of Gay Art and the Gay Center right now.
3
Splendid and inspiring. In the passion and weirdness of the election it is easy to think nothing is more important.
David shows us ideas of great import and interest. I will be reading the Aperture piece next.
David shows us ideas of great import and interest. I will be reading the Aperture piece next.
1
Oh artists can change the world alright. I recall there was an aspiring artist from Austria who also wanted to change the world too!!! Unfortunately he wanted to remake the world in his own warped image by making it Judenrein.
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation."
Cliff Avril is a football player, not an artist (although some may disagree). Avril believes that athletes should speak out, not because it is their job but "because of where we come from."
The same could be said of artists. The experience of being an artist allows artists to convey their point of view based on a unique perspective, which becomes the link between art and citizenship. After all, artists are citizens, too.
Cliff Avril is a football player, not an artist (although some may disagree). Avril believes that athletes should speak out, not because it is their job but "because of where we come from."
The same could be said of artists. The experience of being an artist allows artists to convey their point of view based on a unique perspective, which becomes the link between art and citizenship. After all, artists are citizens, too.
4
Of course one of the most powerful roles of photographs in shaping minds is the incredible power newspaper editors have in their selection of photos for news articles
2
What we see and then interpret is never clear. It's like something I just read about why we're in the state that we're in, Clinton v Trump, that uses the moon illusion - why the moon look so much bigger when it is near the horizon, which is, in part a trick of the mind. Our mind is forever playing havoc with what we see - and don't see. But, following Mr. Brooks' argument that artists can change how we perceive something, an artist re-coloring history can do the same, I think. Here's "How We Got Into The Mess We’re In: The Moon Illusion & the Question of Thermonuclear War," which follows the notion of what we see and don't see, and how we might learn to see better, more accurately: https://medium.com/@hectorvila/how-we-got-into-the-mess-were-in-the-moon...
2
Frederick Douglass photos?
Probably the three most impressive subjects of 19th century American photography I've seen are Douglass, Lincoln and General Sherman looking over his shoulder like a wounded eagle expecting treachery. The force of the Douglass photographs are understandable to any white kid, which I was, who loves the blues not to mention who tries to play the blues.
To seriously get into the blues is to quickly understand that you will probably never even approach the singing power of a T-Bone Walker or Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf or Son House or Charley Patton. They were just powerful, dignified, brave men. So you attempt to stick with say, playing the guitar, approximating the blues. But even that is extraordinarily difficult: Just try attempting a slow Muddy Waters Delta/Voodoo Chile type of mood--it has that same slow, profound breathing power you find in the greatest singers.
Ultimately what you find in common in photographs of great humans like Douglass or great music is just courage, dignity, moral force beyond the ordinary. Any person worth anything recognizes this. It makes you wonder if the more courageous you grow the more everything around you suddenly rises to sight, to its correct stature. You begin to see the dignity in all people, all animals, courage of mouse or lion or man. To not have courage is to diminish all in sight. To have courage is the first step in high resolution, quality photograph. To even begin to see a photograph aright.
Probably the three most impressive subjects of 19th century American photography I've seen are Douglass, Lincoln and General Sherman looking over his shoulder like a wounded eagle expecting treachery. The force of the Douglass photographs are understandable to any white kid, which I was, who loves the blues not to mention who tries to play the blues.
To seriously get into the blues is to quickly understand that you will probably never even approach the singing power of a T-Bone Walker or Muddy Waters or Howlin' Wolf or Son House or Charley Patton. They were just powerful, dignified, brave men. So you attempt to stick with say, playing the guitar, approximating the blues. But even that is extraordinarily difficult: Just try attempting a slow Muddy Waters Delta/Voodoo Chile type of mood--it has that same slow, profound breathing power you find in the greatest singers.
Ultimately what you find in common in photographs of great humans like Douglass or great music is just courage, dignity, moral force beyond the ordinary. Any person worth anything recognizes this. It makes you wonder if the more courageous you grow the more everything around you suddenly rises to sight, to its correct stature. You begin to see the dignity in all people, all animals, courage of mouse or lion or man. To not have courage is to diminish all in sight. To have courage is the first step in high resolution, quality photograph. To even begin to see a photograph aright.
4
Of course, David, you've never understood why artists want to get involved in partisanship.
You've got to be an artist to understand how we think.
Just as your party's leader, Trump, doesn't understand how a Muslim could be a patriot and a hero. You've got to be a patriot to understand.
You've got to be an artist to understand how we think.
Just as your party's leader, Trump, doesn't understand how a Muslim could be a patriot and a hero. You've got to be a patriot to understand.
3
Like most of us I understand the power of pictures and photographs. Certainly Frederick Douglas used powerful symbolism to change the minds and the hearts of white Americans in the 19th century. Shaped in evolution over millions of years we are visual creatures and one picture can say more than a thousand words. They manipulate us subconsciously bypassing our cognitive and rational neural gate keepers. Depending on the intentions of the photographer or the imaged subject it can promote truth or deception. But where is the art and where is the artist? Photography in this example is the medium of expression but not so much in an artistic but in a political way. The photos are visual op-Ed pieces, not art, powerful and admirable nonetheless.
3
Very thoughtful article, but it seems more than a bit myopic to question why artists should choose to get involved with politics. How does ones occupation free them from their civic responsibility of active political participation?
