On Art

Shakespeare makes Henry IV say, "I can cry, content! to that which grieves my heart, and wet my cheeks with artificial tears, and frame my face to all occasions . . . I can add colours to the chameleon, change shapes with Proteus for advantages and set the murderous Machiavel to school." Old Will is expressing humanity's proclivity. The only thing you can argue with is the extent to which an individual succumbs. Human motivation is a wondrous thing to observe, yet try to fathom it and it is likely forever to remain a chimera. Personalize it and it is sure to become an enigma.

Some art may be sublime; the same cannot be said of artists. Even if a few artists appear to produce transcendent work, no artist is free of the incubus his humanity sets upon him/her. Why pretend to be the moral superior of Henry IV and screw up your thinking more than it already is? I say take a leaf from Hieronymus Bosch's book -- sans his mission to frighten men into becoming something fit for fictional heaven -- and go with it.

Allow your art to become an amoral reflection of yourself, if you can manage it, rather than using it to promote some social agenda that time and fashion is sure to change, much to your eventual chagrin. Be willing to suffer the slings and arrows of the true believers, whether they be Neo-Marxists, museum directors, radical feminists, art critics, born-again Christians, or Gingrich Republicans. Never hesitate to let a bit of levity invade your work. Remember, a bad joke is better than no joke at all -- and if you produce enough of them, the odds are that you will occasionally make a good one that can puncture the self-importance of the true believer.

Never miss an opportunity to spoof them. Read Molly Ivins's column in The Progressive. I assure you it will be a welcome relief from the maunderings of the inheritors of Hegel. Ask yourself if significant art can be humorous. Indulge and delight yourself by revisiting Jonathan Swift, Mark Twain, Dorothy Parker, Don Marquis and Ogden Nash.

-- Allen A. Dutton

Allen A. Dutton
15235 North 11th Street
Phoenix, AZ 85022