The Situationist International (1957-1972), an organization of political, avant-garde artists and intellectuals, is a great example of artists who rebel against the function of high art and capitalist society as a whole. The SI emphasizes creativity as an essential part of society, that it should emphasized more than it is. Creative actions should be an everyday part of life, not a commodity. While my work itself is not overtly political, I am sympathetic to the Situationists’ critiques. I often feel there is no hope in the white walls, and seek to place art back where I think it belongs, in the everyday. “…and although it declared itself [dada] anti-art and agitated against the notions of creativity, genius, individualism and originality inherent in the prevalent conception of art, it was not against the making, saying, and showing of things in which art is engaged. What it did oppose was any restriction on the means by which things are made, the ends to which they are used and interpreted, and the extent to which they are separated from the rest of life.” 2 A problem I see occurring with people striving to be artists or writers, is the idea that you need to sit down and make “a work of art” instead of just pursuing your curiosities with creative experimentation. “The words don’t matter, the image, the thoughts, the emotions matter, the facts matter. The best writers aren’t “writers” at all. They are people who desperately want to communicate images and ideas to other people, to communicate. I would say the first failure of a person who wants to write some stories is calling him or herself a “writer.” Because then you are going to sit down and stare at your computer screen and “write.” And not sit drinking coffee on a park bench on a pretty fall day imagining a scene in your head and when you have the scene figured out you go to a computer and put the scene into words so a person that is not you can understand and see what you want them to see so they can feel the emotion you want them to feel.” 3 56
The Kind of Artist I Wanna Be