Earlier today, I saw the Instagram post of an “artist” sharing their work. The first drawing in the carousel pictured Aaron Bushnell (that guy that set himself on fire a few months ago), with the words “This is a moment of great historical importance.”
As it turns out, the only historical significance his death will likely have is as a Jeopardy clue in about five years.
The second drawing in the carousel was a doodle of an IDF soldier, with the caption, “Since October, 27,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces.”
Is this what passes for art in 2024? Repeating the same information that I’ve heard on the news everyday for months? Creating the same “works of art” that I’ve seen everyday for months, but in their “unique style”?
What statement does this make other than that the creator of the work is of good moral character? The answer is simple: it makes none (other than also communicating that the creator has no true independent or artistic bone in their body).
But it gets worse…
The caption on this post stated how the “artist” was “pained” not to share their thoughts on the conflict in Israel since the October 7th attacks until now. Are the hundreds of other atrocities in this world not already painful enough?
You see, art is no place for moral posturing. The most impactful works are, at least in some sense, immoral. They make you think in new ways and question your preconceived notions.
If I were a painter, I’d create a work in which the bodies of thousands of dead Palestinians lie in rubble next to millions of empty paint tubes, dead markers, and whatever other art supplies these so-called artists are using to make their redundant and timely politico-moral statements.
(Thanks to ChatGPT, I can show you my master work…)
After all, where have these “artists” been in the years leading up to the October 7th attacks? Were they paying attention when journalists like Abby Martin covered the ongoing devastation in Gaza back in the mid-2010’s?
No, they only began caring when it became morally-imperative to do so–when the mainstream news media played these images and they circulated on social media 24/7. We’ve seen it time and time again: Ukraine, abortion rights in the United States, and so on and so on.
Now, you can argue that the atrocities in the world are so great in number that we have no choice but to behave like goldfish, forgetting the old atrocities as new ones come to the surface.
However, if one wants to take a moral position, then they should actually work towards solving problems. The posts you make on Instagram have no impact on people’s perceptions of atrocities, and certainly carry no weight in the debate over public policy.
While it’s reasonable to feel powerless when confronted with the daily barrage of injustices, money rules the world of morality. An artist would be better off “selling out”, building their savings, and lobbying or starting a project that can actually influence public policy.
But, at the core, none of these “artists” really care about Palestinians, or Ukrainians, or women–they selfishly care only about their own image, and appearing to be a morally-correct ally without the real action necessary to make a difference.
And this is why atrocities continue.
Moral posturing has no place in art. Artists of today must help us question our current belief systems, not try to fit in by regurgitating what has already been said millions of times before.
