Tuesday, August 11, 2009

Weasels, Part II




















Generally, this sort of thing makes much more sense driving on country roads, at least for me; and, as a rule, earlier in the day.

...So, I'm driving in the Hudson Valley, earlier today, and it occurs to me we're on a nominal seventy-five-year cycle: From the rule of the hive to the cult of self and back to the rule of the hive; then we swarm and start again. At some point, such as a world war or cultural revolution, we work together for a better chance of success. Examples of the cycle: From Great Depression to Great Recession; and from democracy to oligarchy and back.

The art world appears to follow a similar pattern of expansion and contraction; stricture and release. The timeframe may vary, but one paradigm follows another. Like simplicity and complexity; rigidity and permeability.

Right now, in art, I think there is a softening of boundaries, a greying of what was thought of as black and white. Art and design bleed into one another, as do public and private. Elitism breaks down and amateurism/naturalism is the new ideal. The internet and other digital technologies open things up. Control decentralizes. We swarm.

Starlings photo, "Murmur 1," by Richard Barnes.

3 comments:

  1. You've been posting some great stuff lately - I can barely keep up! When are you going to talk about '12? ;)

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  2. 2012? I predict that John Cusack will make his comeback.

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  3. God takes many forms, sometimes swarms like honey bees. Culture H's norms are Culture G's perversities.

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