Art, feeling and understanding.

The words were familiar if not identical to comments I've seen before. They talk about the purpose of art in our world, how artists' work can serve a greater good in our society. Too often, we think that the artist's primary goal is to entertain. To make people laugh at our jokes or to pat their feet to the music we play. Or to create something nice because art is supposed to be pretty.

 All of these goals can be artistic. That said, I've always believed that there is a greater service art provides. The words in the interview I was reading point to that the greater good. In the article I was reading, film director Ava Duvernay was interviewing activist Angela Davis. They talked about the current racial reckoning and how Angela Davis has been working on these issues for over 50 years. In many ways, the current trend is catching up to her work from so many years ago. A link to the interview is here. The  Angela Davis  quote grabbed my attention.

She said, "Art that can begin to make us feel what we don't necessarily yet understand."

This is why many artists refrain from explaining their work. If you explain it, the audience is focusing on the explanation, not feeling their experience. If there's an explanation, the audience is told how to understand. They've been robbed of the ability to make their connection. 

I think about that when I see the Black Lives Matter painting on the street in downtown Decatur. This painting here in Decatur is like the painting in Washington DC and other cities. It's bold. It makes its point in capital letters. It says something that should be obvious but yet still needs to be said. I feel that art, I understand that art. 

 Our country is littered with art and statues that pay tribute to the Confederacy. I was thinking about that when I watched workers remove the Confederate Memorial here in Decatur, Georgia, earlier this year. There is a similar Confederate statue in my hometown of Cleveland, Tennessee. As a child, I remember passing that monument twice a day to and from Arnold Elementary school. I was a kid at the time. I couldn't put it in words, but I felt it. I understood it. I knew that monument and what it represents was not for the people from my community or me. 

This summer, the High Museum showed a screening of Arthur Jafa's film, "Love is the message, and the message is death." It is a powerful film that shows images of the black experience in America. It showed me many scenes, some of which I've seen before, many of them are new to me. Seeing this film let me to feel a deeper understanding of what I thought I already knew. 

The artistic community is going through a reckoning of our own. We are finally discussing questions about the representation of people of color. In many instances, people of color have been diminished or used as tokens. 

On September 26th, I will be taking part in a virtual panel discussion with other artists of color in the circus world. This discussion is part of the Play the Fool Festival in Alberta, Canada. More details here.Please join us. 

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