DISPATCHES FROM THE CULTURAL FRONT dispatch 1: by way of introduction... Defusing Bombs... I find it curious when I hear collaborators remark, ‘We’re not defusing bombs here,’ in reference to the time and effort that everyone within earshot is committing to whatever artistic endeavor at that moment. I’m always tempted to yell, ‘Fire in the hole!’ and dive for cover. Sure we are! Of course we’re defusing bombs! ...when not constructing them. We’re signing up volunteers right now – an outlaw band of detonator specialists, heedful that even the most trivial entertainment is not approached carelessly! Self-determined! (as we would wish); Selfjustified! (as we must always be); We snip the wires on 10, 9, 8, 7... the Refrain... And you will hear: Art is dying! Art is dead! It’s commoditized! Commercialized! Marginalized! Dulled! Undervalued! Unsupported. Censored. Unappreciated... the Rally... To that we say: So be it! Entitled art is dead art anyway! Unappreciated? Uncertain? Unknown? These are not cause for head-drooping, foot-shuffling supplication. Apology and lament. Self-pitiful simpering. NO! These are the very foundation of our necessary work, motivations for the work we willfully undertake! Defusers/Constructers of bombs, all! We work from here. the Task... Our work must be our contribution to the human conversation, our answer to the plainly absurd condition of life. To futility. To oblivion. To meaninglessness. My personal commitment is to contribute vitality – to listen closely, sensitively; to think hard; and to create boldly. But, as a class, all we artists must take ourselves more seriously (by which, I do NOT mean humorlessly). Post-Beckett, post-Camus a conscious person may be able to “live without appeal” in the sense of disregarding the obvious sophistries institutionalized in the past. But what now? What replaces them? Enter the artists... ADVANCE GUARD! the Principle... Form must proceed from Content! This is demanded if we are to prosper. Dead must be the preconceived structure. The expected. The understood. Whatever the discipline, whatever the previous achievements, tradition cannot be our guide. First must be the themes, the images, the dialectics. From these, the form emerges. From these, we venture into the unknown, allowing our curiosity, our study, and vigilant intuition to lead us to unique and original expression. To surprise. (This is not to say that all convention is abandoned, of course. That would not be possible. Convention. Expectation. These are what something “unique” is defined from, to which uniqueness refers. Our challenge is to use convention, not be bound by it.) The subject of our inspiration will determine the form of its expression. This is a guiding principle. This is an abiding challenge. the Practice... It is not enough to ask these questions and vaguely pursue these goals. Artistry requires, not only interest, inspiration, and will, but craft, discourse, guidance, challenge, diversity of opinion and encounter. These lofty ambitions and questions must be grounded in practice. Notice Served! Seeking artists of similar aspiration, other defusers/constructors of bombs! Report for duty with all abandon and haste! Timers are ticking... 3, 2, 1... the Column... I work as a playwright, producer, videographer, video editor, actor, author. And my work is informed enormously by my avid viewership and (personal, un-credentialed) critical appraisal of arts, politics, architecture, media, philosophy. This column is to be my report. A collection of my responses. An assemblage of tangents. An outlaw record of subversive opinions. A self-appointed, selfjustified ministry of culture. My first column, above, gives you some idea of my aesthetic prejudices, goals, interests. But a column is a different field of expression – obviously, not purely artistic. I promise to take license. I promise to have fun. But the content will be primarily analytical. With your feedback, I hope to add to the roiling cultural discourse, to plug into a wider correspondence and conversation. More dispatches forthcoming...
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Frank BoudreauxFrank is a theater artist et al, studying playwriting under Mac Wellman at Brooklyn College. Archives
August 2010
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