David himself is a kind of artist that is involved in writing partisan articles while also penning pieces like this one that are geared at non-partisan conscious raising. Should he stick to the latter because political commentary is a waste of his greatest power?
Artists who have fame are in an unusual position of power to draw attention to issues they care about. Using that power, sometimes at the expense of their careers (as with the Dixie Chicks), is a testament to their patriotism.
David himself is a kind of artist that is involved in writing partisan articles while also penning pieces like this one that are geared at non-partisan conscious raising. Should he stick to the latter because political commentary is a waste of his greatest power?
Artists who have fame are in an unusual position of power to draw attention to issues they care about. Using that power, sometimes at the expense of their careers (as with the Dixie Chicks), is a testament to their patriotism.
5
Would you call Jon Stewart and Stephen Colbert artists? They use the spoken word and combine it with images and often add a good dose of humor and satire. They did change the world map for me. And I suspect for many others as well.
Isn't that "getting involved" in issues? Maybe even partisan issues? Isn't that a way "to recode the mental maps people project into the real world?"
Yes, artists, especially the good ones, do get involved, want to get involved and actively try to nudge society on to a better track.
Isn't that "getting involved" in issues? Maybe even partisan issues? Isn't that a way "to recode the mental maps people project into the real world?"
Yes, artists, especially the good ones, do get involved, want to get involved and actively try to nudge society on to a better track.
4
As an Artist and Environmentalist, I strongly agree that Artists can change the World. Artists, Architects and designers have designed the world that we live in, just look around your home/ town/city. Musicians, writers, film makers have given us much of the content in our world, all there on your TV, cell phone, computer. Fashion designers have made everything you wear, writers have influenced everything you dream of from romance on.
If the cultural community got together to redesign our culture in favor of an Environmentally sustainable culture, they could save the Planet. They have designed our world and they can redesign it.
If the cultural community got together to redesign our culture in favor of an Environmentally sustainable culture, they could save the Planet. They have designed our world and they can redesign it.
3
Photos and paintings record history, whereas the political creators of that often wretched history generally slink off and hide instead of standing up like those photos of history and admit truthfully that "yes, it was I who created hell on earth under a waving national flag".
We have the iconic 1972 Pulitzer Prize photo of Phan Thị Kim Phúc from the Vietnam War, the nine-year-old girl running naked on a road after being burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack, a tribute to America's mindless and violent 'exceptionalism'.
That's how we remember Vietnam.
Before that, we had more ghastly photos of America's violent 'exceptionalism' in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ingraining the reality of a nuclear horror show in the international psyche.
That's how we remember the end of World War II, except for those who prefer the V-J Day in Times Square photo of an American sailor smooching a woman in a white dress on 'Victory over Japan Day' a few days after America dropped its atom bombs in Japan.
In 1963, we had the Zapruder film video, incontrovertible evidence of the organized assassination of America's President.
More 'exceptional' American violence, ultimately sponsored by our very own government.
Interestingly, the Iraq War lacked certain photographs of the many dead American soldiers thanks to a photo ban by George W. Bush (that was lifted by President Obama).
Now George W. Bush paints watercolors in Texas...trying to erase the Iraq photos in his feeble mind.
We have the iconic 1972 Pulitzer Prize photo of Phan Thị Kim Phúc from the Vietnam War, the nine-year-old girl running naked on a road after being burned on her back by a South Vietnamese napalm attack, a tribute to America's mindless and violent 'exceptionalism'.
That's how we remember Vietnam.
Before that, we had more ghastly photos of America's violent 'exceptionalism' in Hiroshima and Nagasaki, ingraining the reality of a nuclear horror show in the international psyche.
That's how we remember the end of World War II, except for those who prefer the V-J Day in Times Square photo of an American sailor smooching a woman in a white dress on 'Victory over Japan Day' a few days after America dropped its atom bombs in Japan.
In 1963, we had the Zapruder film video, incontrovertible evidence of the organized assassination of America's President.
More 'exceptional' American violence, ultimately sponsored by our very own government.
Interestingly, the Iraq War lacked certain photographs of the many dead American soldiers thanks to a photo ban by George W. Bush (that was lifted by President Obama).
Now George W. Bush paints watercolors in Texas...trying to erase the Iraq photos in his feeble mind.
162
Much of the fuel for the Civil War was over whether the new territories would be settled as slave states. Mr. Douglas's portraits hold himself up as the example of a person, not a commodity to be haggled over bought and sold and degraded to suit one's own interests. The stark contrast of Trump's treatment of Mr. and Mrs, Khan, not to mention the memory of their son shows not just Trump's own desire to treating one person as a commodity but reveal's the republican party's desire to do the same, to Blacks but to Muslims and immigrants, to the poor and most importantly, to those who work no matter their citizenship, heritage or creed. Is that not what their most important goal, to tax and extract from others but not themselves means? Could it mean anything other than the gradual, incremental enslavement of anyone they can gain leverage over?
In it's most bald capitulation, that IS what the republican platform has become, the party that wants to enslave anyone it can get away with.
In it's most bald capitulation, that IS what the republican platform has become, the party that wants to enslave anyone it can get away with.
