Art in Turbulent Times: Why Art Thrives on Challenge
We think we are living in turbulent times, but the fact is, it is always turbulent times. Only dead
things remain unchanged. And artists respond in the most demanding of times with exceptional work. The renaissance is perhaps the most dramatic example of this. What we consider a golden age of
human learning and advancement was preceded by the Black Plague, a time of unprecedented death and sadness. But it was this disaster that opened the door for new ideas and experimentation.
It is not to say that great advancement must be preceded by death: Impressionism and pointillism were
ideas conceived from the technological introduction of photography and modern printing. The point is that major advances in learning, technology, and sometimes tragedy, make humankind look at the world
differently. The artist acts as our eyes to see what we might miss, sometimes pointing out the obvious, sometimes helping us see the unseen.
We are perhaps in those times now, or it could be argued we are always in those times and just don’t
know how to measure it. Either way, I expect great things in art to emerge over the next decade. Consider for example, the technological leaps in computing, printing, materials, bio-engineering (can
you imagine living art?), and communications. It is always tempting to think that everything that can be created, has been created. But that is nonsense. Art of the human form disproves that
handily. How many works of art have been carved, painted, drawn, or projected of the human body? And yet we can still find new ideas in the most ancient of all art subjects.
Art is our connection to our past, but it also allows us to see into our future. It is what makes us
human, by showing us what we might have overlooked, or should look at harder. And as much negativity that we are fed everyday, I am bullish on humanity. I think we are just getting warmed up.
Jay Magidson, October, 2008
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