From the Den: January 2017

Sunday, January 8, 2017

Art vs Artist

Greetings All; Shardvixen here:
I know it has been a while since I wrote anything. I have been sick and before that working hard on my animation style. I have gotten my vlog up and running and editing that takes a bit of time. My last vlog was about my life as seen through the stories/books I have read. Going back through the book I enjoyed as a kid and looking for information about them online has brought up some interesting facts.
For example; my favorite writer from my teens and early young adult years was Marion Zimmer Bradley. I had stopped reading her books somewhere between my daughter being a teen and my son being a toddler. I am not sure why at the time, just that I was interested in other writers more. I still love the Darkover series.
Marion Zimmer Bradley's daughter in 2014 came forth and said that her and her brother suffered horrible sexual abuse from their parents. She, the daughter hadn't come forward before because of all the fans of the Darkover series,
Anytime someone says they have been abused, we as society need to take notice. Only the abuse can stay if they were abused or not. So for me, as a person who as a child suffered through sexual abuse and sexual abuse by peers, I can understand her rage, grief and fear. It cause conflict in me though when we are talking about artists. I think their art should stand alone as a creation and possible a reflection of the artist but not as a contributor of the abuse. Though if one is famous enough they may hide behind their art, as a way to protect them from social lashing of their crime.
I was once asked in a college literature class when discussing this same topic if I would buy a painting from Charles Manson. I said "yes if I liked it" This of course started an argument. One person said,' He is a murder and this would be suggesting he was some how an OK person'. To which I replied, 'whether or not we like to admit it, he is still a person, good or bad.. A person with emotion (screw up maybe), a person with thoughts and ideas. For me, I have to look at the art as something created for a reason. It would depend on the reason for the art. If the art work was about the murders, then maybe not(for me) but there have been plenty of art work in history done of torment, torture and pain of human kind and some of them are in museums. I think art should stand alone.'
Art should not be banded because of the artist. There are many example of artist who hurt themselves and others through out our history. I have include a link about famous people of today who have been label domestic abusers so you can read some for yourselves.
I think in the Marion Zimmer Bradley case, it hurts all the more for many people to learn of the abuse after she has died because there is no closure, if she can't speak up for herself. She can't be tried and judged by her peers. I also think that sometime we blame ourselves for not seeing the bad, for allowing ourselves to be taken in (tricked) into seeing only the good. We feel guilty because we liked or revered this person and then they do a bad, very bad thing. And because they are dead, we have to infer what really was going on. This is then compounded by the fact of how we felt about the art work. Especially if it had a huge impact on our own life, like many of Bradley's stories did. We may feel conflicted and confused because the accusation(s) push us to solve, explain or doing some kind of action to make it all better.
http://www.ranker.com/list/celebrities-charged-with-domestic-abuse/celebrity-lists

I want it understand that in no way does it mean because the art is desirable by me does it belittle what happen to the victims in any way. all it means is artists are people and people are complicate, they do good things and bad things. We should not hold artists up above us like gods and then destroy all their work because they disappoint us as humans, but in our world we do and that is why many get very angry and upset when they learn the bad things people do. Some how just because a person can create,do good things or hold power to make our worlds better they must be good in all things. Many artists are abuser of drugs but we all look away from that. I have taught my children that people who are famous are just people. A Queen, a princess, a president, a senator, an actor, a painter, a writer and all others -we make famous by our attention to them - are just people who have secrets just like us. Maybe the worst they do is pick their noses, masturbate or have secret sex fantasies, maybe they suffer from mental illness( many see this as a bad thing and keep it secret. Let it be noted that I don't see mental illness as a bad thing), have drug problems, yell at their kids, steal from the government. An it is possible that they do stand above our standards of honored behavior-kudos to them for that.
Does this mean they should get away with their transactions against others, no but it does mean that their art work should stand away from their misdeeds, and the same for the opposite. If they are good people who create art which isn't all happy and rainbows but deep, dark and exposing secrets of human kind the art should be celebrated for it expression of our world but not be held to the standards of how humans should behave. We must remember that the time and culture an art work is created may reflect the darker side of humanity which needs to be embraced as well.
This seems to be how some people are translating the books and movies of the past. Remember how I spoke about the different ways we translate art (in my vlog 6: Reading from my youtube playlist). Many of the books I read as a child are being seen as inappropriate for children and or people in general, such as Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. I have read this book to both my children but if we look at it through the eyes of different people(culture, race, income, nationality, ect) then it is possible to see how they may feel insulted by the story. I think for me, I attribute this to the time the book was written. Look at the book, "Last of the Mohicans" this book is not very nice story due to racial descriptions. . https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Last_of_the_Mohicans
I was required to read it in high school and got in trouble when I didn't agree with my teacher about the story yet it is seen as a "classic". I don't believe in banning books, but I don't know if I would sell it as a classic but rather of a sign of the times, a cultural reference or even as one man's view of his historical culture. The schools have long since taken it off the "classical" list of reading.
Another book is "Gone with the Wind", I am not sure if many people have even read the book now. After the movie, few people wanted to read the book but the book is even better at pulling at your heart strings. But it does show slavery and make it seem like it was better to be owned by someone nice than someone mean which is horrible because slavery is wrong. The thing is slavery is another of those bad things which are in our world(still) and people shy from it. They don't want to talk of the past or the now of slavery but it exists and we have to be aware of it. Does this make "Gone with the Wind" a bad story? If it did there would be a lot of "Classics" not be read anymore. I am sure you could go through any list of "classic" books and find all kinds of human tragedies which are not being seen as tragedies or the surroundings, descriptions and events being totally ignored or called as something else. All of this just brings out what I have always believe; do not take anything by face value and question everything. When it doesn't seem very logical, then go back through to find out why.
Another book which came under fire because of its writer was " The Education of Little Tree" At first the book was thought to be an autobiographical account of the author. Then when it was found out the Forest Carter, wasn't a real person and the real writer had once been a KKK member, the book was looked at differently. It is a sad story no matter who wrote as far as I am concerned but lots of other people had different thoughts about that.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Education_of_Little_Tree

Mean people, bad people, horrific people with strange and unacceptable(as determined by society or oneself) beliefs can produce great art and it is up to each person to decide if they will support or just admire from afar. Sometimes in the world, there is sadness and pain in the strangest and unexpected places, while at other times places, things and people can create horrible events and choices to occur in the world. It is important to think for yourself and some times disagree with what others have decided. I like the Darkover series, The Education of Little Tree and I dislike the Last of the Mohicans in book form. Loved the movie with Russell Means. Makes me cry every time I watch it because of the secondary story of tragedy love. And isn't that what art should do, make us feel.
I am outta of here, catch you all on the flip side. Peace!