4
It’s an interesting statement about how we’ve evolved as a people from a population that died young from infant mortality from various causes, childbirth, malnutrition, backbreaking labor and rampant disease … to one where we have sufficient leisure and comfort to research and write then read a book entitled “Picturing Frederick Douglass”.
Just saying.
I’ve suggested more than once in this forum that it was time for another Mt. Rushmore frieze to catch us up; and that while we should focus on twentieth-century Americans we might go back to the nineteenth to catch one we obviously missed on the first go: Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was exceptional for many reasons, but particularly for the reason to which David alludes today: he not only was a strident and effective activist advocate for a worthy cause, he also understood that to permanently change a reality you needed to evolve the filters through which people saw reality.
You look at that face and you can’t help realizing what a strong centerpiece it would make for a new Mt. Rushmore series.
Just saying.
I’ve suggested more than once in this forum that it was time for another Mt. Rushmore frieze to catch us up; and that while we should focus on twentieth-century Americans we might go back to the nineteenth to catch one we obviously missed on the first go: Frederick Douglass.
Douglass was exceptional for many reasons, but particularly for the reason to which David alludes today: he not only was a strident and effective activist advocate for a worthy cause, he also understood that to permanently change a reality you needed to evolve the filters through which people saw reality.
You look at that face and you can’t help realizing what a strong centerpiece it would make for a new Mt. Rushmore series.
13
Great idea, Richard. And I'm quite sure that many in your Republican Party would be thrilled with the proposal.
4
Jeffrey:
Try to get beyond your unreasoning hatred of people with whom you disagree on basic convictions: you might find that a LOT of Republicans would agree with me. It wasn't YOUR party that ended slavery in America.
Try to get beyond your unreasoning hatred of people with whom you disagree on basic convictions: you might find that a LOT of Republicans would agree with me. It wasn't YOUR party that ended slavery in America.
Richard, I think it's not "unreasoning hatred" to observe that a number of Republican led states have been making a furious effort to disenfranchise their black citizens. The moral bankruptcy of your current Republican Party requires you do go back 150 years to find some nobility.
3
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world."
The reason artists should get involved is because everything is political.
Why shouldn't Amy Schumer speak out when audience members are murdered in a theater trying to watch her movie? Why shouldn't LeBron James (he's an artist too) threaten to fire his manager if the manager condones Justin Bieber performing at the RNC? Why shouldn't Neil Young, the Stones and countless other musicians threaten to sue Donald Trump, publicly, if he uses any of their music?
Why shouldn't the widow of Luciano Pavarotti write a letter asking the Trump campaign to stop playing, “Nessun Dorma,” one of her late husband’s most famous songs, at its events.
“We learned today that the aria ‘Nessun dorma’ performed by Luciano Pavarotti is being used [on] the Donald Trump campaign soundtrack,” Nicoletta Mantovani wrote in a letter, NBC News reported.
“We remind you that the values of brotherhood and solidarity that Luciano Pavarotti upheld throughout his artistic career are incompatible with the world vision of the candidate Donald Trump,” the letter said.
We are all citizens. It is our duty, our moral obligation, to participate in any and every way we can in the political process. By doing so, we recode the mental maps people project into the world.
The reason artists should get involved is because everything is political.
Why shouldn't Amy Schumer speak out when audience members are murdered in a theater trying to watch her movie? Why shouldn't LeBron James (he's an artist too) threaten to fire his manager if the manager condones Justin Bieber performing at the RNC? Why shouldn't Neil Young, the Stones and countless other musicians threaten to sue Donald Trump, publicly, if he uses any of their music?
Why shouldn't the widow of Luciano Pavarotti write a letter asking the Trump campaign to stop playing, “Nessun Dorma,” one of her late husband’s most famous songs, at its events.
“We learned today that the aria ‘Nessun dorma’ performed by Luciano Pavarotti is being used [on] the Donald Trump campaign soundtrack,” Nicoletta Mantovani wrote in a letter, NBC News reported.
“We remind you that the values of brotherhood and solidarity that Luciano Pavarotti upheld throughout his artistic career are incompatible with the world vision of the candidate Donald Trump,” the letter said.
We are all citizens. It is our duty, our moral obligation, to participate in any and every way we can in the political process. By doing so, we recode the mental maps people project into the world.
93
"We carry around unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience, that organize how we scan the world and how we instantly interpret and order what we see."
Right. As I read I found myself wondering about the influence or lack of it held within the abstract art of the last century. A tour though contemporary galleries turns up canvasses covered with carefully painted lines or splattered with paint tossed on them by a flicked brush. While such art may teach folks to 'see' in a new way (as did the Impressionists in the late 19th century), they have lost the function of social re-imagining of which you speak. Like Douglass, the African-American painter, Archibald Motley shows audiences, perhaps especially white audiences, the vibrant African-American club scene of the 1930s. For those who think most blacks live/lived poor rural or ghetto lives, the bright paintings of well-dressed folks dancing and enjoying themselves presents an entirely new perspective.
Interestingly, it is not just in the visual arts that what we perceive is shaped by experience, social location, and background. Any preacher knows that that is also true of listening. As the author Thomas Troeger wrote, "The sermon the people in the pews hear is the sermon they preach to themselves around the sermon the preacher preaches." We filter what we see and what we hear through all of who we are at any moment.
