On Politics and Art Making I am reading two books right now. One is Performance Art, from Futurism to the Present by RoseLee Goldberg and the other is After Modern Art: 1945 - 2000 by David Hopkins. I am continually struck by how much of the art movements in the times before I was born were driven by political movements. The liveliest eras were when there were sweeping changes not only on the political front but actual invasion and occupation. Communism, Fascism, Marxism and even revolution where so immediate to the individuals lives that if artists disagreed they created groups or camps and their politics decided which type of art they would produce! It seems that when we read about the great events in the early 1900's they are tied to revolution in Russia. Or the French artists using (or rejecting) Abstract Expressionism as a result of Nazi Occupation. Picasso painting Guernica in response to the Nazi Germany bombing Guernica, Spain during the Spanish Civil War is a great example. In my opinion, his greatest work. All of these immediate art movements were in direct relation to the shifting of political times. During the Cold War after World War II, revolution seemed inevitable. Italy tumbled into a thousand different politcal groups which seem to still exist today. Che Guevara helped Castro take over Cuba, these were charged politcal times! And yet, since the mid-seventies, it seems that things have been very stable. Third world countries are having the problems now and we point our fingers at our televisions and think, "that is a pity, let's send some money." Chairman Mao, responsible for 12 million of his own people's deaths is long gone. Even China is stepping onto the world's stage as an active member hosting the Olympics in a couple of years. The mighty USSR has collapsed into Russia and a bunch of other countries we don't hear a lot about -- basically bankrupt from trying to keep up in the Cold War. Stability is also proven by the European Union, a marvelous and economically powerful move that strengthens the whole area as a collective voice and power. So, what do we make art about? If the above was the driving force for Futurism, Cubism, Surrealism, Expressionism then what is driving the art makers of the moment? America has not felt threatened in a long time. The borders in Europe have been secure with no hint of invasion or collapse of a government in a long time. I am in awe of the six countries who are pressuring North Korea, working together to keep things -- stable! Artists today are pretty fat and happy. They are not members of the Elite like the artists in the 1800's. They are middle class people. I wonder what they have to say? I felt Biographical Dance was a bump in the art scene, personalizing the commentary on the world. When it was in relation to the AIDS epidemic I felt it was real, raw and immediate. It was a Shared Tragedy in many ways - yet, beyond that collective experience this type of dance can seem very indulgent. I feel that we are often dazzled by the vehicle of technology and not the content. Being a spectator at that first steam boat chugging upstream must've been amazing -- yet what really happened was it revolutionized trade. I have been involved with many dance pieces where the choreographer wanted to "use video" way before the idea of what content would be shown. Not to make that experience sound negative, but we are dinking with the delivery system rather than the content. My hero, Loie Fuller, featured the new electric lighting by dancing the Serpentine Dance with flowing fabrics and a bunch of stagehands manipulating colored lighting. It made her a place in history. Yet today, we don't see many light shows except the dazzle of moving lights in a rock show. That is the newest technology and we are dazzled by it. Yet, in the more traditional art world of modern dance -- the colors are not quite so bright suggesting a much higher level of sophistication in it's use. Never for a moment would I want to lessen the horror of our war in Iraq and Afghanistan or the fear of Terrorists. But, face it -- they simply are not in our back yard. They are not lining up at our borders threatening to invade or overthrow our government. Some may think that Bush is an idiot, but no one really believes that the US is on the verge of collapse. This era is one of well-fed artists in a comfortable world who are struggling to find something to say. What are you passionate about? Whatever it is - it's not going to be something that we all are passionate about. So, if you are dancing about Cruelty to Animals, you are forcing a viewpoint onto the audience. I hope it's an informed one. Our generation is way to cynical to jump onto many band wagons. I worry that our art makers don't have much to say. With not much to energize our art making it seems we are just vamping for a while waiting for something to happen. In this "ease of times" there are a LOT of art makers! Our colleges are pumping out "newbie artists" by the thousands every semester. It's easy to feed our families now compared to a hundred years ago. We can work as waitresses during the day and dance at night. We are not struggling artists struggling to be fed, just struggling to be heard.