It is my day to blog, and I am feeling like I don’t have the time or even a subject worth processing. But I can tell you what is on my mind.
There are so many visible signs that point to a paradigm shift in the culture. And that shift will happen through a giant leap toward a spiritual renewal in the arts.
To see the signs, we must go to art. Although all ideological shifts happen at the ideological or philosophical level, don’t waste your time digging around there unless you love to talk about ideas all day long and debate philosophy. Because the ideas that you want to pay attention to are the ones that survive beyond the realm of philosophy. These are the ones that have begun to stick with artists who can express them and give them shape in their art. Ideas that aren’t carefully packaged in crafted images, symbols, and stories are ideas not worth sharing. So if you want to discover what new ideas are entering the cultural stream, listen to what thoughtful artistic leaders are saying.
In the spirit of this blog, here is a quote from Charles Bukowski. “An intellectual is a man who says a simple thing in a difficult way; an artist is a man who says a difficult thing in a simple way.”
I am not an art historian or a world class curator. So I can’t list for you the names of current artists and their art that support my claim that we are entering a 21st century renaissance. This is a blog, not a master’s thesis. But I am an artist and an astute cultural observer. And though I (along with the International Arts Movement) have been prophesying for several years that postmodernism is dead and a cultural renaissance is yearning to replace it, this seems to fall mostly on deaf ears outside the art world. So let me dish out a few supporting quotes from a few other cultural observers to help you see that I am not alone.
“Let there be no doubt, there will be a spiritual renaissance in art because there is nowhere else for art to go.”
- Billy Childish, The Remodernism Manifesto, March 2000
“Postmodernism has evaporated. I think we are reaching a point where people are panting and gasping for an alternative, a path of wisdom. They just can’t find the door.”
- Larry Harvey, founder of the Burning Man Festival
“The great work of the 21st century is to reconcile the artistic and the spiritual.”
- Dana Gioia, chairman of the National Endowment for the Arts
Everyone I have quoted here are contemporary leaders in the art world who have held positions of significant vantage point. They have overseen and observed thousands of cutting edge artists.
What is interesting is how these statements resonate with the renaissance artists of the 15th century. Check out this quote from the quintessential renaissance man, Leonardo da Vinci. “Where the spirit does not work with the hand, there is not art.” This is a standard that has already returned in some artist circles.
There are more quotes I could dig up. But I am weary of proofs. I have something else I need to say…
Over the years, I have had trouble illustrating the cultural shifting that I see from my own vantage point into convincing analytical proofs. To say I have had trouble is putting it mildly. In short, I wish I could just throw a fit and scream “WAKE UP!!!” And though that might feel therapeutic, I doubt it would make any greater difference.
All prophetic vision is intuitive. Thus, I can’t produce a convincing arguement based on intuition. Nor should I have to. Which tells me I have made a naive mistake over the years. Instead of trying to nail a thesis of words to the door of a sleeping America that does not listen to culture, does not value culture, does not value the role of artists, even renaissance artists who are making a contribution to humanity and culture, I should return to the language that my intuition was made to speak. I should just create art.
I have tried to advocate support that mobilizes the artists who are re-humanizing culture. I have dreamed of overseeing artists just as Gioia and Harvey have. I have dreamed of writing a manifesto as Billy Childish has done. However, what has happened is I have put myself on a treadmill advocating for a movement of artists in which I, as an artist, am not moving. I have limited myself to an advocate of culture and not a creator of culture.
So as I conclude my thoughts for today’s blog, I am feeling a bit challenged. If the best way to have your ideas heard is to illustrate them through quality creative expressions, then I have not pursued the best way. I need to find a way to sustain myself as a creator of art. Because so far, I haven’t sold enough tickets to the “join the advocate in the 21st century renaissance” show. Plenty of artists are lining up to perform, we just haven’t found an audience that cares.
Maybe by some miracle, I will be able to support not only myself but a family too. FYI, the desires for marriage and the generation of newborn life can be indicative of a 21st century renaissance artist. He values the sacred union of the physical and the spiritual not just in art, but in his relationships as well.
I pray that my seven years advocating for this movement has not been wasted. I pray that my time has not run out to make a significant contribution to it and through it as an artist. Your support and encouragements are deeply appreciated. For now, my blog time is up.
You are so loved,
Matson
