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“Poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world,” wrote Percy Bysshe Shelley in “A Defense of Poetry” in 1821. A radical, Romantic humanist, Shelley passionately believed that artists of all stripes could inspire the masses to rise up against oppression. The “legislation” written and enacted by artists spoke directly to the yearnings of those seeking freedom. When the Chinese government seized artist Ai Weiwei (pictured above) yesterday as he tried to fly to Hong Kong from Beijing, they acknowledged the power of Ai’s art to “legislate” in a way they seemingly no longer could in the face of the oncoming “Jasmine Revolution.” The fate of Ai, and that of the Chinese people, now hangs in the balance. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Unacknowledged Legislators."
In Death of the Liberal Class, Pulitzer Prize-winning journalist Chris Hedges argues that liberals have “conceded too much to the power elite.” In other words, traditional liberal institutions such as education, religion, labor, and the arts have stopped challenging corporate powers and, instead, joined them. It’s a powerful and often depressing argument, especially when Hedges probes fields usually condemned for their “liberal” and “revolutionary” tendencies, such as art. Hedges raises the old question of what is art in a different way, asking if art is creative expressions that free the mind, what do we call creative works that support the status quo? Junk, Hedges would most likely answer, giving some surprising examples of famous “junk men” in American art. Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Junk Man."
Art is good for the soul, but sometimes it can be bad for your health. Chinese artist Ai Weiwei’s Sunflower Seeds installation at the Tate Modern in London aroused curiosity before it began affecting visitors’ respiratory systems with the porcelain dust it threw off. Sadly, this is just the latest hazardous episode in the nine-year history of the Tate Modern’s “The Unilever Series” program of featuring installation art by the hottest contemporary artists. But are these blockbuster shows pushing the envelope beyond the limits of public safety? Please come over to Picture This at Big Think to read more of "Seeds of Destruction."
