Social Engagement and Art

Recently I've begun to think that grand ideas and beautiful images are wasteful.  The world is suffering from hunger, disease, and war, and yet those fortunate enough to experience none of this first-hand spend their days dreaming up projects to titillate their countrymen, to indulge their fantasies, to help them pass a moment or two without having to consider that their fellow beings are perishing from physical impoverishment.

Camille Paglia wrote in the Wall Street Journal this week about the detachment of modern artists from the concerns of the "real" world:

What do contemporary artists have to say, and to whom are they saying it? Unfortunately, too many artists have lost touch with the general audience and have retreated to an airless echo chamber. The art world, like humanities faculties, suffers from a monolithic political orthodoxy—an upper-middle-class liberalism far from the fiery antiestablishment leftism of the 1960s.

Yesterday I wrote about Jean-François Rauzie, who makes enormous, hyper detailed photographs.  The hours he puts in are equally enormous.  And for what?  All those hours, how might they have benefited someone without an education, without food, who lives in threat of physical harm?

This morning I was flipping through Buddha Mind in Contemporary Art, which I received only yesterday, and found in Suzanne Lacy's article a quote from Robert Thurman's Nagarjuna's Guidelines for Buddhist Social Activism that was so good it sent me looking for a copy.  As Google Books presents in images, rather than text, here is a jpg extract:

Every western man and woman a king or queen of his or her own fate.  How shall it be lived?  What role shall art play in our lives and the lives of our neighbors and fellow citizens?

For anyone looking for opportunities, Photo Philanthropy provides a list of NGOs seeking photographic assistance.  I've only just discovered the website and haven't had a chance to comb through all the listings, but there appear to be quite a few.  Have a look yourself.  Let me know what you find.

Here's a book I plan to add to my reading list:  http://www.voxxi.com/photography-as-activism-book/

If you know of any other good reading along these lines, please reply here.

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