Right. As I read I found myself wondering about the influence or lack of it held within the abstract art of the last century. A tour though contemporary galleries turns up canvasses covered with carefully painted lines or splattered with paint tossed on them by a flicked brush. While such art may teach folks to 'see' in a new way (as did the Impressionists in the late 19th century), they have lost the function of social re-imagining of which you speak. Like Douglass, the African-American painter, Archibald Motley shows audiences, perhaps especially white audiences, the vibrant African-American club scene of the 1930s. For those who think most blacks live/lived poor rural or ghetto lives, the bright paintings of well-dressed folks dancing and enjoying themselves presents an entirely new perspective.
Interestingly, it is not just in the visual arts that what we perceive is shaped by experience, social location, and background. Any preacher knows that that is also true of listening. As the author Thomas Troeger wrote, "The sermon the people in the pews hear is the sermon they preach to themselves around the sermon the preacher preaches." We filter what we see and what we hear through all of who we are at any moment.
4
Art is in service of itself................It goes where it must.....
and great art comes from artists whose "core"is free to pursue it......
What is true, genuine, and authentic in any century or"style" will be sustained over time...... It is as true at it's birth as it might become over time,
and its scope is undefined and limitless.
and great art comes from artists whose "core"is free to pursue it......
What is true, genuine, and authentic in any century or"style" will be sustained over time...... It is as true at it's birth as it might become over time,
and its scope is undefined and limitless.
2
Brooks says:
" I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world. "
We've always thought artists get involved in partisanship and legislation to prevent the codifying of stereotypes and tropes, with stereotypes and tropes being what most artists explore in their works.
Artists understand that stamping out stereotypes and tropes can take untold decades and generations, and very often they can point to the freedoms our Founders placed in our nation's seminal documents - the most Liberal and revolutionary of treatises - to support their works.
Even so, the stereotypes and tropes constantly raise their heads anew, and the never-ending battle of engaging in partisanship and legislation must again be entered to protect artists from the powerful who encroach on those freedoms/rights every time Liberals and Progressives turn their backs for a split-second.
" I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation. The real power lies in the ability to recode the mental maps people project into the world. "
We've always thought artists get involved in partisanship and legislation to prevent the codifying of stereotypes and tropes, with stereotypes and tropes being what most artists explore in their works.
Artists understand that stamping out stereotypes and tropes can take untold decades and generations, and very often they can point to the freedoms our Founders placed in our nation's seminal documents - the most Liberal and revolutionary of treatises - to support their works.
Even so, the stereotypes and tropes constantly raise their heads anew, and the never-ending battle of engaging in partisanship and legislation must again be entered to protect artists from the powerful who encroach on those freedoms/rights every time Liberals and Progressives turn their backs for a split-second.
5
Mr. Brooks understands an important aspect of art, which has been used for political purposes from at least the time of Aristophanes but he dismisses an artist's involvement in politics and partisanship. Think of Lysistrata. Think of Upton Sinclair's The Jungle or Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath. Of course those writers were describing the human condition but clearly they had a desired outcome: the improvement of humanity., a goal that could not be accomplished by the individual. There should be no reason why an artist should avoid politics and partisanship to advance his world view. Art can be so powerful that it is subject to censorship by the establishment. Perhaps Mr. Brooks fears the power of art and of the artist Surely, involvement in politics and partisanship does not demean the artist.
Incidentally, the illustration is a stereo photograph. Even without a stereo viewer, one can get a three dimensional view of Douglasss. Look directly at the center of the photograph from a distance of five to seven inches and try to merge the images. One might see three images but the central one will be in three dimensions.
Incidentally, the illustration is a stereo photograph. Even without a stereo viewer, one can get a three dimensional view of Douglasss. Look directly at the center of the photograph from a distance of five to seven inches and try to merge the images. One might see three images but the central one will be in three dimensions.
39
Or maybe Mr. Brooks should think of "It Can't Happen here" by Sinclair Lewis, read it, and then endorse Climton.
3
Arthur, I would add to your examples Charles Dickens, Mark Twain in "Huck Finn," Joseph Heller, Fyodor Dostoyevsky, Sean O'Casey, and Émile Zola, all among my favorites, and David Thoreau. And there must be many, many others.
2
She was beautiful at an elderly age, a famous American sculptor, I went to visit her on an errand, her small brownstone hidden behind a movie theater in mid-town Manhattan. Rumor had it that she had been one of Picasso's mistresses but I had forgotten, too young to wonder.
On the wall of her living-room, I stood and looked at some black and white prints, and turned to look at her with an inquisitive eye and this is how I first saw 'Guernica', the most powerful work on War of one of the most celebrated names in the world.
This early morning, taking a pause to remember Norman Rockwell and his portrait of America, some of us feel nostalgic about other times. He was to take up his paint brush after WWII and give some of us a view of liberties that had been fought for. I believe there is a portrait of his in The White House.
On the wall of her living-room, I stood and looked at some black and white prints, and turned to look at her with an inquisitive eye and this is how I first saw 'Guernica', the most powerful work on War of one of the most celebrated names in the world.
This early morning, taking a pause to remember Norman Rockwell and his portrait of America, some of us feel nostalgic about other times. He was to take up his paint brush after WWII and give some of us a view of liberties that had been fought for. I believe there is a portrait of his in The White House.
