A work of art as such is always innocent; and the attack on innocence causes fear
The concept of ‘activism’ necessarily implies a certain degree of fanaticism, because without a fanatical component the degree of passivity is not overcome, on the contrary. The activist cannot shrug his shoulders at the most insignificant detail touching his thematic area, for example on politics, ecology or animal cruelty, since all activism is selective, perhaps out of prudence. be fought as a chaotic totality, let’s divide the world into specific chaos. Thanks to this division, a person can embitter his life in very different ways: suffer the living conditions of the dogs in the kennels, wish the bullfighters dead, or shout to the sky because someone smokes on the terrace of a bar, for example. . There are options.
Some identify activism with hysteria, or at least with a maniacal mentality, the result of the extrapolation of some psychopathology needing public manifestation, though perhaps the possibility should be considered that anti-activism is an equally fanatical manifestation of activism. Our way of life has much of the cataclysmic mechanism, to the point that pointing out the many catastrophes is considered a symptom of a sociopathic disorder.
Some climate activists have vandalized some artistic works, with a lot of media attention, which is what they supposedly intended. Why did they place their purpose in art? It would be too complicated to assume that, despite the fact that artists have been guilty of many things throughout history, a work of art as such is always innocent. And the attack on innocence is terrifying. I don’t know. They could have thrown tomato cans at a gas pump and put their hand in the hose, or even stuck the hose in a body orifice that stung a little. They could have tracked down a bald oil tycoon, poured a pot of fabada over his head, and then taped their hand to his neck.
With a little imagination, the media coverage would have been the same. But no: the pictures. It should be specified that these actions were carried out in works protected by glass, but there is a danger that someone will raise the temperature of the protest to the level of iconoclasm and be encouraged by an unprotected painting.
If you try to put yourself in the mindset of these activists, you ask yourself: What does a work of art matter on a self-destructive planet? But all possible answers are also in the form of a question.
Source: La Verdad
I am George Kunkel, an author working for Today Times Live. I specialize in opinion pieces and cover stories that are both informative and thought-provoking – helping to shape public discourse on key issues. My work is regularly featured across the network’s many platforms, including print media and social media.
