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 Politics for Artists 101By SHARON BOGAS
If you are curious as to the lengths to which artists will go to dissociate themselves from politics, take a look at the 2001 film Taking Sides. In the film, Wilhelm Furtwängler, one of the great German conductors of all time, attempts to justify his willingness to hold the podium under Nazi rule by insisting that his loyalty was to his music and that the politics were, to some extent, incidental.
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| Sharon Bogas |
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To me, the claim that an artist can live in a cocoon, ignoring the events of the world around him, is absurd. Art comes from life. Being an artist does not alter one's status as a citizen of society, or as a human being. Ignoring current events is a luxury, not a right. The Juilliard Orchestra played several works this year by composers whose lives were destroyed by the Holocaust. These performances, part of a special project by James Conlon to bring such works to the attention of modern audiences, were a reminder that some artists have not had the option of isolating themselves from the world around them. Like Furtwängler, Dmitri Shostakovich, and so many others, these artists lived in a time and place when history came to them: they could not escape it. There is a tangible combination of history and humanity in works of art created by men and women who understood the times and the society in which they lived, and who used their art as a means of expressing personal reactions to what they observed. If all art were created and performed in a vacuum, this quality would be lost.Those who claim that art transcends politics are right on one level. Art is greater than the petty maneuverings and personal vanities sometimes associated with politics and politicians. But, just like a complex work of art, there is more to politics than meets the eye. Congressional reports and demographic studies do not define politics any more than roman numeral analysis defines music. Politics has acquired a reputation as dull bureaucratic procedure. Fundamentally, however, politics is the mechanism by which man governs himself. People need art, certainly, but they also need some order and functionality. They need to communicate and collaborate, and politics is the language of such interaction. Without art, there is no beauty or joy. Without politics, there is chaos.
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The claim that an artist can live in a cocoon, ignoring the events of the world around him, is absurd.
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Art and politics can work in consort to pave the way for a brighter future. In times of political unrest, artists can preserve the spirit of humanity, so that we never lose sight of who we are. At last spring's commencement, President Polisi reminded graduates that they, "as artists, just about to leave the confines of this great institution, have a responsibility to take part in the essential process of reminding our fellow inhabitants on this planet that the human experience is just as positive as it is negative; that caring ways can replace internecine battles; and that each of us has a responsibility to live a life that changes the world for the better."It takes courage to create art in the face of extreme political adversity. It also takes courage, in the absence of such adversity, to emerge from the safety of the practice room in order to explore the context in which our artistry takes place. Metaphorically, art may be your life, but practically, life is your life, in all its beauty, fragility, and complexity.Three years after September 11, though no one has forgotten the tragedy and terror of that day, we in America have once again begun to feel secure. With that sense of security comes a loss of shared purpose, and a tendency to withdraw into our own private lives. As artists, it is our duty to counter this trend, and to remember that art is about expression and reaction, not abstention.Sharon Bogas earned her master's degree in cello this past May.
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