18
This is a good piece. Unfortunately it will not be read by those who need it most, and if read by them will not be understood. Think of the powerful photos on newsstands in both Life and Look, let alone Newsweek and Time. How much did they go towards ending say, Vietnam? Honestly not much given the length after the photos hit the news stands. Power and greed rarely cede, even when confronted with the truth in black and white (and sometimes color) Power and greed perceive art as nothing more than a useful tool to entertain the rubes. That is why they have all the "artists" at their mega excesses. Furthermore power and greed tends to use the power of art without permission: Springsteen by Raygun, Heart by Palin, Rage by Paul "Eddie Munster" Ryan to name a few. And artists get used through their lack of understanding: Mirah Carey and Elton John are two very good examples. My point, once they make it, an artist is pretty much through with effecting social change, they enter into a world of prostitution, back to John again. My point, was my original one. Those who should read it won't.
25
Paul: True in its fashion. But I would counter your comment with a cut-n-paste observation David notes of Gates:
"This is where artists make their mark, by implanting pictures in the underwater processing that is upstream from conscious cognition. "
The key aspect in the above? Upstream from conscious cognition. The artist may have an intent; but must set it free to float on that stream from its source (the artist) to the viewer.....or rather, the perceiver. If it reaches its target in any sort of intended (or otherwise) fashion it does so by, using modern day parlance, becoming a meme to the target audience. It then goes viral and the rest can be history. The means of transmission is incidental to, and does not really subvert, the nature of the message though the interpretation is singular and personal in its character. That is the communicative power of all art. It is why all political, and business (too), institutions strive so mightily to co-opt it wherever possible. They never realize they're trying to carry water in a sieve.
"This is where artists make their mark, by implanting pictures in the underwater processing that is upstream from conscious cognition. "
The key aspect in the above? Upstream from conscious cognition. The artist may have an intent; but must set it free to float on that stream from its source (the artist) to the viewer.....or rather, the perceiver. If it reaches its target in any sort of intended (or otherwise) fashion it does so by, using modern day parlance, becoming a meme to the target audience. It then goes viral and the rest can be history. The means of transmission is incidental to, and does not really subvert, the nature of the message though the interpretation is singular and personal in its character. That is the communicative power of all art. It is why all political, and business (too), institutions strive so mightily to co-opt it wherever possible. They never realize they're trying to carry water in a sieve.
3
He is eighty now, this tall giant of a man, an American and staunch Republican, depressed. He cannot read because he had trouble learning at school, something to do with his vision. I listen to him carefully. He continues to build houses and tells me not to trust anyone. He cannot understand why I have not unpacked my belongings to settle away from the City. 'Can you build some book shelves for my collection?', I ask, because it is Life on Paper here in my world.
He is looking now at 'Photo Nomad' by Dvid Douglas Duncan, photographic memories of Kansas City to Everywhere, one of a Marine in Korea. The author asked him (age unknown), teenager or grandfather, the Question idiotic or sacrilegious under normal circumstances quite normal there.
IF
I were God
What would you want for Christmas? His answer took almost forever. "Give me Tomorrow".
He is looking now at 'Photo Nomad' by Dvid Douglas Duncan, photographic memories of Kansas City to Everywhere, one of a Marine in Korea. The author asked him (age unknown), teenager or grandfather, the Question idiotic or sacrilegious under normal circumstances quite normal there.
IF
I were God
What would you want for Christmas? His answer took almost forever. "Give me Tomorrow".
3
Paul, if "those who need it most" read this piece they would:
- most likely not grasp it
- grasp it but, lacking moral compass and empathy, ignore it
- grasp it but cringe that they are handcuffed by their PAC masters and the NRA.
- most likely not grasp it
- grasp it but, lacking moral compass and empathy, ignore it
- grasp it but cringe that they are handcuffed by their PAC masters and the NRA.
5
Art and politics is most obviously seen intertwined in public monuments. The monuments are powerful artistic expressions of values, attitudes, and ideas. Political power determines which get displayed and where. Douglas's creative expression, through control and presentation of his own persona, was an art. Whether anyone (and who) saw it was a product of politics, his and others. Sometimes artists have to get in front of their art and thrust it into the political arena when others won't. Other times they can simply wait for others to display their art. Of course, sometimes what is thrust is not art but simply propaganda. The tension between the two is what is most fascinating. Advertising, political as well as commercial, is mostly propaganda manipulating art. And cutting off funds from art education and from support of contemporary artists is a political way of controlling art.
57
I hate to interrupt Mr. Brooks misty ruminations, or question his faux sociology, but if the GOP nominee for president, enabled and supported almost universally by Republicans, is any indication, art affects very little.
40
I think the "art" that applies in this instance is reality TV and celebrity obsession-driven media.
1
I can think of a few imprints I would like to leave on a few mental maps!
6
Artist are public intellectuals of sorts and we have our weapons, including satire, to display the essentials of the matter at hand. Here's one version.
http://bennicholson.com/The-Humpty-Trump-and-Bill-Hillary-Rally.html
http://bennicholson.com/The-Humpty-Trump-and-Bill-Hillary-Rally.html
3
Everyone is involved in politics, whether they know it or not. They either are an unconscious example used by others to make an argument, or they consciously set an example to influence and change the thinking of others.
