An Admired Genre (01/31/26)

Echoes from the past, current moments and an inherent voices.

There are moments when a unconsidered perspective can provide a shockingly simple access point to an enigmatic and nebulous idea. The idea here, is the nature of Art and the perspective is its societal purpose.

One such moment came over a decade ago while listening to an Art related TED Talk. The presenter provided the access point for this dialog to begin. They summarized Art’s complexity with a seemingly innocuous question: “What is the difference between Craft and Art?”

After an appropriately uncomfortable moment, the presenter proceeded with; “Craft’s roll is to first serve a function. It can achieve the status of Art through its refinement of techniques, materials and expression, but it is first and foremost a tea cup, a sword.” Or an Italian carbureted V12 GT.

“Art’s primary purpose is to express. It serves no practical function. It can achieve the status of Fine Art through the refinement of its craft and the execution of its concept. But it is primarily an expression, a voice reflecting a mirror viewpoint about our shared human experience.”

This is not a perfect analysis, yet it provides us with a starting point to begin a public discourse. To me, that is the most fundamentally crucial byproduct of Art; it can spark a real dialog between real people. These mutually respectful discussions are the way we work through what separates.

Having an open dialog about anything, can be extremely difficult. Emotions can run high when we can feel as though our position is being threatened. Yet, if we hold to the root of calmness and allow our convictions to bend and sway in the wind of discourse, a commonality emerges that is greater than our momentary fragility.

When I was growing up Art was experienced in museums and theaters. The conversations this type of Art sparked took place in lecture halls and galleries.

Street Art, on the other hand, because it is often unsanctioned and or created by “outsider artists” was the darker shadow and therefor lesser then. I admit my ignorance and my learned arrogance. I have come to understand that this type of Art possesses an advantage its highbrow sibling often does not; it sparks conversations that take place where people’s lives actually intersect.

My perspective on this shifted during the Global Pandemic. So much more was happening in United States history then, it was not just about the “Lockdown”!

The Summer of 2020 saw a partial easing of travel restrictions. So, after careful preparation, I flew to the San Francisco area to visit a dear friend. He worked remotely in tech and lived in a relatively nice part of Oakland. The arid climate of that part of California makes it ideal for public Art. Oakland is renown for its more than 1000 murals! They are fantastical in size, culturally rich in their diversity and are some of them are some of the finest artists’ work I’ve ever experienced.

One of the places he took me was downtown, where protests had taken place just 2 weeks prior. Out of an abundance of caution, every ground floor window in the city-center was covered with 8’ x 16’ sheets of plywood. It wasn’t the “free for all” one often sees in graffiti Art. This was thought out, deliberate and strategic. The city’s muralists took the opportunity to organize and assign each panel to a different artist. What I experienced was not destruction, chaos or mayhem. It was the collective voice of a city during a crucial moment. The result was a vibrancy that still echos with the relevance of their collective message. That was, for me a new Artistic experience.

History is replete with works that are main stream today, yet were scandalous when first revealed. Igor Stravinsky’s 1913 ballet The Rite of Spring literally caused a riot. Michelangelo’s The Last Judgement (the front wall of The Sistine Chapel) was condemned as being more suitable for the public baths than a holy place. The now beloved Frank Capra holiday classic “It’s A Wonderful Life” was a box-office flop. The subject of suicide was deemed unsuitable for a holiday movie. Yet all of these are now part of our cultural lexicon. This gets to the roll Art plays in society, to challenge what was, in favor of what is inevitable. Art is a truth that exists outside of any influence.

I came away from my Oakland experience with a fledgling of a concept that feels more relevant than ever before; Art, at its core, is apolitical. It is often politicized by rhetoric that states it is anti-this or pro-the-other. That is only a surface read and indicative of the intent to manipulate. What Art is, is subversive. It is subversive to any agenda that will do whatever it feels is necessary to prevent conversations between civil minds about where WE go next and how WE get there.

Thank you for reading.

Earle Rock

Earle Rock Studios