Frederick Douglass used everything about himself to change the perception by others of what an African-American was, and his physical appearance -- evolving and maturing, but always proud and dignified – was an important weapon in the Douglass arsenal.
Douglass made it clear by his actions, words and appearance that he was anything but one of the hapless and dependent black men populating the mind’s eye of white Americans. As David Brooks or Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it, Douglass shattered the notion that the continuation of slavery was “so inevitable.”
Frederick Douglass accomplished much in changing peoples’ minds for the better. We have seen, of course, the use of art, including photography, to influence politics for horrible purposes. It continues today.
Frederick Douglass used everything about himself to change the perception by others of what an African-American was, and his physical appearance -- evolving and maturing, but always proud and dignified – was an important weapon in the Douglass arsenal.
Douglass made it clear by his actions, words and appearance that he was anything but one of the hapless and dependent black men populating the mind’s eye of white Americans. As David Brooks or Henry Louis Gates Jr. puts it, Douglass shattered the notion that the continuation of slavery was “so inevitable.”
Frederick Douglass accomplished much in changing peoples’ minds for the better. We have seen, of course, the use of art, including photography, to influence politics for horrible purposes. It continues today.
14
Artists do not change anything but the way people either see things, or understand things about themselves through the intense personal expression demanded of the artists.
Discipline exudes from any structured expression; knowledge of the vernacular in all the arts aid the communication.
Art is essential; a collector once told me, "If there were no artists, the world would be battleship gray!" He was correct.
So, do we change the world? Or do we help others to open their eyes and senses to what may require change, both without and within.
Discipline exudes from any structured expression; knowledge of the vernacular in all the arts aid the communication.
Art is essential; a collector once told me, "If there were no artists, the world would be battleship gray!" He was correct.
So, do we change the world? Or do we help others to open their eyes and senses to what may require change, both without and within.
7
David writes "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." In a nation where censorship is a long, cruel tradition and freedom of expression is something artists buy at great personal cost, David's inability to understand reveals why artists need legislation to protect them -- and enable their work to reach an audience.
Censortship is American apple pie: "The Grapes of Wrath", The Catcher in The Rye", "The Naked and The Dead", "Howl", "Leaves of Grass", Invisible Man", Southern school texts to this day? Artists need an audience. Pictures need display. Politics often persecutes unsettling artists and writers. They need support or no one sees their powerful visions of what is and what should be.
They need students that segregationists refused them, McCarthy took away,
Agnew derided, and clerics condemned. They need political expression.
Isn't it essential to welcome art and artists no matter what their presence seems to threaten? Ask the Hollywood 10. Ask the graffiti artists. Ask the Federal Artists and Writers from the FDR years.
My wonderful, well-respected Central High School in Philadelphia was filled with paintings -- but none were controversial, none by outliers, none by non-whites. Today, that school is still filled with art but, oh boy, every minority and gender has freedom of display. Hooray and yummy. Without freedom, artists tend to reflect the status quo -- or starve to death, and we all suffer.
Censortship is American apple pie: "The Grapes of Wrath", The Catcher in The Rye", "The Naked and The Dead", "Howl", "Leaves of Grass", Invisible Man", Southern school texts to this day? Artists need an audience. Pictures need display. Politics often persecutes unsettling artists and writers. They need support or no one sees their powerful visions of what is and what should be.
They need students that segregationists refused them, McCarthy took away,
Agnew derided, and clerics condemned. They need political expression.
Isn't it essential to welcome art and artists no matter what their presence seems to threaten? Ask the Hollywood 10. Ask the graffiti artists. Ask the Federal Artists and Writers from the FDR years.
My wonderful, well-respected Central High School in Philadelphia was filled with paintings -- but none were controversial, none by outliers, none by non-whites. Today, that school is still filled with art but, oh boy, every minority and gender has freedom of display. Hooray and yummy. Without freedom, artists tend to reflect the status quo -- or starve to death, and we all suffer.
291
All of the titles mentioned--from Leaves of Grass to Howl--are widely available, regularly taught in college and high school classrooms, and recognized as literary classics. How are they evidence of censorship? Isn't this an example of getting carried away with self-righteousness--also as American as apple pie?
2
Ah yes, Book Review Tuesday for David. Nice touch on the Black Portraits Matter theme.
But guess there's nothing important enough going on in Republican politics today to occupy David's attention.
There is an NYT Editorial challenging down ticket Republicans to disavow Trump formally, you know, unendorse him. But that's not something David would want to dirty his hands over.
But guess there's nothing important enough going on in Republican politics today to occupy David's attention.
There is an NYT Editorial challenging down ticket Republicans to disavow Trump formally, you know, unendorse him. But that's not something David would want to dirty his hands over.
124
Every photograph contains a visual rhetoric whose message can be a powerful educational tool..For example exposing students to Gordon Parks iconic photograph of Ella Watson, "American Gothic", Dorothea Lange's of Florence Thompson, "Migrant Mother", or directing them them to the starkly brutal photographs of lynchings at the website "Without Sanctuary", and then asking them to briefly describe what they imagined the life of the subject to be, was a really effective method in helping to develop empathy,perspective, and critical thinking skills.
21
The people who created the appearance that climate change is nothing to worry about, or who claim that guns make us safer and their availability has nothing to do with suicide or the rate of lethal accidents, or who peddled the notion that Obama is a Kenyan -- are they artists changing the world? "Gone With the Wind" helped change the world, paradoxically by helping to freeze a world that needed to change.
17
But all of these are in the eye of the beholder. As a young teen reading my mother's favorite book, Gone With the Wind, I was introduced to the reality of rape that is depicted with no softening and was all the more powerful since it had not been in the movie I'd seen before reading it. The same can be said for the work of Ayn Rand, monument to some but to most others is nothing less than pornography of thought. It's not the object but the relationship of the object to the perceiver where art does it's most powerful work.
2
The one thing that comes through all of the photographs of Frederick Douglass I’ve ever seen is dignity. It seems to be part of his character that is so powerful it leaves a trace on the photographic plate. It may be all the more striking because you rarely see it these days, particularly in the political arena.
It’s not because the technology has moved on. Modern cameras are just as receptive to strength and dignity as were the ones in Douglass’ time, but they’re often not focused on it. On the occasions when it does happen, it can be jarring.
One recent example occurred at the Democratic National Convention. After several rousing but ordinary convention speeches, Khizr Khan and his wife took the podium. They did something that no one has been able to during this entire election season.
With quiet dignity and few words, there were able to pierce the armor of ignorance, deceit and disdain that has protected Donald Trump from criticism.
Trump responded to Mr. Khan’s story of pain and the sacrifice of his son with a claim that money and business success entailed sacrifice as well. Although Mrs. Khan’s silence spoke volumes, Trump criticized her for saying nothing.
Our would-be emperor was revealed to have no clothes. The dignity gap created by the wrath of Khan was a chasm that swallowed Donald Trump and his entire sham of a campaign.
It’s not because the technology has moved on. Modern cameras are just as receptive to strength and dignity as were the ones in Douglass’ time, but they’re often not focused on it. On the occasions when it does happen, it can be jarring.
One recent example occurred at the Democratic National Convention. After several rousing but ordinary convention speeches, Khizr Khan and his wife took the podium. They did something that no one has been able to during this entire election season.
With quiet dignity and few words, there were able to pierce the armor of ignorance, deceit and disdain that has protected Donald Trump from criticism.
Trump responded to Mr. Khan’s story of pain and the sacrifice of his son with a claim that money and business success entailed sacrifice as well. Although Mrs. Khan’s silence spoke volumes, Trump criticized her for saying nothing.
Our would-be emperor was revealed to have no clothes. The dignity gap created by the wrath of Khan was a chasm that swallowed Donald Trump and his entire sham of a campaign.
310
But one white artist named D.W. Griffith with one moving pictures black and white film entitled "Birth of a Nation" emasculated and dehumanized the likes of Frederick Douglass for generations to come. Along with decades of black faced and black minstrelsy that denied that blacks lives mattered equally and divinely with certain unalienable rights.
1
"I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation."
Probably for exactly the same reasons that everyone else wants to get involved in partisanship and legislation, David.
Probably for exactly the same reasons that everyone else wants to get involved in partisanship and legislation, David.
175
Art can never change anyone's mind. That's not its job. But art can change one's spirit, one's point of view. From there the mind will follow.
Of all human endeavor, only one can really justify the existence of the selfish, feeble, naked, apes who roam the world destroying everything in our path: Art is the redemption of the human race.
As a lover of science and learning, I accept that that what science can do is limited to what exists. Politics can teach us how to behave. And business, well, Jesus never threw the abstract expressionists out of the Temple.
A true work of art is its own universe. As we say, ‘It has a life of its own’. We need to remember that when we think of Frederick Douglass, and his legacy. We need to remember Robeson, Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Baldwin, Nina Simone, and a thousand others because without the contribution of these incredibly brave and creative people, both before and after emancipation, Donald Trump would be lucky to get a job washing out other peoples socks.
Of all human endeavor, only one can really justify the existence of the selfish, feeble, naked, apes who roam the world destroying everything in our path: Art is the redemption of the human race.
As a lover of science and learning, I accept that that what science can do is limited to what exists. Politics can teach us how to behave. And business, well, Jesus never threw the abstract expressionists out of the Temple.
A true work of art is its own universe. As we say, ‘It has a life of its own’. We need to remember that when we think of Frederick Douglass, and his legacy. We need to remember Robeson, Armstrong, Bessie Smith, Billie Holliday, Baldwin, Nina Simone, and a thousand others because without the contribution of these incredibly brave and creative people, both before and after emancipation, Donald Trump would be lucky to get a job washing out other peoples socks.
43
Too bad the civil rights establishment is so hostile to Douglass's message of self-responsibility...
4
Racist innuendo without substance. Please cite individuals of "the civil rights establishment" who express hostility to Frederick Douglass and his message.
6
Who says we deny self-responsibility? Come on, lift your head out of those trashy stereotypes.
6
This article causes me to contrast the depth of the Douglas portraits and the shallow two dimensional silhouettes of another noteworthy African American in his presidential campaign for hope. Day and night.
3
re: "I never understand why artists want to get involved in partisanship and legislation." David, are you suggesting that the Douglass photographs were not partisan? A central issue of the Civil War was whether African-Americans could be considered fully human in the light of the law. To humanize an African-American, as the Douglass photographs did, was an act of extreme partisanship, and a good thing it was.
133
Mr. Brooks, you surprise me and, by saying that, perhaps my own biases are showing. It's my experience that Americans, on the whole, see people of color as a forest, the trees unworthy of a sustained effort, the reverse of the "underwater processing [undermined by] "conscious cognition."
Other portraits of African-American citizens (chosen below at random) are easily recalled to this person's mind: Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, E. Franklin Frazier, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, Barack Obama. What would guess that white Americans might in these faces?
Artists complete their life's work at the canvas; poring over a musical score; re-drawing blueprints for a building. Richard Wagner was notorious for his wrong-headedness in Germany's politics between 1848 and his death in 1883. Bismarck notably snubbed the great composer and dismissed him with a barbed insult.
Your "unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience," hold the key to this puzzle of "how to see." Alas, we see, very clearly as present-day American politics makes painfully clear, that we still judge "the other" by what we have learned and know. The greatest effort imaginable is required for an individual to willingly overturn the teachings or observations built into the psyche and invalidate them because to do so would necessarily invite the next logical step: "I was wrong."
How many Americans are willing to swim against that current?
Other portraits of African-American citizens (chosen below at random) are easily recalled to this person's mind: Mary McLeod Bethune, Sojourner Truth, Harriet Tubman, E. Franklin Frazier, Jackie Robinson, Martin Luther King, Muhammad Ali, Colin Powell, Barack Obama. What would guess that white Americans might in these faces?
Artists complete their life's work at the canvas; poring over a musical score; re-drawing blueprints for a building. Richard Wagner was notorious for his wrong-headedness in Germany's politics between 1848 and his death in 1883. Bismarck notably snubbed the great composer and dismissed him with a barbed insult.
Your "unconscious mental maps, built by nature and experience," hold the key to this puzzle of "how to see." Alas, we see, very clearly as present-day American politics makes painfully clear, that we still judge "the other" by what we have learned and know. The greatest effort imaginable is required for an individual to willingly overturn the teachings or observations built into the psyche and invalidate them because to do so would necessarily invite the next logical step: "I was wrong."
How many Americans are willing to swim against that current?
6
Seriously, this is what you're writing about?
75
David, you have framed (in a very well-crafted column) both the image & the prose of Douglass (whose first autobiography, written before the Civil War, is an American masterpiece of prose).
When you use your bully pulpit to re-focus our attention on a single man (& let us know, as who did, that he is more depicted in photography than Lincoln?) ... you do us all a singular service.
When you use your bully pulpit to re-focus our attention on a single man (& let us know, as who did, that he is more depicted in photography than Lincoln?) ... you do us all a singular service.
8
Political giants have certainly used media to advance a cause; however, David, you're stretching a single fact and creating a negative generalization (attempting to shape my thinking?). Shakespeare had a far larger lens to view the relationship of art and the effect of art on "the political world": Hamlet say, " Good my lord, will you see the players well bestowed? Do you hear, let them be well used, for they are the abstract and brief chronicles of the time. After your death you were better have a bad epitaph than their ill report while you live."
Listen and absorb David; have an open mind and gain a better understanding of the popular culture David... for the artist and their art , "abstract and ....chronicle" and contextualize our contemporary lives... political and otherwise.
Listen and absorb David; have an open mind and gain a better understanding of the popular culture David... for the artist and their art , "abstract and ....chronicle" and contextualize our contemporary lives... political and otherwise.
11
My cousin is an associate professor of art history. She moved to the middle east and teaches in Qatar. She is passionate about how artists hold up the mirror to history in hopes of pointing the enlightened direction. The Hebrew Psalms are such beautiful songs and poetry about the history of Israel, the tragic loss of faith; and the saving power of it. The power of music transcends language barriers, speaking to the heart of humanity. Why do artists hold up a mirror to reflect where our social path is heading? It is hard to imagine anyone wondering why. The real question is, why don't more of those hired to take leadership roles try to use their platform to inspire and speak to the heart of division, speak to where true solutions are born. King David used the Psalms to grieve and to heal, to express faith and courage, and regret. Too bad our leaders don't come together and sing a song in unison, in humility express regret over mistakes, and express gratefulness for new ideas. Mr. Trump is seeking to be hired at a business he has no respect for. As a boss, he would never hire someone that smeared his business, insulted his other employees, and wasn't a team player. Yet he is asking his fellow citizens to hire him, while smearing the very institutions and fellow politicians that were also hired by the same citizens. What a moment in history this is. Humility is a strength, not a weakness. Only the weak are afraid to be humble.
18
Mr. Brooks is usually a lot more helpful to his readers re the background information he brings (I realize that he is most concerned with Frederick Douglas). Re the remodeling of Vermeer's "Girl with a Pearl Earring" by Awol Erizku, Girl with a Bamboo Earing (2009) (Mr. Brooks, you could mention his name, does he not deserve a plug?) see the link to the article by Steve Nelson in Aperuture.
http://aperture.org/blog/vision-justice-awol-erizku/
http://aperture.org/blog/vision-justice-awol-erizku/
8